STATUS: v0 WIP draft
The Forever App ecosystem is the infrastructure that makes .feapp files usable in practice — for real users, across real devices, with real accounts.
Without an ecosystem, a .feapp file still runs. You get a sandboxed app with local storage. That is already more than most software offers. But with an ecosystem, you get: user accounts that sync data across devices, a cloud library that makes apps accessible from any browser, signed and verified app distribution, managed updates, and a desktop library that ties it all together into something that feels like one product.
This spec defines one open implementation of that ecosystem. The .feapp format is open — anyone can build an ecosystem around it. This is the first.
Deployment topologies how frontend, workers, and storage relate across devices
User accounts remoteStorage accounts, OAuth, the embedded server
Authentication how every component in the ecosystem authenticates
Desktop ↔ Cloud the wire contract between desktop and cloud libraries
Signing how developers sign apps and users verify them
Updates how apps notify users of new versions
Library conformance what a conformant desktop or cloud library must do
Everything not in this list belongs in openfeapp/spec — the format, the runtime API, and the runner contract.
openfeapp/spec the .feapp format and runtime contract
what the developer writes against
what any conformant runner must provide
complete on its own
openfeapp/ecosystem-spec this repo
one open implementation of ecosystem infrastructure
requires openfeapp/spec as a foundation
not required to run a .feapp file
A runner built only from openfeapp/spec can open and execute any .feapp file. This ecosystem spec adds the infrastructure that makes that experience feel seamless to users at scale.
| Document | What it covers |
|---|---|
| ARCHITECTURE.md | Deployment topologies 1–5. How all components fit together. |
| PROFILES.md | remoteStorage accounts, OAuth, embedded server, account switching. |
| AUTH.md | All authentication flows across ecosystem boundaries. |
| WIRE.md | B2: Desktop Library ↔ Cloud Library wire contract. |
| SIGNING.md | Signing authority, trust anchors, key revocation. |
| UPDATES.md | Update feed format. Library update behavior. |
| LIBRARY_CONFORMANCE.md | What a conformant desktop or cloud library must do. |