# WarpEngine
A mountable Rails engine that turns any Rails application into a retro
software catalog: catalog models, a CI-pipeline-callable release updater, a
public read-only JSON API, and optional ActiveAdmin resources that plug into
your app's existing admin.
Repository: `https://git.teletypegames.org/tools/warp_engine`
## Features
- **Catalog domain**: `Software`, `Release`, `ReleaseAsset`, `ExternalLink`,
`PlatformLink`, `Image`, `SoftwareImage`, `Download` models with soft-delete
semantics and download statistics.
- **CI-callable updater**: your build pipeline drops artifacts into a
directory and calls one endpoint — WarpEngine extracts archives, parses
metadata and upserts the catalog records. Supported platforms out of the
box: TIC-80, Ebitengine, LÖVE, C64, Godot, Bevy, Phaser. Authenticated by
a shared secret or by per-owner database tokens with expiry and scopes
(`ApplicationToken`, managed in the admin).
- **Public JSON API**: catalog listing, highlighted title, per-platform build
matrix, image serving, download tracking, and a static file server for
web-playable builds.
- **Admin (optional)**: if the host runs ActiveAdmin, WarpEngine contributes
ready-made resources — a catalog editor with nested release/asset forms, an
image library with orphan cleanup, a file manager with a picker mode, and
download statistics. Without ActiveAdmin the engine runs headless
(API + updater only).
## Requirements
- Rails >= 8.0
- A relational database (developed and tested against MySQL 8)
- Optional: ActiveAdmin + Devise in the host app for the admin UI
## Example stack (docker compose)
`examples/compose` boots everything the engine's workflow assumes, end to
end: the catalog app itself, the SSH drop area the updater contract feeds
from and — behind a compose profile — a Gitea forge with Woodpecker CI, so
you can watch a pipeline publish a release into the catalog.
| Service | Role | Where |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `app` | Minimal Rails host with the engine mounted as a path gem (headless: API + updater) | `http://localhost:8080` |
| `mysql` | Catalog database | internal |
| `droparea` | SSH server where pipelines drop build artifacts; shares the `softwares` volume with `app` | `ssh drop@localhost -p 2222` |
| `gitea` | Git forge (profile `ci`) | `http://gitea:3000` |
| `woodpecker` + agent | CI wired to gitea (profile `ci`) | `http://woodpecker:8000` |
### Quickstart — catalog + drop area
```sh
cd examples/compose
cp .env.example .env # defaults work for a throwaway local demo
docker compose up --build
```
The first boot takes a few minutes: the app container bundles, runs
`rails g warp_engine:install` and `rails db:prepare`, then serves on
`http://localhost:8080`:
- `http://localhost:8080/api/software` — the (empty) catalog
- `http://localhost:8080/api/builds` — the platform build matrix
- `http://localhost:8080/api/docs` — apipie API docs
### Publish a release by hand
The updater contract is nothing but a handful of HTTP calls, so you can play
the role of the CI pipeline yourself:
```sh
# 1. Fake a build: metadata, a web build and a windows artifact, named by
# convention (the love platform requires the .html.zip web build)
cat > demo-0.1.0.metadata.json <<'JSON'
{ "name": "demo", "title": "Demo Game", "author": "You", "desc": "Hello", "license": "MIT" }
JSON
echo '
demo
' > index.html && zip demo-0.1.0.html.zip index.html
echo hello > game.bin && zip demo-0.1.0-win-x64.zip game.bin
# 2. Upload them (one request per file)
for f in demo-0.1.0.*; do
curl -fs -H "X-Update-Secret: example-update-secret" \
-F "file=@$f" "http://localhost:8080/build/upload?name=demo&version=0.1.0"
done
# 3. Publish the release
curl -X POST -H "X-Update-Secret: example-update-secret" \
"http://localhost:8080/build/publish?platform=love&name=demo&version=0.1.0"
```
(Dropping the files in over the SSH drop area — `scp -P 2222 demo-0.1.0.*
drop@localhost:drop/`, password `DROP_PASSWORD` from `.env` — works just as
well; the updater only cares that the files end up in `file_container_path`.)
