CrownStore

The public CrownStore website for official KingsHall applications. Built with React, TypeScript and Vite. The storefront reads its app catalogue and stable release metadata from ApiCrownStore; it does not hard-code or fabricate download links.

Local setup

1. Install Node.js 20 or newer.
2. Copy .env.example to .env and set VITE_API_BASE_URL to the API base URL. For local development, use http://localhost:4000.
3. Run npm install.
4. Run npm run dev.

Scripts

• npm run dev — local development server
• npm run build — production type-check and build
• npm run preview — preview the production build
• npm run typecheck — TypeScript validation

Cloudflare Pages deployment

• Repository: this CrownStore repository
• Root directory: /
• Build command: npm install && npm run build
• Output directory: dist
• Environment variable: VITE_API_BASE_URL=https://api.crownstore.kingshall.online

Storefront capabilities

• Live app catalogue with search, category filters and app shelves; app records are loaded from ApiCrownStore, not hardcoded into the frontend.
• App details include package ID, release version, build number, APK size, publication date, changelog, screenshots and SHA-256 when available.
• Direct APK downloads go through the API's release-checked redirect; unreleased or hidden apps never display a download button.
• Token-protected Manage Apps panel to create, edit, and hide catalogue entries, including icon and screenshot URLs.
• Token-protected Publisher panel that loads the current catalogue dynamically and imports verified APK releases without hardcoded app choices.

App administration and publishing

1. Open Manage Apps in the storefront footer and provide the Render PUBLISHING_TOKEN.
2. Load the catalogue to add a new application or edit an existing entry. Use a lowercase hyphenated slug, the exact Android package ID, a GitHub source repository in owner/repo format, and publicly reachable HTTPS icon/screenshot URLs.
3. Keep apps listed to make them public. Hiding an app removes it from the public catalogue without deleting its release history.
4. Create a stable GitHub Release with the APK attached in the public jaydencyril67/CrownStoreApk repository, then use Publisher to verify and publish it. The APK is checked against the app package and manifest version before CrownStore enables downloads.

The frontend never embeds the admin token or database credentials. The administrator enters the token into the management panel, and it is held in UI state for that session. Configure ApiCrownStore's CORS allowlist to include the deployed storefront origin.

Push notifications

CrownStore's Menu page can enable account-linked push alerts. Android uses Firebase Cloud Messaging through the Capacitor Push Notifications plugin; supported browsers and installed PWAs use VAPID Web Push. Delivery is tied to the signed-in KingsHall account and follows the selected notification type settings.

Before building a new Android APK:

1. In Firebase Console, register an Android app with package ID online.kingshall.crownstore and download its google-services.json.
2. In the GitHub repository Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions, add either FIREBASE_GOOGLE_SERVICES_JSON (the complete JSON text) or FIREBASE_GOOGLE_SERVICES_JSON_BASE64 (base64-encoded JSON). The manual Android workflow validates the package ID before building.
3. Configure FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON, VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY, and VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY on the ApiCrownStore Render service as described in the API repository's Push notifications section. Keep Firebase service-account and VAPID private-key values on the backend only.
4. Redeploy ApiCrownStore, then run the manual Build CrownStore Android APK workflow and install the newly published APK. Sign in to CrownStore and enable Menu → Notification channels → Device notifications.

The existing PWA service worker receives and displays Web Push messages and opens the related app detail page when an app-release alert is tapped. The Firebase app config is injected during the APK build; it is not committed to this repository.