Cove Official Extension Registry

This repository serves as the official extension registry for Cove. It contains metadata for all officially published extensions that can be discovered and installed through the Cove UI.

Structure

index.json                              # Master index of all extensions
extensions/
  {extension-id}.json                   # Canonical extension metadata + version history

How It Works

1. The Cove application fetches index.json from this repository's main branch via GitHub raw content URLs
2. Users can browse and search extensions in Settings → Extensions → Find and Install Extensions
3. Cove resolves extension summary/version data from each extensions/{extension-id}.json file
4. When a user installs an extension, Cove downloads the release ZIP from the extension's own GitHub repository
5. Extensions are extracted to the local extensions directory and loaded automatically

Adding an Extension

For Extension Authors

1. Build your extension following the Cove Extension Development Guide
2. Create GitHub releases with ZIP packages named {extension-id}-{version}.zip
3. Submit a PR to this repository adding your extension metadata:

• Create extensions/{your-extension-id}.json as the source of truth

4. Do not hand-write generated release fields. CI computes versions[].checksum from downloadUrl during PR validation and stamps missing versions[].releasedAt when the PR merges to main.

index.json is generated/synchronized by CI as an ID-only list. Do not manually duplicate version/summary fields there.

Extension Entry Schema

{
  "id": "com.example.my-extension",
  "sourceManifestUrl": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/your-org/your-repo/main/extensions/MyExtension/extension.json",
  "name": "My Extension",
  "description": "What this extension does.",
  "author": "Your Name",
  "repositoryUrl": "https://github.com/your-org/your-repo",
  "categories": ["ui", "analytics"],
  "dependencies": {},
  "screenshots": [],
  "versions": [
    {
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "changelog": "Initial release",
      "minCoveVersion": "1.0.0",
      "downloadUrl": "https://github.com/your-org/your-repo/releases/download/v1.0.0/com.example.my-extension-1.0.0.zip"
    }
  ]
}

Consolidation Rules

• extensions/{extension-id}.json is the canonical source for extension identity and summary.
• versions[] is the canonical source for version-specific data (version, releasedAt, changelog, downloadUrl, checksum, minCoveVersion where needed).
• Top-level release fields like version, minCoveVersion, releasedAt, checksum, downloadUrl, and updatedAt are not allowed.
• CI can sync metadata summary fields from sourceManifestUrl to reduce duplication with extension source repos.

Source Repo De-duplication

• sourceManifestUrl can point at the extension repo's extension.json so name/description/author/categories/minCoveVersion stay aligned automatically.
• This keeps registry metadata thin while preserving support for direct URL installs (which still read the extension package manifest directly).

Registry Maintenance Rules

• extensions/{extension-id}.json is the canonical source for name, description, author, repositoryUrl, categories, and versions[].
• minCoveVersion lives on each versions[] entry because compatibility can change between extension releases.
• CI computes versions[].checksum from versions[].downloadUrl and writes it back to the PR branch when possible.
• CI sets missing versions[].releasedAt on merge to main.
• CI syncs the ID-only index.json, so maintainers do not manually duplicate summary/version fields there.

Extension ID Convention

Use reverse domain notation: com.{org}.{extension-name}

Official extensions use cove.official.{name}.

Categories

Use lowercase kebab-case categories. Common categories: ui, ai, scraper, downloader, metadata, metadata-consumer, integration, automation, content-management, media-player, library, theme, layout, analytics, tools, search, import, export, notification, security.

Scrapers and downloaders are ordinary extensions in this registry. Do not create separate scraper or downloader registries.

Repo Patterns for Extension Authors

Extensions can be organized in two ways:

Single-Extension Repository

One repository per extension. Simpler CI, clear ownership. Use the Cove single-extension template.

Multi-Extension Repository

Multiple extensions in one repository. Use this for official Cove-provided packs that share CI or tests. Current official multi-extension repos are split by capability boundary: cove-extensions-ui for UI extensions, communitydownloaders for downloader extensions, and communityscrapers for scraper extensions.

License

MIT