JBrowser Source Docs
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Dependencies

Runtime packages#

requirements.txt:

Package Used for
PyQt6 Qt 6 widgets, networking, multimedia, printing
PyQt6-WebEngine Qt WebEngine (Chromium) and QWebEngineView
pywinstyles small Windows styling helpers
requests background downloads of the filter and threat lists
cryptography AES-GCM and Scrypt for the password vault

The Qt and Chromium binaries come with PyQt6-Qt6 and PyQt6-WebEngine-Qt6, which pip installs as dependencies. Chromium security fixes therefore reach JBrowser through new PyQt6-WebEngine releases.

Build and developer tools#

requirements-build.txt adds PyInstaller (the build) and pyflakes (the lint check) to the runtime packages.

tools/update_deps.py#

tools/update_deps.py is the one tool for the environment:

Command Does
py -3.14 tools\update_deps.py creates .venv if needed, upgrades pip and every package in requirements-build.txt to its newest version (--upgrade-strategy eager), then verifies
… --check verifies only: imports every module, runs pyflakes; installs nothing (this is what CI runs)
… --runtime-only installs requirements.txt only, without PyInstaller and pyflakes
… --lock also writes requirements.lock.txt with the exact installed versions

"Verify" means: import every Qt module JBrowser uses and every module of the jbrowser package in a subprocess (with QT_QPA_PLATFORM=offscreen), then run pyflakes over jbrowser, tools and main.py. A missing or broken package fails here, not when a user opens a rarely used dialog. The versions of the main packages are printed at the end.

Adding a package#

  1. Prefer the standard library and Qt. Every package ends up in the installer and in the licence notices.
  2. Add it to requirements.txt (runtime) or requirements-build.txt (tools only) with a minimum version, and add its top-level module to REQUIRED_IMPORTS in tools/update_deps.py if the app imports it.
  3. Check the licence is compatible with the GPL v3 and list it in the README's licence section.
  4. Run tools\update_deps.py, then build the app and check the package is bundled (PyInstaller hooks usually handle it; otherwise add it to hiddenimports in JBrowser.spec).

Security updates#

Run tools\update_deps.py before every release (master.ps1 does it automatically), and watch PyQt6-WebEngine releases for Chromium security fixes; a new PyQt6-WebEngine is a reason for a patch release on its own.