flatpak: add Flathub packaging (manifest, metainfo, desktop, README)

From-source Flatpak build for com.veganostr.Vega on GNOME 50 runtime. Screenshots and the manifest git-pin are finalized before the Flathub PR. Vendored cargo/node sources are generated (gitignored; live in the flathub repo).
2026-07-24 09:18:11 -07:00 · 2026-07-15 13:57:12 +02:00
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+# Flathub packaging for Vega
+
+This directory holds the Flatpak packaging for `com.veganostr.Vega`, built **entirely
+from source** (Flathub forbids bundling prebuilt binaries — do **not** use Tauri's
+official Flatpak guide, which repackages a `.deb`).
+
+## Files
+
+| File | Purpose | Lives in |
+|---|---|---|
+| `com.veganostr.Vega.yaml` | Flatpak manifest | Flathub PR repo (copy here for reference) |
+| `com.veganostr.Vega.metainfo.xml` | AppStream metadata (store page) | this repo, installed from source |
+| `com.veganostr.Vega.desktop` | Desktop entry | this repo, installed from source |
+| `cargo-sources.json` | Vendored Rust crates (offline build) | generated → Flathub PR repo |
+| `node-sources.json` | Vendored npm packages (offline build) | generated → Flathub PR repo |
+
+## Regenerating the vendored sources (after any dependency bump)
+
+```bash
+# Rust
+pip install toml aiohttp
+python flatpak-cargo-generator.py -d src-tauri/Cargo.lock -o flatpak/cargo-sources.json
+
+# npm (lockfile v3)
+pipx install git+https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak-builder-tools.git#subdirectory=node
+flatpak-node-generator npm -o flatpak/node-sources.json package-lock.json
+```
+
+The generated sources **must** match the `Cargo.lock` / `package-lock.json` at the git
+tag the manifest pins.
+
+## Validate locally
+
+```bash
+appstreamcli validate flatpak/com.veganostr.Vega.metainfo.xml
+desktop-file-validate flatpak/com.veganostr.Vega.desktop
+```
+
+## Test build (needs ~several GB of SDK)
+
+```bash
+flatpak install flathub org.gnome.Platform//50 org.gnome.Sdk//50 \
+  org.freedesktop.Sdk.Extension.rust-stable org.freedesktop.Sdk.Extension.node20
+flatpak install flathub org.flatpak.Builder
+git clone https://github.com/flathub/shared-modules.git   # for libappindicator
+flatpak run org.flatpak.Builder --force-clean --user --install \
+  build-dir flatpak/com.veganostr.Vega.yaml
+flatpak run com.veganostr.Vega
+```
+
+## Submitting to Flathub
+
+1. Fork `github.com/flathub/flathub`, branch off **`new-pr`** (NOT `master`).
+2. Add `com.veganostr.Vega.yaml`, `cargo-sources.json`, `node-sources.json`, and the
+   `shared-modules` submodule at the repo top level.
+3. Open a PR against `new-pr`; a reviewer comments `bot, build` to test-build.
+
+## Open items before submission
+
+- **Screenshots**: `metainfo.xml` references three PNGs under
+  `flatpak/screenshots/`. Add real screenshots there and pin the manifest's git
+  source to a tag/commit that contains them (metainfo screenshot URLs should use a
+  tag/commit ref, not a branch).
+- **`ffmpeg-full` `version:`** must match GNOME 50's freedesktop base — verify at
+  first `bot, build`.
+- **Keyring in the sandbox**: the `keyring` crate uses the Secret Service over D-Bus
+  (`--talk-name=org.freedesktop.secrets`). Verify nsec survives a sandboxed restart;
+  if not, the `oo7` crate's file backend is the known fallback.
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+[Desktop Entry]
+Type=Application
+Name=Vega
+GenericName=Nostr Client
+Comment=Read, write and zap on the Nostr network
+Exec=vega
+Icon=com.veganostr.Vega
+Terminal=false
+Categories=Network;Chat;
+Keywords=Nostr;Bitcoin;Lightning;Zap;Social;Decentralized;Microblog;Long-form;
+StartupWMClass=Vega
+StartupNotify=true
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<component type="desktop-application">
+  <id>com.veganostr.Vega</id>
+
+  <name>Vega</name>
+  <summary>Read, write and zap on Nostr</summary>
+
+  <metadata_license>CC0-1.0</metadata_license>
+  <project_license>MIT</project_license>
+
+  <developer id="com.veganostr">
+    <name>Jure Sršen</name>
+  </developer>
+
+  <launchable type="desktop-id">com.veganostr.Vega.desktop</launchable>
+
+  <description>
+    <p>
+      Vega is a desktop client for Nostr, a decentralized social network where you
+      own your identity, your content and your social graph. No company can delete
+      your account or censor your posts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Long-form writing and reading is a first-class feature, not an afterthought.
+      Alongside the social feed, Vega gives you a proper markdown article editor and
+      reader for publishing and following long-form content.
