arches-software-directory

The community directory for Arches applications, extensions, other tools, and packages. Browse the directory at software-directory.archesproject.org.

Individual authors are responsible for regularly updating the metadata for their own submitted items. Items with outdated or inaccurate information may be removed. The Getty Conservation Institute, as sponsor of the Arches Project, retains editorial control over this directory.

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What belongs here

Kind	Description	Examples
extension	Adds functionality to any Arches installation	arches-modular-reports, arches-querysets, arches-component-lab
application	A domain-specific composition of core + extensions	arches-lingo, arches-her, arches-addressing
tool	A developer utility that supplements or supports Arches functionality but is not installed as part of an Arches project	arches-containers
package	A package repo that includes some or all of the following for loading into Arches: Resource Models, Controlled Lists, Ontologies, Example Business Data	ogee

The directory is discovery-only — code stays in the author's own repository and on PyPI. This repo holds only the metadata manifests.

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Submission Criteria

Contributors are invited to submit applications, extensions, other Arches-specific tools, and data model packages through a pull request via the button below. Contributors are encouraged to share works-in-progress in order to provide visibility and promote alignment early in the development process. Although submissions of any status will be considered, there are required fields of information. Regardless of authorship or code location, all submitted solutions must be shared under an appropriate open-source licence (e.g., AGPL3).

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Installation

Clone the arches-software-directory repo and checkout the relevant branch:

If installing for development checkout the development branch.
If installing for package submission checkout the main branch.

If installing for development

With a virtual environment activated, navigate to the arches-software-directory directory from your terminal and run:

pip install -e .

To populate the Arches Software Directory with package data from the manifest YAML files, run:

python scripts/enrich.py --packages-dir packages --output site/src/_data/packages.json

Change directory to site/ and run eleventy:

npm run dev

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Submitting a package

1. Fork this repository

Click Fork in the top right of this page.

2. Create a manifest file

Create a new file at packages/<your-package-name>.yaml. Use the schema below and the existing manifests in packages/ as examples.

name: your-package-name         # PyPI name or unique slug (lowercase, hyphens)
kind: application               # extension | application | tool | package
summary: One sentence that explains what your package does.
repository: https://github.com/you/your-package
pypi: your-package-name         # omit if not on PyPI
docs: https://your-docs-url     # omit if no docs site
license: AGPL-3.0-or-later      # SPDX identifier
maintainers:
  - your-github-username
arches_versions: ">=8.1,<9.0"  # PEP 440 version specifier
domains:
  - cultural-heritage           # high-level subject area(s)
tags:
  - your-tag                    # lowercase, hyphen-separated
status: planning            # planning | experimental | alpha | beta | stable | maintenance

Full schema reference: schema.json

3. Open a pull request

Open a PR from your fork targeting main. The automated CI will:

• Validate your YAML against the manifest schema
• Check that repository and docs URLs resolve (HTTP 200)
• Verify the license value is a recognized SPDX identifier
• Confirm pypi (if provided) resolves on PyPI

PRs that pass CI will be reviewed by a maintainer within a few days. See MAINTAINING.md for the review checklist.

A note on names

As an open-source community, contributors create their own software item names. Please choose names that are succinct while conveying the specific purpose or function of the software item. And please be conscientious of claiming a broad or generic namespace when a more specific name is appropriate. For example, "arches-zod-validation" is a better name than "arches-validation," which could apply to a range of software items.

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Updating an existing manifest

Open a PR that modifies the relevant packages/<name>.yaml file. The same CI validation applies.

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Removing a package

Open a PR that deletes the manifest file. Include a brief reason in the PR description (e.g. "package is abandoned and no longer compatible with current Arches versions").

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Manifest schema

See schema.json for the full JSON Schema definition. Key fields:

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Package slug (matches PyPI name if published)
kind	Yes	extension, application, tool, or package
summary	Yes	One-sentence description, 140 chars max
repository	Yes	Source repository URL
license	Yes	SPDX license identifier
maintainers	Yes	GitHub usernames/orgs
arches_versions	Yes	PEP 440 specifier for compatible Arches versions
status	Yes	planning, experimental, alpha, beta, stable, or maintenance
pypi	No	PyPI package name
docs	No	Documentation URL
domains	No	High-level subject domains
tags	No	Freeform search tags (lowercase, hyphen-separated)

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Local validation

You can validate your manifest locally before opening a PR:

pip install check-jsonschema
check-jsonschema --schemafile schema.json packages/your-package-name.yaml

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License

Manifest data in this repository is released under CC0 1.0 — no rights reserved. Each listed package carries its own license.