Outline Client

The Outline Client is a cross-platform VPN or proxy client for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and ChromeOS. The Outline Client is designed for use with the Outline Server software, but it is fully compatible with any Shadowsocks server.

The client's user interface is implemented in Polymer 2.0. Platform support is provided by Cordova and Electron, with additional native components in this repository.

Requirements for all builds

All builds require Node 16, in addition to other per-platform requirements.

💡 NOTE: if you have nvm installed, run nvm use to switch to the correct node version!

After cloning this repo, install all node dependencies:

npm install

Building the web app

Outline clients share the same web app across all platforms. This code is located in the src/www directory. If you are making changes to the shared web app and do not need to test platform-specific functionality, you can test in a desktop browser by running:

npm run action gulp build browser
npx cordova run browser

The latter command will open a browser instance running the app. Browser platform development will use fake servers to test successful and unsuccessful connections.

UI components are located in src/www/ui_components. The app logic is located in src/www/app.

Tip: Build with (export BUILD_ENV=development; npm run action gulp -- build browser) to enable source maps.

Building the Android app

Additional requirements for Android:

• Android Studio 2020.3.1+
• Latest Android Sdk Commandline Tools
• Android SDK 30 (with build-tools) via commandline sdkmanager "platforms;android-30" "build-tools;30.0.3"
• Gradle 7.3+

💡 NOTE: If you're running linux, you can automatically set up the development environment by running bash ./tools/build/setup_linux_android.sh

To build for android, run:

npm run action gulp build android

To rebuild after modifying platform dependent files, run:

npx cordova platform rm android && npm run action gulp build android

If this gives you unexpected Cordova errors, run:

npm run clean && npm ci && npm run action gulp build android

Cordova will generate a new Android project in the platforms/android directory. Install the built apk by platforms/android/app/build/outputs/apk/<processor>/debug/app-<processor>-debug.apk (You will need to find the corresponding <processor> architecture if you choose to install the apk on a device).

To learn more about developing for Android, see docs/android-development.

Building for Android with Docker

A Docker image with all pre-requisites for Android builds is included. To build:

• Install dependencies with ./tools/build/build.sh npm ci
• Then build with ./tools/build/build.sh npm run action gulp -- build android

Apple (macOS and iOS)

Additional requirements for Apple:

• An Apple Developer Account. You will need to be invited to join the "Jigsaw Operations LLC" team
• XCode 13+ (download)
• XCode command line tools: xcode-select --install

To build for macOS (OS X), run:

npm run action gulp build osx

To build for iOS, run:

npm run action gulp build ios

To open the macOS project on XCode:

open ./platforms/osx/Outline.xcodeproj

To open the iOS project on XCode:

open ./platforms/ios/Outline.xcodeproj

To learn more about developing for Apple, see docs/apple-development

Electron

Unlike the Android and Apple clients, the Windows and Linux clients use the Electron framework, rather than Cordova.

Additional requirements for building on Windows:

• Cygwin. It provides the "missing Unix pieces" required by build system such as rsync (and many others). Besides the default selected Unix tools such as bash and rsync, please also make sure to install git during Cygwin installation as well. You will need to clone this repository using git in Cygwin instead of the native Windows version of git, in order to ensure Unix line endings.

To build the Electron clients, run (it will also package an installer executable into build/dist):

npm run action src/electron/build [windows|linux]

To run the Electron clients, run:

npm run action src/electron/start [windows|linux]

Error reporting

To enable error reporting through Sentry for local builds, run:

export SENTRY_DSN=[Sentry development API key]
[platform-specific build command]

Release builds on CI are configured with a production Sentry API key.

Support

For support and to contact us, see: https://support.getoutline.org.