Publish Your Electron App
to Microsoft Store

Microsoft Store accepts two fundamentally different app types. Choosing the wrong one is the most common mistake and will cause validation failures. For an Electron app like TubeDesk, the correct choice is always MSIX or PWA app.

Key requirements for MSIX submission

If you do not yet have a Partner Center account, go to partner.microsoft.com and enroll. Individual accounts cost a one-time fee of approximately $19 USD. Once enrolled, your account will have a fixed set of identity values that you will use in every app you publish.

TubeDesk — confirmed account identity

Before building anything, you must reserve your app name in Partner Center. This creates the app entry and generates the package identity values you will need for your build configuration. App names must be globally unique across the entire Microsoft Store.

Name availability tips

Microsoft Store name uniqueness is global and case-insensitive. If your preferred name is taken, try shorter variants (e.g. "TubeDesk for Windows" → "TubeDesk"), add a geographic suffix, or use a completely different brand name. Once reserved, you have 3 months to submit the app or the reservation expires.

After reserving the app name, Partner Center generates a unique package identity for your app. These values must match exactly in your package.json build configuration — any mismatch will cause the package to fail validation.

TubeDesk — confirmed Product Identity values

The build.appx section of package.json controls what goes into the AppxManifest.xml inside your package. Every field in this section must match the values from Partner Center's Product Identity page.

{
  "build": {
    "appId": "se.vinberg.tubedesk",
    "productName": "TubeDesk",           // must match reserved Store name

    "appx": {
      "applicationId":       "TubeDesk",
      "displayName":         "TubeDesk",           // Partner Center app name
      "identityName":        "youtube-desktop.TubeDesk", // Package/Identity/Name
      "publisher":           "CN=0A041C83-6229-4D05-83CD-8D8BF7D93CB5", // Package/Identity/Publisher
      "publisherDisplayName": "youtube-desktop",    // PublisherDisplayName
      "backgroundColor":     "#0f0f0f",
      "languages":           ["en-US"],
      "artifactName":        "TubeDesk-Store-${version}.${ext}"
    }
  }
}

Field mapping: package.json → AppxManifest.xml

Option A — GitHub Actions (recommended)

TubeDesk uses a build-store job in its GitHub Actions workflow that automatically builds the APPX on every push to main. The workflow is already configured in the repository.

build-store:
  runs-on: windows-latest
  timeout-minutes: 30

  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: "22.12.0"
        cache: npm
    - run: npm ci
    - run: npm run build:store
    - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
      with:
        name: TubeDesk-Windows-Store-Package
        path: |
          dist/*.appx
          dist/*.msix
        if-no-files-found: error

After the workflow completes, download the TubeDesk-Windows-Store-Package artifact from the Actions tab. It contains the .appx file ready for upload.

Option B — Local Windows machine

npm ci
npm run build:store
# Output: dist/TubeDesk-Store-0.4.7.appx

Before uploading, it is good practice to inspect the generated AppxManifest.xml to confirm that all identity values match Partner Center. A mismatch at this stage will cause the submission to fail.

# Extract the APPX and read the manifest
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force .\dist\appx-unpacked -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Expand-Archive -Path .\dist\*.appx -DestinationPath .\dist\appx-unpacked -Force
Get-Content .\dist\appx-unpacked\AppxManifest.xml | Select-String "Identity|Publisher|DisplayName"

Expected output for TubeDesk

Identity Name="youtube-desktop.TubeDesk"
         Publisher="CN=0A041C83-6229-4D05-83CD-8D8BF7D93CB5"
         Version="0.4.7.0"

DisplayName="TubeDesk"
PublisherDisplayName="youtube-desktop"

With the APPX package ready, you can now create a submission in Partner Center. A submission requires several sections to be completed before you can submit to the Store.

Packages section

Upload the .appx file. Partner Center will run automated validation checks. For a correctly configured MSIX package, all checks should pass. Common checks include malware scanning, silent install verification, and identity validation.

Store listing section

Provide the app's public-facing description. All text must be in English if your package language is en-US. Below is the listing used for TubeDesk.

Screenshots

At least one screenshot is required. Screenshots must be at least 1366×768 pixels. Any visible text in screenshots must be in English (matching the en-US package language). Recommended sizes are 1366×768, 1920×1080, or 2560×1440.

Age ratings

Complete the IARC questionnaire in Partner Center. For a YouTube wrapper with no user-generated content features, the rating will typically be Everyone (3+) or Everyone (7+) depending on your answers.

After submission, Microsoft runs both automated and manual certification checks. The typical timeline for a new app is 1–3 business days, though it can take up to 7 days in some cases.

If certification fails