Parakeet AI Desktop fails to launch on Windows due to missing native binding

Description

Parakeet AI Desktop installs successfully on Windows, but the application immediately crashes when launched. An Electron error window appears with the message:

A JavaScript error occurred in the main process

The underlying exception says that the application cannot find a required native binding and references an npm optional-dependency issue.

Error message

Uncaught Exception: Error: Cannot find native binding. npm has a bug related to optional dependencies (https://github.com/npm/cli/issues/4828). Please try `npm i` again after removing both package-lock.json and node_modules directory.

The stack trace points to files packaged inside:

C:\Users\Rohan\AppData\Local\Programs\parakeetai-desktop\resources\app.asar\

Steps to reproduce

1. Download the Windows x64 Parakeet AI Desktop installer.

2. Run the installer normally.

3. Allow the installation to complete.

4. Launch Parakeet AI Desktop.

5. Observe that the application does not open.

6. An Electron “JavaScript error occurred in the main process” dialog appears instead.

Troubleshooting already attempted

I confirmed that my computer uses an x64-based processor and installed the Windows x64 version, not the ARM64 version.

I also performed a clean reinstall:

1. Uninstalled Parakeet AI Desktop through Windows Settings.

2. Deleted the remaining folder:

   %LocalAppData%\Programs\parakeetai-desktop

3. Downloaded a fresh copy of the x64 installer.

4. Reinstalled the application.

5. Restarted and launched the application again.

The same error continues to occur after the clean reinstall.

Expected behavior

Parakeet AI Desktop should launch normally after installation.

Actual behavior

The application crashes during startup because a required native Node.js binding cannot be found or loaded.

Likely cause

This appears to be a packaging or build issue in the distributed Windows installer. A native dependency may be missing from the packaged Electron application, excluded as an npm optional dependency, built for the wrong architecture, or not unpacked correctly from app.asar.

The suggested command, npm i, cannot reasonably be performed by an end user because this is an installed desktop application. The installation directory contains the packaged application rather than the original project with its package.json, package-lock.json, and development environment.

Environment

• Application: Parakeet AI Desktop

• Operating system: Windows

• System architecture: x64

• Installer architecture: Windows x64

• Installation location:

  C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\parakeetai-desktop

• Error stage: Immediately during application startup

• Reproducibility: Every launch, including after a clean reinstall

Additional request

Please verify that all platform-specific native dependencies are included in the Windows x64 release artifact and that the required native binary is compatible with the Electron/Node ABI used by the application.

I can provide the complete stack trace, application version, installer filename, Windows version, and additional logs if needed.