Bee Native Messaging Host

A native messaging host application for the Browser's External Editor extension.

Supported Operating Systems

• Linux
• Windows (MinGW binaries*)
• macOS (tested on 10.15.6 and 15.3.1)
• FreeBSD

Note

Windows builds are cross-compiled using MinGW. Linux builds might also be cross-compiled using Docker.

---

Installation

Precompiled Binaries

• Available via SourceForge or the GitHub Releases page.
• FreeBSD Port
• RPM packages available via Copr.

macOS

Download the latest .pkg file from the release links above. Then run the following (replace the filename with your actual download):

sudo spctl --master-disable
sudo installer -pkg ./beectl-1.3.7-3.x86_64.Release.pkg -target /
sudo spctl --master-enable

Note

Gatekeeper is temporarily disabled due to the lack of an official Apple Developer certificate. This project is not signed with an Apple-issued certificate to avoid the $99/year developer fee.

RPM (Fedora/Centos/openSUSE)

Enable the repository and install:

sudo dnf copr enable ruslan-osmanov/beectl
sudo dnf install --refresh beectl

Alternatively, manually install the RPM:

rpm -Uvh --nodeps beectl-<VERSION>.<ARCH>.Release.rpm

DEB (Debian/Ubuntu)

Install the package:

dpkg -i beectl-<VERSION>.<ARCH>.Release.deb

NixOS / Nix Package Manager

BeeCtl is available as a Nix flake for reproducible builds on NixOS and systems with Nix package manager.

NixOS Installation (Idiomatic)

On NixOS, you don't need to manually link manifests. Add the package to your configuration and configure your browser.

In your flake.nix or configuration.nix:

{ pkgs, ... }: {
  # 1. Add the package (assuming you added the flake to your inputs)
  environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.beectl ];
  
  # 2. Configure Firefox to find the native messaging host
  programs.firefox.nativeMessagingHosts.packages = [ pkgs.beectl ];
  
  # Note: Chromium-based browsers may also require specific configuration
  # depending on your setup.
}

Nix Package Manager (Non-NixOS)

If you are using the Nix package manager on another Linux distribution, install the package using:

nix profile install github:rosmanov/bee-host --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes"

After installation, create symbolic links for browser manifests. This is required because:

• Browsers expect manifests in specific standard locations (~/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/, etc.)
• Nix installs packages to isolated read-only paths in /nix/store/
• The symlinks bridge these two locations

For Firefox:

mkdir -p ~/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts
ln -sf ~/.nix-profile/lib/mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/com.ruslan_osmanov.bee.json \
       ~/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/com.ruslan_osmanov.bee.json

For Chrome:

mkdir -p ~/.config/google-chrome/NativeMessagingHosts
ln -sf ~/.nix-profile/etc/opt/chrome/native-messaging-hosts/com.ruslan_osmanov.bee.json \
       ~/.config/google-chrome/NativeMessagingHosts/com.ruslan_osmanov.bee.json

For Chromium:

mkdir -p ~/.config/chromium/NativeMessagingHosts
ln -sf ~/.nix-profile/etc/chromium/native-messaging-hosts/com.ruslan_osmanov.bee.json \
       ~/.config/chromium/NativeMessagingHosts/com.ruslan_osmanov.bee.json

Note

You only need to create these symlinks once. They point to ~/.nix-profile/ which Nix automatically updates when you upgrade, so the manifests will always reference the current version.

Upgrading

nix profile upgrade '.*bee.*' --refresh --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes"

The manifests will automatically point to the new version - no need to recreate the symlinks.

Alternative: Use Precompiled TGZ

If you prefer to avoid manual manifest setup, download the TGZ package and extract to your home directory:

tar xzf beectl-<VERSION>-<RELEASE>.<ARCH>.Release.TGZ -C ~/.local --strip-components=1

Then create symlinks as shown above, replacing ~/.nix-profile/ with ~/.local/.

Windows

Step 1: Download the Installer

For the x86_64 (amd64) and i686 (32-bit) architectures, download the latest .exe file from the release links above. The installer will automatically register the host with the browser.

For arm64, there is no native Windows build available. However, you can use the i686 version on Windows 10 or the amd64 version on Windows 11, which will run in emulation mode.

Note

It is possible to build the application for arm64 natively, but, at the time of writing, there is no official support for this architecture in the Windows build scripts. Cross-compilation for arm64 is not yet implemented because the MinGW toolchain does not support it. Building for arm64 natively on Windows is possible but requires a Windows ARM64 machine with build tools installed, which is not available in the maintainer's CI/CD environment.

Step 2: Install the Host App

Run the downloaded installer. It will automatically register the host with the browser.

In the "Install Options" dialog, choose either of the following options:

• "Add beectl to the system PATH for all users" (recommended)"
• "Add beectl to the system PATH for the current user"

Click "Next" and accept the default destination folder.

Next, accept the default start menu folder "BeeCtl" unless you want to change it. Click "Next".

Please leave both components checked:

• "application"
• "config"

Click "Next" and then "Install".

---

Uninstallation

RPM

sudo rpm -e beectl

DEB

sudo apt purge beectl

---

Building from Source

The project uses CMake and platform-specific toolchains located in CMake/Toolchain-*.cmake. The default compiler is GCC for Linux and MinGW-GCC for Windows.

Cross-Compilation

To cross-compile for different platforms, you can use the build-cross.sh script. This script requires Docker to be installed and configured:

./build-cross.sh

Native Linux (amd64)

./build-linux-amd64.sh -b Release

Native Linux (i386)

./build-linux-i386.sh -b Release

Cross-Compilation for Windows (i686)

./build-win-i686.sh -b Release

Other Architectures

Custom toolchains can be used as follows:

./build.sh /path/to/custom-toolchain.cmake -b Release

Toolchains for other CPU architectures can be added on request.

Debug Builds

By default, ./build.sh builds a debug version if -b is not specified. Example:

./build.sh all -b Debug

This will iterate over all Toolchain-*.cmake files in the CMake directory.

To cross-compile for all platforms, you can use:

./build-cross.sh -b Debug

---

Packaging

The build scripts (build.sh, build-cross.sh and others) automatically generate CPack configuration files.

To manually create a package, you can run:

make package

CPack will generate a package appropriate to your current platform (e.g., RPM, DEB, NSIS).

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Copyright (C) 2019–2025 Ruslan Osmanov.