Electron has once again been accepted as a mentoring organization for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2025! Google Summer of Code is a global program focused on bringing new contributors into open source software development.

For more details about the program, visit Google’s Summer of Code homepage.

About us​

Electron is a JavaScript framework for building cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies. The core Electron framework is a compiled binary executable built with Chromium and Node.js, and is mostly written in C++.

Outside of the Electron core repository, we also maintain several projects to support the Electron ecosystem, including:

• Tools for end-user distribution (e.g. Electron Forge and update.electronjs.org).
• Learning materials for Electron developers (e.g. electronjs.org and Electron Fiddle).
• Internal tools to enhance developer productivity (e.g. Electron Build Tools and Sheriff).

As a GSoC contributor, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with some of Electron’s core contributors on one of many projects under the github.com/electron umbrella.

Before applying​

If you aren’t very familiar with Electron, we would recommend you start by reading the documentation and trying out some of the examples in Electron Fiddle.

To learn more about distributing Electron apps, try creating a sample application with Electron Forge:

npm init electron-app@latest my-app

After familiarizing yourself with the code a bit, come join the conversation on the Electron Discord server.

Project contributions​

We encourage you to take a look at any repositories that are relevant to the project ideas you are interested in. One way of doing your research is to make contributions by reporting bugs, triaging existing issues, or submitting pull requests. Doing so is an effective way of getting hands-on practice with our codebases, but is not mandatory for proposal submissions. A well-crafted proposal should be able to demonstrate your understanding of the code without needing to refer to past contributions.

Here are a few tips if you are looking to contribute to Electron before submitting your proposal:

1. Please provide descriptive issue or PR descriptions when submitting contributions. Regardless of the code itself, putting effort into the written part of a contribution shows us that you can be an effective communicator in a collaborative environment.
2. PRs are always welcome for open issues. You do not need to comment on an issue asking a maintainer if you can be assigned to it. Note that we still encourage you to discuss potential solutions on an issue if you need to refine an idea for a solution, but comments strictly asking if you can work on something are redundant and add noise to the issue tracker.
3. Low-effort project contributions (e.g. invalid issue reports, trivial wording changes in a repo README, or minor stylistic changes to front-end code) will negatively impact your final proposal, as they take up limited maintainer time and do not provide any net benefit to the Electron project.
4. While AI coding assistants can be an effective tool for debugging and understanding new concepts, we highly discourage contributions that are copy/pasted directly from AI-generated output. These often turn out to be of low quality, and it's often more effort for maintainers to clean up code generated from an LLM than for us to just reject a PR altogether.

Crafting your proposal​

Interested in collaborating with Electron? First, check out the seven project idea drafts we have prepared. All listed ideas are open for proposals.

If you have a unique idea not on the list, we are open to considering it, but ensure your proposal is detailed and thoroughly outlined. When in doubt, we recommend sticking with our listed ideas.

Your application should include:

• A detailed proposal outlining what you plan to achieve over the summer.
• Your background as a developer. If you have a resume, please include a copy. Otherwise, tell us about your past technical experience.
  • Lack of experience in certain areas won’t disqualify you, but it will help our mentors work out a plan to best support you and make sure your summer project is successful.

A detailed guide of what to submit as part of your Electron application is here. Submit proposals directly to the Google Summer of Code portal. Proposals emailed to the Electron team will not be considered as final submissions.

For more guidance on your proposal, we recommend you follow the official Google Summer of Code proposal writing advice here.

Applications open on March 24th, 2025 and close on April 8th, 2025.

Questions?​

If you have questions we didn’t address in this blog post or inquiries about your proposal draft, please send us an email at summer-of-code@electronjs.org or check the GSoC FAQ. Please read our contributor guidance before emailing.

Resources​

• Electron Google Summer of Code 2025 Ideas List
• Electron Google Summer of Code 2025 Contributor Guidance
• Google Summer of Code Student/Contributor Guide