Overview

This describes the flows and processes used to get remix apps to auto sync to your mobile device or your desktop. We have setup a mechanism to sync apps to your mobile/desktop and make sure only apps compatible with the version of the platform installed will be downloaded.

Structure / Terminology

App

• a .remix file containing a screens, agents, widgets, etc…
• for an app to be synced, it needs to be hosted on a remote server and accessible via a url
• each app is defined by a json structure with the following fields:

  • appName : string, required (used for display when we sync)

  • dbName : string, required

  • type : gcs/versioned | gcs/channel | url , default gcs/versioned :

    • gcs/versioned: the app is host and versioned on GCS. This is where .remix files are deployed when using Publish & List in the Tools & Settings plugin. The url format ends up being:
      • https://storage.googleapis.com/rmx-static/packaged/<semver>/<channel>/<app>.json
    • gcs/channel: just hosting on GCS (no catalog). This is where a .remix file is deployed when using Host on GCS in the Tools & Settings plugin. The url ends up being: (https://storage.googleapis.com/rmx-static/<channel>/<app>.remix)
    • url : pass the exact url where the file is hosted (via the opional url field)

  • ex:

      // the main remix home app
      //(default is hosting type is gcs/versioned)
      { "dbName": "_rmx_home", "appName": "Remix Home" }
      
      // the 'about us' remix app
      {
        "dbName": "about_us_remix_admin",
        "appName": "Remix Business Profile Manager",
        "type": "url",
        "url": "<https://storage.googleapis.com/rmx-content/draft/about_us_remix_admin.remix>"
      }
    

Group

• a list of apps
• each group is defined by a json structure with the following fields:
  • surface : string, default mobile (standard values are mobile , desktop , but it could technically be anything)
  • name: string, required: the name of the group (unique per surface)
  • home : string, optional: a potential home screen. On mobile, this will set the home screen of the container app (the screen you first see when you start the app), provided it has not been already manually set by the user
• ex:

// the default remix group on mobile
{
  "name": "system",
  "home": "_rmx_home/home",
  "surface": "mobile",
  "apps": [
    { "dbName": "_rmx_home", "appName": "Remix Home" },
    { "dbName": "_rmx_widgets", "appName": "Remix Widgets" },
    { "dbName": "_rmx_sharesheet", "appName": "Share Sheet" },
    { "dbName": "_rmx_quicklook", "appName": "Quicklook" },
  ]
}

// the default order management app for a restaurant owner
// (and the orders screen will become his home page)
{
  "name": "[email protected]",
  "apps": [
    { "dbName": "order_management", "appName": "Order Management", "type": "gcs/versioned" }
  ],
  "home": "order_management/orders"
}

Subscriptions

A user subscribe to a set of groups:

• the global system group (with _rmx_home, _rmx_widgets , etc…). This is needed for a functioning app.
• a default (per workspace) group for a given org/customer
• other potential named groups (marketing, sales, hr…)
• a user group (a personal group, identified by the user email) (always the last group)

The list of apps in these groups are the apps synced to your device/platform.

Each group could potentially define a home app. For now the last group which defines a home app ‘wins’ (meaning a user home app takes precedence over a default home app, which also takes precedence over a system home app)