Building from source when editing reader

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Thayer

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Jun 11, 2026, 5:41:45 PM (2 days ago) Jun 11
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I am brand new to Zotero development and new to node, but I am working on a patch for the reader to give me more flexibility in filtering annotations. I have successfully followed the instructions and built Zotero from source (https://www.zotero.org/support/dev/client_coding/building_the_desktop_app) with a caveat: changes that I made inside `reader/` are not reflected in the application that is built when I execute `app/scripts/build_and_run -r`.

As a basic example: (1) I can edit html content in `chrome/content/zotero/` and see those changes reflected when I build the app. (2) but when edit html content in `reader/src/common/components/sidebar/annotations-view.js` nothing changes when I build the app (I can actually delete the contents of this file with no effect).

What is the intended procedure for developers working on the reader to build Zotero?

Thank you for your help!

Tomasz Najdek

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Jun 11, 2026, 6:09:35 PM (2 days ago) Jun 11
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The build system uses a commit hash to download a pre-built reader in order to speed up the build process. It then stores that hash inside .signatures.json​ so on future requests for a rebuild, it compares the hash and only re-fetches if they mismatch. Finally, if for any reason the download fails, it proceeds to do the build locally. The logic for this lives in js-build/reader.js​. Currently, I believe, the only way to achieve what you're trying to do is to modify that script in order to force a local build and skip updating the signatures file.
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Abe Jellinek

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Jun 11, 2026, 6:36:10 PM (2 days ago) Jun 11
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