`GET /api/software` now lists *Demo Game* with `html` and `win_x64` assets,
`http://localhost:8080/file/demo-0.1.0/index.html` serves the extracted web
build, and `GET /api/download?path=demo-0.1.0-win-x64.zip` serves the
artifact while logging a download record.
### Full loop — forge + CI (profile `ci`)
gitea and woodpecker address each other by service name, so let your browser
resolve those names too:
```sh
echo "127.0.0.1 gitea woodpecker" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts
```
1. `docker compose --profile ci up -d gitea`, open `http://gitea:3000`,
finish the install wizard (SQLite is fine) and create your admin user.
2. In gitea: *Settings → Applications → Manage OAuth2 Applications*, create
an app with redirect URI `http://woodpecker:8000/authorize`; copy the
client id/secret into `WOODPECKER_GITEA_CLIENT` / `WOODPECKER_GITEA_SECRET`
in `.env`.
3. `docker compose --profile ci up -d` — then log in at
`http://woodpecker:8000` (OAuth via gitea) and enable your repository.
A pipeline publishes a release exactly like the by-hand steps above — build,
upload, publish:
```yaml
# .woodpecker.yaml in a game repo hosted on the example gitea
steps:
publish:
image: alpine
environment:
UPDATE_SECRET:
from_secret: update_secret
commands:
- apk add --no-cache curl zip
- # ... build your game, produce mygame-1.0.0.metadata.json + artifacts ...
- for f in mygame-1.0.0.*; do curl -fs -H "X-Update-Secret: $UPDATE_SECRET" -F "file=@$f" "http://app:3000/build/upload?name=mygame&version=1.0.0"; done
- curl -fs -X POST -H "X-Update-Secret: $UPDATE_SECRET" "http://app:3000/build/publish?platform=love&name=mygame&version=1.0.0"
```
(The agent attaches pipeline containers to the stack network, so `app`
resolves. For real projects, the per-platform
[`tools/*-tools`](https://git.teletypegames.org) repos ship ready-made
Makefile + pipeline templates implementing this contract.)
Tear the stack down with `docker compose --profile ci down -v`.
## Installation
From the git repository:
```ruby
# Gemfile
gem "warp_engine", git: "https://git.teletypegames.org/tools/warp_engine.git"
```
Or from the Forgejo rubygems registry (tagged releases):
```ruby
source "https://git.teletypegames.org/api/packages/tools/rubygems" do
gem "warp_engine"
end
```
Then:
```sh
rails g warp_engine:install # initializer + create_warp_engine_tables migration
rails db:migrate
```
```ruby
# config/routes.rb — keep it the last entry so your own routes win
mount WarpEngine::Engine => "/"
```
## Configuration
```ruby
# config/initializers/warp_engine.rb
Rails.application.config.to_prepare do
WarpEngine.configure do |c|
# Where CI drops build artifacts and where images are stored
c.file_container_path = ENV.fetch("FILE_CONTAINER_PATH", "/softwares")
c.image_container_path = ENV.fetch("IMAGE_CONTAINER_PATH", "/images")
# Shared secret for the /build/* endpoints.
# nil => the endpoints reject every request.
c.update_secret = ENV["UPDATE_SECRET"]
