How to get (tray) icon path/image in electron-builder - electron

Question

I'm using electron-react-boilerplate to develop electron app (which uses electron-builder to pack apps).
I want to create tray, but it requires icon path or native image. The question is how to retrieve icon image from electron-builder or how to tell electron-builder to include icons dir into resources (without packing), so I can use:
appIcon = new Tray(iconPath | nativeImage)

Answer 1

I kind of struggled with a solution about non-packaged assets (such as media or JSON config files), mostly because I was not familiar with Electron until now. :)
I built a simple personal tray-only app and I didn't want to repackage every time I change an icon for instance.
If you too plan on using changing/dynamic assets you can distinguish between "development" and "production" using this property:
https://electronjs.org/docs/api/app#appispackaged-readonly
Make sure you have this in your package.json:
"build": {
...
"extraResources": [
"./assets/**"
],
}
https://www.electron.build/configuration/contents#extraresources
Then in your code you can have:
const assetsPath = app.isPackaged ? path.join(process.resourcesPath, "assets") : "assets";
Of course you can also use a different path for storing assets, independent of your packaged app folder, for example your user's home or user's documents:
https://electronjs.org/docs/api/app#appgetpathname
Electron v7.0.1
electron-builder 21.2.0

Answer 2

Firstly you need to tell electron-builder which extra files need copying into your output build. I copy over native drivers for each os like below, but you should be able to adapt this to your needs. The "to": "resources" means you'll be able to use the next code to find the files later.
"build": {
...
"extraFiles": [
{
"from": "resources/${os}/drivers",
"to": "resources",
"filter": [
"**/*"
]
}
],
Then to get access to that path from in electron you can use:
const path = require('path');
const imgPath = path.join(process.resourcesPath, 'image.png')
If you're in the main process you can omit the remote part.
You can then use nativeImage.createFromPath to get a native image:
const nativeImage = require('electron').nativeImage
let image = nativeImage.createFromPath(imgPath)

Answer 3

Thanks, Tim, your answer gave me a good thought. I reused it with some addition depending on how I run my app - form vs code using electron or from installed deb file:
"build": {
...
"extraFiles": [
{
"from": "assets",
"to": "resources",
"filter": [
"**/*"
]
}
]
...
}
And then:
let imgPath = process.env.DEV ? "assets/icon.png" : path.join(process.resourcesPath, "icon.png");
tray = new Tray(imgPath);