Manifest reference

Every field of the JSON file that becomes an app's catalog page, with its meaning, its default and its rules.

One app is one JSON file at manifests/<id>.json in the catalog repository, served at https://tiinyapp.farm/manifests/<id>.json. The site renders it, the installer reads it, and the pull request checks validate it against manifest.schema.json. The schema refuses any property it does not know about, at the top level and inside every object.

The filename must match the id inside the file.

Required fields

These fifteen must be present: id, name, pitch, description, version, author, license, screenshots, entry, requires, permissions, tags, verified, addedAt, updatedAt. Everything else is optional.

Field	Type	Meaning and rules
`id`	string	The name used in `farm install` and in the page URL. Lowercase letters, digits and single dashes, starting with a letter. `tiiny` is reserved. It can never change
`name`	string	The name shown in the catalog. Not empty
`pitch`	string	One short line explaining what it does. No line breaks. The API caps it at 100 characters
`description`	string	Plain words: what it does, who it is for, limits, release readiness
`version`	string	`major.minor.patch`, each part a nonnegative number with no leading zero
`author`	object	`name` and `url` are required, `tiinyverse` is the owner proof. See below
`license`	string	An identifier such as `MIT`. `NOASSERTION` means a license is not confirmed
`screenshots`	array	Image URLs, unique. May be empty. `media.gallery` is the newer way to do this
`entry`	null or object	How to start the app. See below
`requires`	object	`ports` and `device` are required, `python` is optional. See below
`permissions`	array	Any of `microphone`, `files`, `network`, `device`, no duplicates. `[]` means none declared
`tags`	array	Free text labels, unique, each not empty. Some map to catalog categories
`verified`	boolean	Set to `true` only by a maintainer after review. Always `false` in a submission
`addedAt`	string	The day the app joined the catalog, `YYYY-MM-DD`. The New badge lasts under 30 days
`updatedAt`	string	The day of the most recent manifest change, `YYYY-MM-DD`

author

"author": {
  "name": "Jason Brashear",
  "url": "https://github.com/webdevtodayjason",
  "tiinyverse": "https://www.tiinyverse.com/users/39628b1e-e94e-4bd8-800e-5437d5336e1f"
}

name is the verified display name, taken from the TiinyVerse profile rather than typed. url is any public HTTP or HTTPS page. tiinyverse is the profile URL the farm verified, and the pull request checks query the farm for it and refuse an unverified or mismatched owner. Catalog entries written before the owner gate existed stay readable, but any changed submission has to pass it.

entry

entry says how the app starts, and it has exactly three shapes.

Shape	Example	What happens
Python module	`{"python": "lite", "args": ["--port", "7788"]}`	Runs `<interpreter> -m lite --port 7788`
Command	`{"command": "python -m my_app"}`	Split into arguments without a shell, then run
Library	`null`	Nothing to start. The `library` tag is then required

A Python module name is dotted identifiers: letters, digits and underscores, not starting with a digit. args is an array of strings. A command entry is split the way a shell would split it, but no shell is involved, so pipes, redirects and && do not work.

port

port says how the app takes the port farm start gives it, so --port N works without the CLI knowing your app by name. It is optional and has three shapes.

Shape	Example	What happens
Command line	`{"argv": "--serve"}`	The number goes after that flag, replacing one already there in `entry`, or added if the flag is missing
Environment	`{"env": "PORT"}`	That variable is set to the port
Fixed	`null`	The port cannot move. `farm start --port N` refuses in one line naming the port

Leave it out and you get {"env": "TIINYAPP_PORT"}, which is what the farm has always done, so an app that reads TIINYAPP_PORT needs nothing here. TIINYAPP_PORT is set either way, whatever the field says. An argv flag looks like --port or -p; an env name is letters, digits and underscores, not starting with a digit. Exactly one of the two keys, never both.

The four catalog apps show all of it: Titanium Tiiny Bot is {"argv": "--port"}, TiinyBench is {"argv": "--serve"}, Story Lantern is {"env": "PORT"}, and OneLane is null because a library has no port at all.

The submit form does not ask for this field. Set it in a hand-made pull request.

requires

"requires": {
  "python": "3.11",
  "ports": [7788],
  "device": {"models": ["chat", "tts"], "npuUnits": 57}
}

Field	Rule
`python`	Optional. `major.minor`. The installer refuses to install on an older interpreter. Treated as 3.9 when absent
`ports`	Required array of unique integers from 1 to 65535. May be empty. The first one is the primary port
`device.models`	Required array of model names the app asks the Tiiny for. May be empty
`device.npuUnits`	Required nonnegative integer, what the app expects to use on the device

release

"release": {
  "url": "https://github.com/example/my-app/archive/refs/tags/v0.1.0.tar.gz",
  "sha256": "32d62db80bd789206753a418f341604304d69a0bfc8c1823f5f3e4ace9af2ab9",
  "size": 168709
}

Optional as a whole. An app with no release is listed with a "No release yet" badge and cannot be installed. When it is present, all three fields are required: a URL, a 64 character lowercase hex SHA-256, and the exact size in bytes as an integer.

sha256 may be the literal string pending in a local draft. A pending manifest only validates with --allow-pending, its description has to explain the pending release, and it can neither pass the submission checks nor be installed.

