diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index acfe86e..d1cf389 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -32,19 +32,22 @@ nobody to log in as.
```json
[
- {
- "name": "Teletype Games",
- "catalogUrl": "https://teletypegames.org",
- "storeRepositoryUrl": "https://git.teletypegames.org/stores/ttg-desktop-store"
- }
+ { "name": "Teletype Games", "catalogUrl": "https://teletypegames.org", "storeRepositoryUrl": null }
]
```
-A `Store` row is three fields — `name`, `catalog_url`, `store_repository_url` —
-maintained from **ActiveAdmin ▸ 🛒 Stores**, and `db/seeds.rb` creates our own.
-The client derives everything else: it reads `config.json` from the store
-repository, points it at `catalog_url`, and falls back to the engine's defaults if
-that repository has no config file.
+A `Store` row has two required fields — `name` and `catalog_url` — plus an
+**optional** `store_repository_url`, maintained from **ActiveAdmin ▸ 🛒 Stores**;
+`db/seeds.rb` creates our own.
+
+**A store does not need a repository.** The store engine's own defaults already
+cover the host-to-asset mapping, the install modes, the platforms and the
+behaviour; what they cannot know is identity — a slug, a name and a catalog — and
+that is what this row carries. With no repository the client derives the slug from
+the catalog host, writes a small config and installs. Given one, it reads that
+repository's `config.json` and points it at `catalog_url`, and that file remains the
+authority on how the store behaves; a repository without a config file is treated
+as no repository at all.
This lives in the host app **on purpose, not in WarpEngine**. The engine serves
one catalog and has no business knowing which stores exist for it; who ships a
@@ -55,7 +58,7 @@ store for a catalog is a property of the site.
| Model | `apps/api/app/models/store.rb` |
| Endpoint | `apps/api/app/controllers/api/stores_controller.rb` |
| Admin | `apps/api/app/admin/stores.rb` |
-| Client | [`warp-engine-desktop-gui`](https://git.teletypegames.org/stores/warp-engine-desktop-gui) |
+| Client | [`warp-engine-client`](https://git.teletypegames.org/stores/warp-engine-client) |
## Development environment
diff --git a/apps/api/app/admin/stores.rb b/apps/api/app/admin/stores.rb
index 66922fe..3e0804f 100644
--- a/apps/api/app/admin/stores.rb
+++ b/apps/api/app/admin/stores.rb
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ ActiveAdmin.register Store do
row :updated_at
end
para do
- "Listed by GET /api/stores, which the desktop client reads on first run: it " \
- "takes the config from the store repository and points it at the catalog above."
+ "Listed by GET /api/stores, which the desktop client reads on first run. With a " \
+ "store repository the client takes that config and points it at the catalog " \
+ "above; without one it uses the store engine's defaults, which need nothing " \
+ "but the name and the catalog."
end
end
@@ -45,8 +47,10 @@ ActiveAdmin.register Store do
f.input :name, hint: "What the client shows in its store picker"
f.input :catalog_url, hint: "Base URL of the WarpEngine catalog, e.g. https://teletypegames.org"
f.input :store_repository_url,
- hint: "Repository holding the store's config.json, e.g. " \
- "https://git.teletypegames.org/stores/ttg-desktop-store"
+ hint: "Optional. A repository holding the store's config.json, e.g. " \
+ "https://git.teletypegames.org/stores/ttg-desktop-store. Leave it " \
+ "empty and the client uses the engine's defaults with the name and " \
+ "catalog above"
end
f.actions
end
diff --git a/apps/api/app/controllers/api/stores_controller.rb b/apps/api/app/controllers/api/stores_controller.rb
index b1b38c1..5663d22 100644
--- a/apps/api/app/controllers/api/stores_controller.rb
+++ b/apps/api/app/controllers/api/stores_controller.rb
@@ -6,13 +6,19 @@ class Api::StoresController < ApiController
api :GET, "/api/stores", "List the stores a client can install from"
desc <<~DESC
The registry the graphical desktop client reads on first run: which catalogs
- exist, and where each one's store configuration lives. Public on purpose —
- a client has nobody to log in as.
+ exist, and — where there is one — the repository holding a store's own
+ configuration. Public on purpose: a client has nobody to log in as.
