The Manifest File

Your manifest.json file is an indispensable part of your Showpad App. It's the control center for your app, containing essential information about the files, resources, and components needed to build and run your Showpad App, such as:

• the schema and version to use,
• public information about the app, such as author and version,
• information for the definitions of the Extension Types to be created from your app.

Once you've completed development, your app is packaged into a .showpad bundle. The manifest is the file that brings all of the elements of your app together. In the following illustration, the Showpad App makes use of four extensions: two Experience types (A & B), one User Settings and one Admin Settings.

Structure

Your manifest.json file should follow this structure:

	Property	Description	Required
Schema info	$schema	Directs the app's manifiest file to use the v2 json schema. Your IDE can use this to provide auto-completion when developing your Showpad App. Required value: https://schema.showpad.com/app/manifest.v2.json Note: If not provided, the bundle will not be recognized as an app.	Yes
	schema	type - Defines the schema type. Required value: app-manifest version - Specifies the version to use. Required value: 2	Yes
App info	appKey	A globally unique identifier for your app. We suggest making it human-readable. Example com.my-organisation.my-app	Yes
	name	The display name of the app.	Yes
	version	The semantic version of the app. Suggested format: major.minor.bugfix[-patch]	Yes
	description	short - A short description displayed in the app's Overview. full - A long description displayed in the app's Details.	Yes
	icon	A small icon for the app. Displayed in the app's Overview.	No
	images	Cover images for the app. Displayed in the app's Details. Max 3 items.	No
	developer	name - The name of the company that created the app. websiteUrl - (optional) A link to the website of the developer	Yes
Extension info	userSettings	An Extension point that adds a panel to the user's Settings menu in the Showpad Web App.	No
	adminSettings	An Extension point that adds a menu item in the Admin Settings menu in the Showpad Online Platform (OP).	No
	experienceTypes	An Extension point that adds a new Experience type.	No
	sharedSpaceExtensions	An Extension point that enables apps to be added as Quick Actions.	No
AppsDB	sharedStores	A list of Stores that need to be created when the app is installed. id- The store id Note: If a store with the same name already exists, the app can not be installed.	Yes

Example

This manifest.json example describes three extensions that can interact with Showpad's Slack integration.

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.showpad.com/app/manifest.v2.json",
  "schema": {
    "type": "app-manifest",
    "version": 2
  },
  "appKey": "com.showpad.app.slack",
  "name": "Slack integration",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": {
    "short": "Slack Notifications",
    "full": "Allows notifications to be sent to Slack"
  },
  "icon": "images/slack.svg",
  "images": ["images/slack.jpeg"],
  "developer": {
    "name": "Showpad",
    "websiteUrl": "https://showpad.com"
  },
  "userSettings": [
    {
      "extensionKey": "slack-settings",
      "name": "Slack",
      "description": "Settings for the Slack integration",
      "resources": {
        "folder": "slack"
      }
    }
  ],
  "adminSettings": [
    {
      "extensionKey": "slack-admin-settings",
      "name": "Slack Admin",
      "description": "Admin settings for the Slack integration",
      "resources": {
        "folder": "slack-admin"
      }
    }
  ],
  "experienceTypes": [
    {
      "extensionKey": "my-experience",
      "name": "My Experience",
      "description": "Some description",
      "resources": {
        "folder": "exp-files"
      }
    }
  ],
  "sharedStores": [{ "id": "my-store" }]
}