Optional fields

Field	Type	Meaning
`homepage`	string	The app's public home page, HTTP or HTTPS
`repo`	string	Source repository URL. Also what the release path reads to find new releases
`port`	null or object	How the app takes the port `farm start` gives it. See below
`health`	string	An HTTP path on the first declared port, such as `/api/health`. Needs at least one port
`selfcheck`	boolean	When true, the checks run your entry with `--selfcheck` offline. Needs a runnable entry
`featured`	boolean	Maintainer-curated placement in the Featured section of the home page
`media`	object	`icon`, `header` and `gallery` image URLs. At most eight gallery images, unique
`links`	object	`repo`, `homepage` and `video`. All HTTPS. `video` is one YouTube watch or `youtu.be` URL

Image URLs are either an HTTPS URL or a site-relative path beginning /assets/ or /media/.

Fields the release path adds

Arrives with the release path. Both fields are on the open pull request #5 and the schema does not accept them until it merges.

Field	Type	Default	Meaning
`updates`	string	`auto`	`auto` lets the farm open a bump pull request when the repository publishes a newer tag. `manual` leaves the app alone
`prereleases`	boolean	`false`	Whether release tracking considers GitHub prereleases. Drafts are never considered

Rules that cross fields

The filename must equal the id, and the id must appear exactly once in the whole catalog.
entry: null requires library in tags.
selfcheck: true requires a runnable entry, so a library cannot declare one.
health requires at least one declared port.
port carries argv or env, never both, and null means the port is fixed.
links.video must carry exactly one eleven character YouTube video id.
A pending checksum requires the word "pending" in the description, and --allow-pending on the local checker.
verified is written by a human maintainer in a follow-up commit. The checks never change it.

A complete example

{
  "id": "titanium-tiiny-bot",
  "name": "Titanium Tiiny Bot",
  "pitch": "A local assistant with chat, files, memories and voice.",
  "description": "Runs beside your Tiiny on Mac or Linux. Supports --selfcheck.",
  "version": "0.1.13",
  "author": {
    "name": "Titanium Computing",
    "url": "https://titanium.bot",
    "tiinyverse": "https://www.tiinyverse.com/users/39628b1e-e94e-4bd8-800e-5437d5336e1f"
  },
  "license": "MIT",
  "homepage": "https://titanium.bot",
  "repo": "https://github.com/Titanium-Devops/titanium-bot-lite",
  "screenshots": [],
  "release": {
    "url": "https://github.com/Titanium-Devops/titanium-bot-lite/releases/download/v0.1.13/titanium-tiiny-bot-0.1.13.tar.gz",
    "sha256": "d43e15bae4d06640e5487942bc3489e72f84d4b35a9c26a97a7439ee4d7626d1",
    "size": 455721
  },
  "entry": {"python": "lite", "args": ["--port", "7788"]},
  "port": {"argv": "--port"},
  "requires": {
    "python": "3.11",
    "ports": [7788],
    "device": {"models": ["chat", "tts"], "npuUnits": 57}
  },
  "permissions": ["microphone", "files", "network", "device"],
  "tags": ["assistant", "chat", "voice"],
  "health": "/api/health",
  "selfcheck": true,
  "media": {
    "icon": "https://tiinyapp.farm/assets/titanium-icon.png",
    "header": "https://tiinyapp.farm/assets/titanium-header.webp",
    "gallery": []
  },
  "links": {
    "repo": "https://github.com/Titanium-Devops/titanium-bot-lite",
    "homepage": "https://titanium.bot"
  },
  "verified": true,
  "addedAt": "2026-09-12",
  "updatedAt": "2026-09-13"
}

Category	Tags that map to it
Assistants	`assistant`, `chat`, `voice`
Family	`stories`, `family`
Audio	`audio`
Developer tools	`developer-tools`, `coordination`, `benchmark`, `measurement`
Libraries	`library`

Check it yourself

python3 scripts/check-manifest.py manifests/your-app.json
python3 scripts/check-manifest.py --allow-pending manifests/your-app.json

The checker implements exactly the subset of JSON Schema this file uses, on the standard library, and the Worker validates submissions against the same schema file with the same rules.

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