+
+ A record needs a name and a catalog URL. `storeRepositoryUrl` is optional and
+ answers `null` when there is none; a client then takes identity from this
+ record and everything else from the store engine's built-in defaults, so no
+ repository has to exist for a store to be installable.
DESC
returns code: 200, desc: "Array of stores" do
property :name, String, desc: "Display name of the store"
property :catalogUrl, String, desc: "Base URL of the WarpEngine catalog it serves"
- property :storeRepositoryUrl, String, desc: "Repository holding the store's config.json"
+ property :storeRepositoryUrl, [String, nil],
+ desc: "Repository holding the store's config.json, or null when it has none"
end
def index
render json: StoreService.new.index
diff --git a/apps/api/app/models/store.rb b/apps/api/app/models/store.rb
index 3f207a4..2ac9d5d 100644
--- a/apps/api/app/models/store.rb
+++ b/apps/api/app/models/store.rb
@@ -1,15 +1,22 @@
-# A store a client can install from: a WarpEngine catalog, and the repository
-# holding the store's own configuration.
+# A store a client can install from: a WarpEngine catalog, and — optionally — a
+# repository holding that store's own configuration.
#
# This is deliberately not part of WarpEngine. The engine serves one catalog and
# has no business knowing which stores exist for it; the registry is a property of
# this site, which is what the graphical client asks.
+#
+# The repository is optional because a store does not need one. A client takes
+# identity from this record — the name, the catalog and a slug derived from it —
+# and everything else from the store engine's built-in defaults. A repository is
+# still honoured when given: it remains the authority on how that store behaves,
+# which platforms it offers and where things land.
class Store < ApplicationRecord
URL = %r{\Ahttps?://\S+\z}
validates :name, presence: true
validates :catalog_url, presence: true, format: { with: URL, message: "must be an http(s) URL" }
- validates :store_repository_url, presence: true, format: { with: URL, message: "must be an http(s) URL" }
+ validates :store_repository_url, format: { with: URL, message: "must be an http(s) URL" },
+ allow_blank: true
default_scope { where(deleted_at: nil) }
diff --git a/apps/api/app/serializers/store_serializer.rb b/apps/api/app/serializers/store_serializer.rb
index 1d95252..9023ce8 100644
--- a/apps/api/app/serializers/store_serializer.rb
+++ b/apps/api/app/serializers/store_serializer.rb
@@ -5,5 +5,7 @@ class StoreSerializer < Blueprinter::Base
# camelCase, as the catalog's own payloads use — one convention for a client
# that reads both.
field(:catalogUrl) { |store| store.catalog_url }
- field(:storeRepositoryUrl) { |store| store.store_repository_url }
+ # Null rather than an empty string when there is no repository: the client
+ # branches on its absence, and "" is not an absence a JSON reader can trust.
+ field(:storeRepositoryUrl) { |store| store.store_repository_url.presence }
end
diff --git a/apps/api/db/migrate/20260818120000_allow_stores_without_a_repository.rb b/apps/api/db/migrate/20260818120000_allow_stores_without_a_repository.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bbaaf76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/db/migrate/20260818120000_allow_stores_without_a_repository.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+class AllowStoresWithoutARepository < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.1]
+ # A store repository is now optional. The client only ever needed identity from
+ # it — a name, a catalog and a slug — and the engine's own defaults cover
+ # everything else, so a record with a catalog URL is a complete store. A
+ # repository is still honoured when there is one: it stays the authority on how
+ # that store behaves.
