archipelagoandClaude Opus 5
7adc3260a6
Narrative pass over the manifest spec, plus one correction to the guide I committed inba052736. - **`app.id` allowed `_`.** `is_valid_app_id` accepts lowercase ASCII letters, digits and single hyphens only — no underscores, no leading/trailing hyphen, no `--`. The spec's "alphanumeric + `-`/`_`" would have a developer write an id that fails to parse. - **"Must match the directory name"** is a convention, not a rule. The loader (`prod_orchestrator.rs:1455-1474`) walks `*/manifest.yml` and keys off `app.id`, never comparing it to the folder, so a mismatch silently registers the app under a different id. Said so rather than implying enforcement. - **The Quadlet claim was the same one architecture.md was corrected for** (f55ed6bf): install does NOT compile to a `user.slice` Quadlet unit today. `config.use_quadlet_backends` defaults false, so apps take the legacy `podman create + start` path; Quadlet is opt-in per node and companion UIs are the exception that already use it. - **"no per-app installer code"** — true of installers, but `run_pre_start_hooks` is a hardcoded `match app_id` covering seven first-party apps (bitcoin-ui, filebrowser, lnd, archy-nbxplorer, btcpay-server, fedimint-clientd, grafana). Documented as the caveat it is; anyone reading the source will find it in a minute and the doc should not look like it's hiding it. - `derived_env` now names the full closed allow-list including `{{BITCOIN_HOST}}` and what it resolves to. Correction toba052736: I wrote there that an unknown `derived_env` placeholder passes through verbatim. It doesn't — `validate_derived_template` rejects both unknown names and unbalanced `{{`. Fixed that row in the guide. Verified accurate and left alone: the capability allow-list, network_policy values, `/dev/*` device rule, volume option allow-list, bind-source confinement, the four generated_secret kinds, `hooks.pre_start` being schema-only, and the 30s reconciler interval (`BootReconciler::DEFAULT_INTERVAL`). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Archipelago
Self-sovereign Bitcoin node OS and manifest-driven app platform.
Archipelago is a bootable personal server OS for Bitcoin infrastructure,
self-hosted apps, mesh communication, decentralized identity, and federation.
Apps are packaged as declarative manifest.yml files and run as rootless
Podman containers managed by the Rust backend.
What is here
core/- Rust workspace: backend API, container runtime, security, OpenWrt helpers, and performance/resource management.neode-ui/- Vue 3 + TypeScript frontend.apps/- app manifests and custom app container sources.docker/- supporting container build contexts for UI companion surfaces.image-recipe/- bootable image/ISO build inputs.Android/- Android companion app.scripts/- development, release, deployment, and validation tooling.docs/- architecture, app packaging, operations, API, and roadmap docs.
Platform model
Archipelago is built as a developer-ready app platform, not a fixed appliance:
- Apps are declared in
apps/<app-id>/manifest.yml. - The Rust parser in
core/container/src/manifest.rsis the canonical schema. - The orchestrator compiles manifests to rootless Podman/Quadlet runtime state.
- App data lives under
/var/lib/archipelago/<app-id>/. - Secrets are generated or read from
/var/lib/archipelago/secrets/and injected through Podman secrets rather than static environment values. - Release and app catalogs are signed and verified against a pinned trust anchor.
Start with:
- Architecture
- Developer Guide
- App Developer Guide
- App Manifest Spec
- Nostr Git Source Hosting Plan
- Troubleshooting
Quick start
Frontend
cd neode-ui
npm install
npm start
The dev UI runs at http://localhost:8100 with a mock backend on :5959.
Backend
cd core
cargo build
cargo test --all-features
Linux is the supported backend runtime and release-build target. macOS is fine for frontend work and many Rust compile/test loops, but host integration tests that touch Podman, systemd, networking, or image build paths require Linux.
App manifests
./scripts/validate-app-manifest.sh apps/filebrowser/manifest.yml
python3 scripts/generate-app-catalog.py
python3 scripts/check-app-catalog-drift.py --release --strict
scripts/generate-app-catalog.py requires Python with PyYAML installed.
Documentation map
The full, grouped index lives at docs/README.md. The most common entry points:
| Doc | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Architecture | System layers, crates, data paths, security model |
| Developer Guide | Local setup, code workflow, testing |
| API Reference | JSON-RPC API overview |
| App Developer Guide | How to package and test apps |
| App Manifest Spec | Manifest schema and validation rules |
| Nostr Git Source Hosting Plan | ngit/NIP-34 contribution workflow and maintainer model |
| Apps README | Packaged app catalog overview |
| Image Recipe | Bootable image build flow |
| Roadmap | Shipped, in-progress, and planned work |
| Archive | Historical plans, audits, and handoffs |
Contributing
Read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening a pull request. For security issues, follow SECURITY.md and do not open a public issue.
License
Archipelago is licensed under the MIT License. Third-party notices are listed in NOTICE and generated license inventories in component release artifacts.