Fix Windows crash: prefer EdgeChromium backend over WinForms#3
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pywebview's WinForms backend requires pythonnet/.NET Framework 4.x. On machines with missing or misconfigured .NET, pythonnet throws a RuntimeError that bypasses pywebview's fallback logic and crashes the app on startup. Switch to the EdgeChromium backend (Edge WebView2) on Windows — it ships with Windows 10/11 and needs no .NET dependency. If EdgeChromium is unavailable, fall back to auto-detection, then to browser mode as a last resort so the app never crashes. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[email protected]>
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Summary
Problem
Users on Windows with missing or misconfigured .NET Framework 4.x hit a
RuntimeErrorfrompythonnetwhen pywebview tries the WinForms backend. Because pywebview's fallback logic only catchesImportError, theRuntimeErrorpropagates and crashes the app with no recovery.Fix
EdgeChromium uses the Edge WebView2 runtime (ships with Windows 10/11) and has no .NET dependency, sidestepping the issue entirely. If EdgeChromium is unavailable, we fall back to pywebview's default auto-detection, and if that also fails, the app opens in the user's default browser as a last resort.
Test plan
guiparam passed)🤖 Generated with Claude Code