+ def change
+ change_column_null :stores, :store_repository_url, true
+ end
+end
diff --git a/apps/api/db/schema.rb b/apps/api/db/schema.rb
index 1b4b1a9..53e7d62 100644
--- a/apps/api/db/schema.rb
+++ b/apps/api/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
#
# It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
-ActiveRecord::Schema[8.1].define(version: 2026_08_18_000001) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema[8.1].define(version: 2026_08_18_120000) do
create_table "admin_users", charset: "utf8mb4", collation: "utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci", force: :cascade do |t|
t.datetime "created_at", null: false
t.datetime "deleted_at", precision: 3
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema[8.1].define(version: 2026_08_18_000001) do
t.datetime "created_at", precision: 3, null: false
t.datetime "deleted_at", precision: 3
t.string "name", null: false
- t.string "store_repository_url", null: false
+ t.string "store_repository_url"
t.datetime "updated_at", precision: 3, null: false
t.index ["deleted_at"], name: "idx_stores_deleted_at"
t.index ["name"], name: "idx_stores_name"
diff --git a/apps/api/spec/controllers/stores_controller_spec.rb b/apps/api/spec/controllers/stores_controller_spec.rb
index 21bf238..0af44dd 100644
--- a/apps/api/spec/controllers/stores_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/apps/api/spec/controllers/stores_controller_spec.rb
@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@ RSpec.describe Api::StoresController, type: :request do
expect(store["storeRepositoryUrl"]).to end_with("/stores/ttg-desktop-store")
end
+ it "answers null for a store with no repository" do
+ create(:store, store_repository_url: nil)
+
+ get "/api/stores"
+
+ expect(JSON.parse(response.body).first["storeRepositoryUrl"]).to be_nil
+ end
+
it "leaves out soft-deleted stores" do
create(:store, name: "Gone").update!(deleted_at: Time.current)
diff --git a/apps/api/spec/models/store_spec.rb b/apps/api/spec/models/store_spec.rb
index f3bc387..38f781b 100644
--- a/apps/api/spec/models/store_spec.rb
+++ b/apps/api/spec/models/store_spec.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ require "rails_helper"
RSpec.describe Store, type: :model do
it { should validate_presence_of(:name) }
it { should validate_presence_of(:catalog_url) }
- it { should validate_presence_of(:store_repository_url) }
it "rejects a catalog url that is not http(s)" do
store = build(:store, catalog_url: "git@example.org:thing.git")
@@ -15,6 +14,13 @@ RSpec.describe Store, type: :model do
expect(build(:store, store_repository_url: "not a url")).not_to be_valid
end
+ # A store without a repository is a complete store: the client takes identity
+ # from the record and everything else from the engine's defaults.
+ it "accepts a store with no repository at all" do
+ expect(build(:store, store_repository_url: nil)).to be_valid
+ expect(build(:store, store_repository_url: "")).to be_valid
+ end
+
describe ".ordered" do
it "lists stores by name" do
later = create(:store, name: "Zed Games")
diff --git a/apps/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en.ts b/apps/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
index ad073f3..e5b4cbf 100644
--- a/apps/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
+++ b/apps/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en.ts
@@ -203,6 +203,13 @@ export default {
subtitle: 'Our games on your own machine, kept up to date.',
lead: 'Two stores put our catalog on the two things that play it: a Batocera box, and RetroArch on anything else — desktop Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, a Steam Deck or a handheld. Both download the games straight from this site with box art, add them to the device\'s own library, and can be re-run any time to pick up new releases. Python 3 standard library only — nothing to install alongside them.',
gui: 'Graphical client',
+ clientTitle: 'A window, if you would rather not type',
+ clientDesc: 'WarpEngine Store is a small desktop application that does everything the command line does: the catalog as a grid of cards, one click to install a game into your own application menu, one to play it, one to remove it. It is also the way in on Windows, where `curl … | sh` does not exist.',
+ clientPointSetup: 'Sets the store up itself on first run — nothing to install beforehand.',
+ clientPointBrowse: 'Filter by platform, by what is installed, or by what has an update.',
+ clientPointSame: 'The same store underneath, so the command line keeps working on the same games.',
