[RFC] Two-Tier App Support Model (Flagship vs. Community Apps)

[BeSovereign]

RFC: Two-Tier App Support Model (Flagship vs. Community Apps)

1. Goal

To reduce platform support costs and prevent resource exhaustion on low-end VPS instances (XS/S), we propose dividing the application catalog into two tiers:

1. Flagship Apps (Official): Fully tested, secure, and officially supported. Enabled by default.
2. Community Apps (Experimental): Community-contributed apps that run unsupported/best-effort. Hidden behind a user toggle and warning disclaimer.

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2. Proposed Architecture & Implementations

A. Metadata Level (app-repository)

Extend the Pydantic schema in app_meta.py (specifically StoreInfo class) to support a new field support_tier:

"store_info": {
  "support_tier": "flagship" | "community",
  "is_featured": true
}

• Default value for support_tier is "community" to ensure new or untested apps are disabled by default.

B. Shard Core API Validation (freeshard)

Update /shard_core/data_model/app_meta.py to parse the new support_tier property from metadata schemas.

C. Web Terminal UI (web-terminal)

1. App Store Toggle: A toggle switch "Show Community Apps" in Apps.vue (disabled by default).
2. Disclaimer Modal: Enabling the toggle prompts the user to accept a warning disclaimer outlining that Community apps are unsupported, potentially unstable, and may exhaust VPS memory.
3. Badging: Display distinct badges ([ Flagship ] vs. [ Community ]) on application card entries to make support status obvious.
4. LocalStorage Persistence: Store the toggle state in localStorage to avoid showing the disclaimer repeatedly.

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3. Visual Mockups

Legacy UI (Current Implementation)

This mockup visualizes the feature integrated into the current Bootstrap 4 layout of the web-terminal (using the top navigation bar and default light-grey card styling):

Target UI (Tailwind/Astro Redesign)

This mockup shows how the same feature will render once the dashboard is aligned with the modern design guide (using dark mode, sidebar navigation, and glassmorphic cards):

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4. Next Steps / Action Items

• [app-repository] Add "support_tier" metadata to all 42 app blueprints.
• [freeshard] Implement support_tier property validation in the Pydantic StoreInfo model.
• [web-terminal] Implement the "Show Community Apps" toggle, warning modal, and badge UI in Apps.vue and AppStoreEntry.vue.