Submission | Flathub Documentation (2024)

App submissions are extremely welcome and the process is straightforward. Once you complete the steps below you can submit the app for inclusion.

Before submission​

Please follow the requirements to ensure that the submission is technically and legally compatible with the Flathub service.

It's best practice to make sure your submission correctly builds and runs locally with flatpak. This will help you to fix any potential issues and expedite the review process. Flathub recommends using the flatpak package of flatpak-builder to build the application.

flatpak install -y flathub org.flatpak.Builder

1. To build and install the app:

   flatpak run org.flatpak.Builder --force-clean --sandbox --user --install --install-deps-from=flathub --ccache --mirror-screenshots-url=https://dl.flathub.org/media/ --repo=repo builddir <manifest>
   

   See Also

   AlmaLinux 9.4 beta is out: 4 reasons to consider it for your desktop
   If you are using an extra-data source, please use flatpak-builder from your distribution:

   flatpak-builder --force-clean --sandbox --user --install --install-deps-from=flathub --ccache --mirror-screenshots-url=https://dl.flathub.org/media/ --repo=repo builddir <manifest>
   

2. To run:

   flatpak run <app id>
   

3. Please run the linter once to make sure there are no errors or warnings. Consult the documentation for explanation of the errors. For certain errors you might need an exception.

   flatpak run --command=flatpak-builder-lint org.flatpak.Builder manifest <manifest>
   flatpak run --command=flatpak-builder-lint org.flatpak.Builder repo repo
   

   Following the above instructions, if you see appstream-screenshots-files-not-found-in-ostree in errors, you can ignore this.

How to submit an app​

Flathub is managed through a GitHub project, and app submissions take place as pull requests. To submit an app:

1. Fork the Flathub repository on GitHub with "Copy the master branch only" unchecked.
2. Clone the fork:

   git clone --branch=new-pr git@github.com:your_github_username/flathub.git
   

3. Switch into the cloned repository:

   cd flathub
   

4. Create a new branch with your app’s name:

   git checkout -b your_app_name
   

   The name of the branch has no incidence on the submission and at no point in the submission will you need to change it. Doing so will make github close the Pull Request.
5. Add your app’s manifest to the branch, commit it and push the commit
6. Open a pull request against the new-pr branch on GitHub. Please make sure to title the Pull Request with the name of the application. Example "Add org.example.MyAwesomeApp".
7. Your pull request will then be reviewed by the Flathub reviewers. Keep in mind that the reviewers are volunteers.

Once your pull request has been approved, a new repository will be created for your application, containing your app’s Flatpak manifest. You will receive an invitation to have write access for the repository, please make sure to accept it before it expires. Don't hesitate to contact us if it did. The Flathub service then uses the manifest from your repository to continuously build and distribute your application on every commit.

Someone else has put my app on Flathub—what do I do?​

Flathub is primarily intended as a service that is used by app developers to distribute their apps. Our goal is to give developers control of their apps and to allow them a closer relationship with their users without intermediaries getting in the way. However, as part of setting up Flathub, some applications are being distributed on Flathub without the involvement of their developers. We would prefer that these applications are controlled by their authors.

If an application that belongs to you is being distributed without your involvement, please get in touch with the Flathub admins, so that we can discuss transfering ownership.

There’s an app that I’d like to see on Flathub, but I’m not the developer​

If there’s an app that you'd like to be distributed on Flathub, the best first course of action is to approach the app’s developers and ask them to submit it. Remember that for some projects or communities, this may be the first that they have heard of the Flatpak technology or interacted with somebody who advocates it. When you are making such requests, please be aware that the people you are talking to may be forming their first impressions of Flatpak as a technology and a community. Always remain respectful, patient and courteous even if you face skepticism or dissenting opinions. You can also start a topic on the Flathub forum to find whether others are interested in using, helping to build or advocate for the app in Flatpak format.

Getting help​

If you are unsure about the process of submitting an app to Flathub, or are experiencing issues fulfilling all the requirements, you can contact the Flatpak community for help. General queries can be made on community channels, such as the matrix channel and discourse. For more sensitive issues, please use the private Flathub admins mailing list.