+ clientDownload: 'Download the app',
+ clientNote: 'Python 3 has to be on the machine, as it does for the command line — the store itself is a Python program and the window drives it. The macOS build is signed but not notarised, so macOS asks before opening it the first time; the download page says how.',
chooseTitle: 'Pick your device',
repo: 'Git repository',
docs: 'Documentation',
diff --git a/apps/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu.ts b/apps/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu.ts
index e8d12e4..8c79f31 100644
--- a/apps/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu.ts
+++ b/apps/frontend/src/i18n/locales/hu.ts
@@ -203,6 +203,13 @@ export default {
subtitle: 'A játékaink a saját gépeden, mindig frissen.',
lead: 'Két store teszi fel a katalógusunkat arra a kettőre, ami le is játssza: egy Batocera gépre, és RetroArch-ra minden máson — asztali Linuxon, Windowson, macOS-en, Androidon, Steam Decken vagy egy kézikonzolon. Mindkettő közvetlenül erről az oldalról tölti le a játékokat borítóképpel, felveszi őket a gép saját könyvtárába, és bármikor újrafuttatható az új kiadásokért. Csak a Python 3 alapkönyvtárát használják — nem kell mellé semmit telepíteni.',
gui: 'Grafikus kliens',
+ clientTitle: 'Ablak, ha nem szeretnél gépelni',
+ clientDesc: 'A WarpEngine Store egy kis asztali alkalmazás, ami mindent tud, amit a parancssor: a katalógus kártyákban, egy kattintás a telepítés a saját alkalmazásmenüdbe, egy az indítás, egy az eltávolítás. Windowson ez az egyetlen út is, mert ott a `curl … | sh` nem létezik.',
+ clientPointSetup: 'Első indításkor magát a store-t is beállítja — előre semmit nem kell telepíteni.',
+ clientPointBrowse: 'Szűrhetsz platformra, a telepítettekre vagy arra, amihez frissítés van.',
+ clientPointSame: 'Alatta ugyanaz a store, tehát a parancssor ugyanazokon a játékokon dolgozik tovább.',
+ clientDownload: 'Alkalmazás letöltése',
+ clientNote: 'Python 3 kell a gépre, ugyanúgy, mint a parancssorhoz — a store maga egy Python program, az ablak csak vezérli. A macOS-csomag aláírt, de nem notarizált, ezért a rendszer az első megnyitás előtt rákérdez; a letöltési oldal leírja, hogyan.',
chooseTitle: 'Válaszd ki a gépedet',
repo: 'Git tároló',
docs: 'Dokumentáció',
diff --git a/apps/frontend/src/page/stores/StoresIndexPage.vue b/apps/frontend/src/page/stores/StoresIndexPage.vue
index 605445d..e01d03c 100644
--- a/apps/frontend/src/page/stores/StoresIndexPage.vue
+++ b/apps/frontend/src/page/stores/StoresIndexPage.vue
@@ -49,6 +49,33 @@
+
+
+
1 {{ t('stores.installTitle') }}
@@ -128,6 +155,15 @@ const router = useRouter()
const FORGE = 'https://git.teletypegames.org/stores'
const ENGINES_FORGE = 'https://git.teletypegames.org/engines'
+// The graphical client. Its own thing rather than a link on the desktop store: it
+// drives any WarpEngine store the site's registry offers, and on Windows it is the
+// only way in — there is no `curl … | sh` there.
+const CLIENT = {
+ repoUrl: `${FORGE}/warp-engine-client`,
+ releasesUrl: `${FORGE}/warp-engine-client/releases`,
+ wikiUrl: `${CONFIG.wikiBase}/stores/warp-engine-client`,
+}
+
type DeviceId = 'desktop' | 'batocera' | 'retroarch'
const BATOCERA_CLI = '/userdata/system/batocera-store/ttg-store'
@@ -160,7 +196,7 @@ const devices = [
wikiUrl: `${CONFIG.wikiBase}/stores/ttg-desktop-store`,
installCmd: `curl -fsSL ${FORGE}/ttg-desktop-store/raw/branch/master/install.sh | sh`,
afterInstallCmd: '',
- guiUrl: `${FORGE}/warp-engine-desktop-gui/releases`,
+ guiUrl: CLIENT.releasesUrl,
uninstallCmd: `curl -fsSL ${FORGE}/ttg-desktop-store/raw/branch/master/uninstall.sh | sh`,
cliSnippet: [
`${DESKTOP_CLI} paths # where things go on this machine`,
@@ -194,6 +230,9 @@ const initial = devices.some((d) => d.id === route.query.device)
: 'desktop'
const device = ref(initial)
const current = computed(() => devices.find((d) => d.id === device.value) ?? devices[0])
+// Only the desktop store has a window; the other two run on devices with no desktop
+// to put one on.
+const client = computed(() => (device.value === 'desktop' ? CLIENT : null))
function select(id: DeviceId) {
device.value = id
@@ -271,6 +310,18 @@ const engines = [
.st-engine {
@apply bg-gray-50;
}
+.st-client {
+ @apply bg-emerald-50/60 border-emerald-100;
+}
+.st-client-points {
+ @apply space-y-2 mb-5;
+}
+.st-client-points li {
+ @apply flex items-start gap-2 text-gray-700;
+}
+.st-client-points i {
+ @apply text-emerald-500 mt-1 text-sm;
+}
.st-engine-icon {
@apply text-gray-400 text-lg;
}