SeedHost v0.6.5-alpha — one-click group hosting

SeedHost v0.6.5-alpha — one-click group hosting

Unsigned portable Windows alpha. Both hosting members should update to this version and keep independent world backups before testing.

What changed

• Start server is the normal single action: obtain the latest safely saved world, mods, configuration and deletions, verify the complete revision, acquire exclusive authority, and start locally.
• An invited member without a matching local server can Start directly; enrollment materializes a new managed server rather than replacing an unrelated world.
• While any member hosts, competing Starts refuse without stopping that host. Simultaneous Starts have one winner. Unreachable or unknown ownership never means idle.
• Group Stop saves and publishes before another member may host, even when the legacy park-on-stop checkbox is off. Failed publication remains fenced and retryable.
• Durable pending-start reservations close admission/revocation and handoff races. Exact member/revision/lineage/reservation checks prevent unrelated cancellation.
• Explicit group binding consumes its matching pending membership; setup progress safely retries transient Windows reader-held atomic replacement failures.

Testing and limitations

The release source passed 994 tests, 0 failed, 1 skipped, with all 30 captured files unchanged during the run. Real headed Electron checks verified latest fixture bytes/deletions, A→B→A rotation, active-owner/member refusal, mandatory final-save publication, and one Java process for competing Starts. The exact versioned package and all bundled resources are checked before publishing.

These checks use real Java processes and synthetic world/mod/config files: not real Minecraft gameplay, arbitrary modpack compatibility or different-home-network certification.

Automatic group launch currently supports validated unambiguous Vanilla/Fabric JAR layouts and approved local Java. Script-based, argument-file and ambiguous modloader layouts refuse honestly; an advanced launch profile is not a group bypass. Receiving mods still entails running code from trusted group members.

A crash/restart or lost Start acknowledgment can conservatively strand a pending admission. There is no automatic lease expiry, takeover or unsafe recovery. Keep the host app open until Stop finishes saving and publishing. The separate legacy Playit agent-authentication issue is not repaired by this release.

How to test with a friend

1. Back up the world while Minecraft is stopped, and update both PCs to this release.
2. Keep the hosting-control endpoint reachable; account-directory access alone does not make the group's control route reachable.
3. First member clicks Start server. On the second PC, try Start while the first is running: it must refuse without interrupting gameplay.
4. Make a small disposable world change, then click Stop and wait for publication to finish.
5. Second member clicks Start server and checks the saved changes. Repeat in the opposite direction.

Download the ZIP below and verify it against SHA256SUMS.txt. This release does not itself change router/firewall/startup settings, install on existing PCs or migrate live worlds.