Decentralized Repository Format Documentation

Overview

The Decentralized Repository format is a JSON-based specification for defining app repositories. It allows developers to create collections of applications that can be distributed through the Decentralized App Store ecosystem.

Repository Setup

To set up a repository:

1. Create a repo.json file in your repository root
2. Define the repository metadata and apps array
3. Host the file on a publicly accessible web server
4. Ensure proper CORS headers are set for cross-origin requests
5. Validate your JSON structure before publishing

Root Properties

The repository JSON must contain the following root-level properties:

App Properties

Each app object in the apps array must contain the following properties:

Property	Type	Required	Description
id	string	✓	Unique app identifier (reverse domain notation)
title	string	✓	App display name
description	string	✓	Detailed app description (supports \n for line breaks)
shortDescription	string	✓	Brief one-line description for listings
iconUrl	string	✓	URL to app icon (recommended: 512x512px)
packageUrl	string	✓	URL to download the app package
bannerUrl	string	○	URL to app banner image
version	string	✓	Semantic version string (e.g., "1.0.0")
versionCode	number	✓	Numeric version code for updates
keywords	array	○	Array of search keywords
website	string	○	App's official website
privacyPolicy	string	○	URL to privacy policy
permissions	array	○	Array of required permissions
screenshots	array	○	Array of screenshot URLs
author	object/null	○	Author information object (can be null)
type	number	✓	App type identifier (see App Types section)

App Types Specification

The type property defines the application type and determines how it will be handled by the store:

Author Object

The author object (when not null) should contain:

Complete Example

{
    "id": "com.example.myrepo",
    "name": "My App Repository",
    "description": "A collection of useful applications",
    "website": "https://example.com",
    "iconUrl": "https://example.com/repo-icon.png",
    "apps": [
        {
        "id": "com.example.myapp",
        "title": "My Awesome App",
        "description": "This is an amazing application that does great things.\nIt has multiple features and capabilities.",
        "shortDescription": "An amazing application",
        "iconUrl": "https://example.com/app-icon.png",
        "packageUrl": "https://example.com/app.apk",
        "bannerUrl": "https://example.com/app-banner.png",
        "version": "1.2.3",
        "versionCode": 5,
        "keywords": ["productivity", "utility", "awesome"],
        "website": "https://example.com/myapp",
        "privacyPolicy": "https://example.com/privacy",
        "permissions": [
            "Access to network",
            "Access to storage"
        ],
        "screenshots": [
            "https://example.com/screenshot1.png",
            "https://example.com/screenshot2.png"
        ],
        "author": {
            "name": "John Developer",
            "website": "https://johndeveloper.com",
            "email": "john@example.com"
        },
        "type": 1
        }
    ]
}
        

Validation Rules

• All URLs must be valid and accessible
• App IDs must be unique within the repository
• Version codes should increment with each update
• Image URLs should point to valid image files
• Package URLs must point to valid installable files
• JSON must be valid and well-formed
• Required fields cannot be empty or null (except author which can be null)
• App type must be 0, 1, or 2
• Version should follow semantic versioning (major.minor.patch)

Note: Always validate your repository JSON before publishing to ensure compatibility with the Decentralized App Store.