wails/website/docs/guides/file-association.mdx

# File Association

File association feature allows you to associate specific file types with your app so that when users open those files,
your app is launched to handle them. This can be particularly useful for text editors, image viewers, or any application
that works with specific file formats. In this guide, we'll walk through the steps to implement file association in Wails app.


## Set Up File Association:
To set up file association, you need to modify your application's wails.json file.
In "info" section add a "fileAssociations" section specifying the file types your app should be associated with.

For example:
```json
{
  "info": {
    "fileAssociations": [
      {
        "ext": "wails",
        "name": "Wails",
        "description": "Wails Application File",
        "iconName": "wailsFileIcon",
        "role": "Editor"
      },
    {
        "ext": "jpg",
        "name": "JPEG",
        "description": "Image File",
        "iconName": "jpegFileIcon",
        "role": "Editor"
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

| Property    | Description                                                                                                                                        |
|:------------|:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ext         | The extension (minus the leading period). e.g. png                                                                                                 |
| name        | The name. e.g. PNG File                                                                                                                            |
| iconName    | The icon name without extension. Icons should be located in build folder. Proper icons will be generated from .png file for both macOS and Windows |
| description | Windows-only. The description. It is displayed on the `Type` column on Windows Explorer.                                                           |
| role        | macOS-only. The app’s role with respect to the type. Corresponds to CFBundleTypeRole.                                                              |

## Platform Specifics:

### macOS
When you open file (or files) with your app, the system will launch your app and call the `OnFileOpen` function in your Wails app. Example:
```go title="main.go"
func main() {
	// Create application with options
	err := wails.Run(&options.App{
		Title:  "wails-open-file",
		Width:  1024,
		Height: 768,
		AssetServer: &assetserver.Options{
			Assets: assets,
		},
		BackgroundColour: &options.RGBA{R: 27, G: 38, B: 54, A: 1},
		Mac: &mac.Options{
			OnFileOpen: func(filePaths []string) { println(filestring) },
		},
		Bind: []interface{}{
			app,
		},
	})

	if err != nil {
		println("Error:", err.Error())
	}
}
```


### Windows
On Windows file association is supported only with NSIS installer. During installation, the installer will create a
registry entry for your file associations. When you open file with your app, new instance of app is launched and file path is passed
as argument to your app. To handle this you should parse command line arguments in your app. Example:
```go title="main.go"
func main() {
	argsWithoutProg := os.Args[1:]

	if len(argsWithoutProg) != 0 {
    println("launchArgs", argsWithoutProg)
  }
}
```

### Linux
Currently, Wails doesn't support bundling for Linux. So, you need to create file associations manually.
For example if you distribute your app as a .deb package, you can create file associations by adding required files in you bundle.
You can use [nfpm](https://nfpm.goreleaser.com/) to create .deb package for your app.

1. Create a .desktop file for your app and specify file associations there. Example:
```ini
[Desktop Entry]
Categories=Office
Exec=/usr/bin/wails-open-file %u
Icon=wails-open-file.png
Name=wails-open-file
Terminal=false
Type=Application
MimeType=application/x-wails;application/x-test
```

2. Create mime types file. Example:
```xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mime-info xmlns="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info">
  <mime-type type="application/x-wails">
    <comment>Wails Application File</comment>
    <glob pattern="*.wails"/>
  </mime-type>
</mime-info>
```

3. Create icons for your file types. SVG icons are recommended.
4. Prepare postInstall/postRemove scripts for your package. Example:
```sh
# reload mime types to register file associations
update-mime-database /usr/share/mime
# reload desktop database to load app in list of available
update-desktop-database /usr/share/applications
# update icons
update-icon-caches /usr/share/icons/*
```
5. Configure nfpm to use your scripts and files. Example:
```yaml
name: "wails-open-file"
arch: "arm64"
platform: "linux"
version: "1.0.0"
section: "default"
priority: "extra"
maintainer: "FooBarCorp <FooBarCorp@gmail.com>"
description: "Sample Package"
vendor: "FooBarCorp"
homepage: "http://example.com"
license: "MIT"
contents:
- src: ../bin/wails-open-file
  dst: /usr/bin/wails-open-file
- src: ./main.desktop
  dst: /usr/share/applications/wails-open-file.desktop
- src: ./application-wails-mime.xml
  dst: /usr/share/mime/packages/application-x-wails.xml
- src: ./application-test-mime.xml
  dst: /usr/share/mime/packages/application-x-test.xml
- src: ../appicon.svg
  dst: /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/wails-open-file.svg
- src: ../wailsFileIcon.svg
  dst: /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/mimetypes/application-x-wails.svg
- src: ../testFileIcon.svg
  dst: /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/mimetypes/application-x-test.svg
# copy icons to Yaru theme as well. For some reason Ubuntu didn't pick up fileicons from hicolor theme
- src: ../appicon.svg
  dst: /usr/share/icons/Yaru/scalable/apps/wails-open-file.svg
- src: ../wailsFileIcon.svg
  dst: /usr/share/icons/Yaru/scalable/mimetypes/application-x-wails.svg
- src: ../testFileIcon.svg
  dst: /usr/share/icons/Yaru/scalable/mimetypes/application-x-test.svg
scripts:
  postinstall: ./postInstall.sh
  postremove: ./postRemove.sh
```
6. Build your .deb package using nfpm:
```sh
nfpm pkg --packager deb --target .
```
7. Now when your package is installed, your app will be associated with specified file types. When you open file with your app,
new instance of app is launched and file path is passed as argument to your app.
To handle this you should parse command line arguments in your app. Example:
```go title="main.go"
func main() {
	argsWithoutProg := os.Args[1:]

	if len(argsWithoutProg) != 0 {
    println("launchArgs", argsWithoutProg)
  }
}
```

## Limitations:
On Windows and Linux when associated file is opened, new instance of your app is launched.
Currently, Wails doesn't support opening files in already running app. There is plugin for single instance support for v3 in development.