+    </p>
+    <p>Features:</p>
+    <ul>
+      <li>Long-form articles (NIP-23) with a markdown editor and reader</li>
+      <li>Lightning zaps over Nostr Wallet Connect</li>
+      <li>Value-for-value podcast streaming</li>
+      <li>Web-of-trust filtering to keep the feed trustworthy</li>
+      <li>An optional built-in relay, so your notes stay available locally</li>
+      <li>Encrypted direct messages</li>
+      <li>Private keys stored in your system keyring</li>
+    </ul>
+  </description>
+
+  <content_rating type="oars-1.1">
+    <content_attribute id="social-chat">intense</content_attribute>
+    <content_attribute id="money-purchasing">mild</content_attribute>
+  </content_rating>
+
+  <url type="homepage">https://veganostr.com</url>
+  <url type="bugtracker">https://github.com/hoornet/vega/issues</url>
+  <url type="vcs-browser">https://github.com/hoornet/vega</url>
+
+  <screenshots>
+    <screenshot type="default">
+      <image>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hoornet/vega/main/flatpak/screenshots/feed.png</image>
+      <caption>The main feed with notes, reactions and zaps</caption>
+    </screenshot>
+    <screenshot>
+      <image>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hoornet/vega/main/flatpak/screenshots/article.png</image>
+      <caption>Reading a long-form article</caption>
+    </screenshot>
+    <screenshot>
+      <image>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hoornet/vega/main/flatpak/screenshots/editor.png</image>
+      <caption>Writing an article in the markdown editor</caption>
+    </screenshot>
+  </screenshots>
+
+  <branding>
+    <color type="primary" scheme_preference="light">#c9b6ff</color>
+    <color type="primary" scheme_preference="dark">#2a2140</color>
+  </branding>
+
+  <releases>
+    <release version="0.14.1" date="2026-07-15">
+      <description>
+        <p>Fixes a crash in the Support view and adds an optional network proxy (HTTP/SOCKS5), including Tor.</p>
+      </description>
+    </release>
+    <release version="0.14.0" date="2026-07-14">
+      <description>
+        <p>Internal maintenance release aligning the application identifier with the project domain.</p>
+      </description>
+    </release>
+  </releases>
+</component>
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+id: com.veganostr.Vega
+
+runtime: org.gnome.Platform
+runtime-version: "50"
+sdk: org.gnome.Sdk
+sdk-extensions:
+  - org.freedesktop.Sdk.Extension.rust-stable
+  - org.freedesktop.Sdk.Extension.node20
+
+command: vega
+
+finish-args:
+  - --socket=wayland                                   # show the window (Wayland)
+  - --socket=fallback-x11                              # show the window (X11 fallback)
+  - --share=ipc                                        # required alongside X11
+  - --device=dri                                       # GPU / OpenGL for WebKit
+  - --socket=pulseaudio                                # audio: podcasts & media
+  - --share=network                                    # Nostr relays over WebSocket (runtime only)
+  - --talk-name=org.freedesktop.Notifications          # mentions/zaps notifications
+  - --talk-name=org.freedesktop.secrets                # keyring crate → Secret Service (nsec storage)
+  - --talk-name=org.kde.StatusNotifierWatcher          # system tray
+
+# GStreamer codecs for AAC/MP3/H.264 podcast & media playback. The base runtime
+# only ships open/royalty-free codecs.
+add-extensions:
+  org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg-full:
+    directory: lib/ffmpeg
+    add-ld-path: .
+    version: "24.08"
+    autodelete: false
+
+build-options:
+  append-path: /usr/lib/sdk/node20/bin:/usr/lib/sdk/rust-stable/bin
+  env:
+    # Speed up and pin the offline caches inside the build dir.
+    CARGO_HOME: /run/build/vega/cargo
+
+modules:
+  - shared-modules/libappindicator/libappindicator-gtk3-12.10.json
+
+  - name: vega
+    buildsystem: simple
+    sources:
+      - type: git
+        url: https://github.com/hoornet/vega.git
+        tag: v0.14.1
+        commit: e0a7c2e1a4368e22b6ca6982d02857ed65d8ef51
+
+      # flatpak-node-generator npm -o node-sources.json package-lock.json
+      - node-sources.json
+
+      # flatpak-cargo-generator.py -d ./src-tauri/Cargo.lock -o cargo-sources.json
+      - cargo-sources.json
+
+    build-options:
+      env:
+        XDG_CACHE_HOME: /run/build/vega/flatpak-node/cache
+        npm_config_cache: /run/build/vega/flatpak-node/npm-cache
+        npm_config_offline: "true"
+
+    build-commands:
+      # Install vendored npm packages (offline)
+      - npm ci --offline
+      # Pre-fetch vendored crates (offline)
+      - cargo --offline fetch --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml
+      # Build frontend (vite) + the Rust binary, without producing an installer bundle
+      - npm run --offline tauri build -- --no-bundle
+
+      # Binary
+      - install -Dm755 -t /app/bin/ src-tauri/target/release/vega
+
+      # Desktop entry + AppStream metainfo
+      - install -Dm644 -t /app/share/applications/ flatpak/com.veganostr.Vega.desktop
+      - install -Dm644 -t /app/share/metainfo/ flatpak/com.veganostr.Vega.metainfo.xml
+
+      # Icons (hicolor)
+      - install -Dm644 src-tauri/icons/32x32.png /app/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/com.veganostr.Vega.png
+      - install -Dm644 src-tauri/icons/128x128.png /app/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/com.veganostr.Vega.png
+      - install -Dm644 src-tauri/icons/128x128@2x.png /app/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/com.veganostr.Vega.png
+      - install -Dm644 src-tauri/icons/icon.png /app/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/com.veganostr.Vega.png
+
+      # Create the ffmpeg extension mount point
+      - mkdir -p /app/lib/ffmpeg
+
+    post-install:
+      - install -Dm644 LICENSE /app/share/licenses/com.veganostr.Vega/LICENSE