# Authentication source for /build/* — an exclusive choice:
# :env — the shared secret above is accepted (default)
# :database — only WarpEngine::ApplicationToken records with the
# "update" scope are accepted; the shared secret stops
# working the moment you switch.
# :database mode also requires the owner class every token belongs to:
# c.application_token_source = :database
# c.application_token_owner_class = "AdminUser"
# Size cap for /build/upload and the admin file manager, in bytes (default 500MB).
# c.max_upload_size = 500 * 1024 * 1024
# Owner isolation: a database token may only upload/publish softwares
# owned by its own owner (unrestricted tokens are exempt). Enable only
# after backfilling owners — ownerless softwares are claimable by anyone.
# c.enforce_software_ownership = true
# If your app's own models reference catalog images, register them so the
# admin Images page counts them as "in use":
# c.image_owners = [
# {
# label: "member",
# image_ids: -> { Member.where.not(image_id: nil).distinct.pluck(:image_id) },
# usage_label: ->(image) { "member" if Member.where(image_id: image.id).exists? }
# }
# ]
end
end
```
## The updater contract
Publishing a release from CI is two steps:
1. **Upload** build artifacts into `file_container_path`, named by convention:
`-.metadata.json`, `-.html.zip`,
`--win-x64.zip`, `-.tic`, ... (each platform
declares which asset kinds it expects — see `GET /api/builds`). Either
drop the files in over the shared volume (SSH drop area), or push them
over HTTP — one request per file, `upload` scope, optional `sha256`
integrity check:
```sh
curl -H "X-Update-Secret: $UPDATE_SECRET" \
-F "file=@mygame-1.2.0.html.zip" \
"https://your-host/build/upload?name=mygame&version=1.2.0"
```
2. **Publish the release**:
```sh
curl -X POST -H "X-Update-Secret: $UPDATE_SECRET" \
"https://your-host/build/publish?platform=tic80&name=mygame&version=1.2.0"
```
WarpEngine extracts the archives, parses the metadata (JSON, or the Lua
comment header for TIC-80), and upserts the `Software`, `ExternalLink`,
`Release` and `ReleaseAsset` records in a single transaction. Previously
deleted records are resurrected on re-ingest.
### Updater authentication
The `X-Update-Secret` header carries one of two credentials, selected by
`application_token_source` — the modes are exclusive, the endpoint never
accepts both:
- **`:env`** (default): the single shared secret from `update_secret`.
- **`:database`**: `WarpEngine::ApplicationToken` records. Each token
belongs to an owner (the class named by `application_token_owner_class`,
e.g. `AdminUser`), carries a free-form scope list — publishing requires
the `"update"` scope, `/build/upload` the `"upload"` scope — and an
optional expiry. Tokens are created in the admin
(*App Tokens*): the plain token is generated server-side and shown exactly
once after creation; only its SHA256 digest is stored. Deleting a token in
the admin revokes it (soft delete), and `last_used_at` records when each
token last authenticated successfully.
When switching to `:database`, create the tokens and move your pipelines to
them first — the flip invalidates the shared secret immediately.
## Public API
| Endpoint | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| `GET /api/software` | Full catalog with releases, assets, links, download counts; `?owner_id=` filters to one publisher |
| `GET /api/software/highlighted` | The currently highlighted title |
| `GET /api/builds` | Expected asset kinds per platform (build matrix) |
| `GET /api/softwares/:name/builds` | Actual vs. missing build assets per release |
| `GET /api/image/:id` | Serves catalog images |
| `GET /api/download?path=` | Serves an artifact and logs a download record |
| `GET /file/*path` | Serves static build output (web-playable games, docs) |
## Admin integration
The host owns the single ActiveAdmin instance — authentication (Devise),
theme, assets and the `/admin` routes. WarpEngine only appends its resource
files to `ActiveAdmin.application.load_paths`. Two things to copy into a new
host:
- the small file-picker JS for release-asset path inputs (an iframe pointing
at `/admin/files?picker=1&field=`) in your `active_admin.js`;
- if you generate apipie docs, add
`"#{WarpEngine::Engine.root}/app/controllers/**/*.rb"` to your
`api_controllers_matcher`.
## Behavioral notes
- Every model is soft-deleted (`default_scope { where(deleted_at: nil) }`).
- The JSON shape is stable and intentionally bug-compatible with the project's
former Go backend (Go zero-time timestamps, camelCase keys, legacy flat
path fields).
- Model extension points: `ActiveSupport.on_load(:warp_engine_)` hooks.
## Tests
The engine ships an RSpec suite running against a bundled dummy app:
```sh
bundle install
bundle exec rake app:db:prepare RAILS_ENV=test
bundle exec rspec
```
## Development
This repository is a **read-only split mirror** — development happens in the
[`tools/teletypegames`](https://git.teletypegames.org/tools/teletypegames)
monorepo under `libs/ruby/warp_engine`, and CI republishes the mirror on every
change. Please do not open pull requests against the mirror.