App Development Guide

SciTeX apps are self-contained Django plugins that integrate into the SciTeX Cloud workspace. This guide covers the full lifecycle: scaffold, validate, dev-install, and submit.

Role of Each Package 

scitex-app  (this package) — developer SDK: scaffold, validate, install
scitex-hub                 — platform: mounts apps, handles security, routing
figrecipe                  — reference app: see how a real app is built

scitex-app is the only package app developers need to install. scitex-hub is the platform; developers interact with it only through the server URL and API token.

Scaffold a New App 

Use scitex-app app init to generate a complete app skeleton:

# Scaffold in current directory (uses directory name as app name)
scitex-app app init .

# Scaffold with explicit name, label, icon, and description
scitex-app app init /path/to/my_app \
    --name my_awesome_app \
    --label "My Awesome App" \
    --icon "fas fa-flask" \
    --description "Analyses spectral data"

# Scaffold a React+Vite frontend instead of plain HTML
scitex-app app init . --frontend react

# Overwrite existing files
scitex-app app init . --overwrite

Note

The app module name must end with _app or -app. If it does not, the CLI appends the suffix automatically.

Generated Structure (HTML frontend)

my_awesome_app/
├── __init__.py
├── apps.py                          # AppConfig subclass
├── views.py                         # Django view
├── urls.py                          # URL patterns
├── tests.py                         # Basic test stubs
├── skill.py                         # MCP skill definition
├── manifest.json                    # App metadata + privileges
├── pyproject.toml                   # Dual-mode packaging
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── .gitignore
├── .agents/agents.json              # Agent integration config
├── AGENTS.md                        # Developer docs for agents
├── docs/PLATFORM.md                 # Platform integration notes
├── templates/my_awesome_app/
│   ├── index.html
│   └── index_partial.html
└── static/my_awesome_app/css/
    └── my_awesome_app.css

React frontend adds:

├── package.json
├── vite.config.ts
├── tsconfig.json
└── src/
    ├── main.tsx
    ├── App.tsx
    └── store.ts                     # Zustand state store

Python API (programmatic scaffold)

from scitex_app.appmaker import init_app

created = init_app(
    target_dir="/path/to/my_awesome_app",
    name="my_awesome_app",
    label="My Awesome App",
    icon="fas fa-flask",
    description="Analyses spectral data",
    frontend_type="html",   # or "react"
    overwrite=False,
)

print(f"Created {len(created)} files")
for path in created:
    print(f"  + {path}")

init_app returns the list of relative paths that were written. Files that already exist are skipped unless overwrite=True.

Validate an App 

Run the full validation pipeline before installing or submitting:

scitex-app app validate .
scitex-app app validate /path/to/my_awesome_app

Exit code 0 on success, 1 on failure.

Validation Checks 

The validator runs these checks in order:

Check	What it verifies
Structure	Required files exist (`views.py`, `urls.py`, `manifest.json`, `apps.py`, `LICENSE`, `README.md`, partial template, `.agents/agents.json`)
Security	No forbidden Python patterns: `subprocess`, `os.system`, `eval()`, `exec()`, `__import__`
Manifest	Valid JSON, all required keys present (`name`, `slug`, `label`, `version`, `icon`, `license`), semver version
Templates	`index.html` extends `global_base.html`, defines `{% block content %}`, does not override platform frame blocks
CSS	No `!important` on protected shell selectors, no hiding footer, no deprecated `--color-*` variables
Dependencies	`manifest.json` has a well-formed `dependencies` object

Python API (programmatic validation)

from scitex_app.appmaker import validate

errors = validate("/path/to/my_awesome_app")

if not errors:
    print("App is valid")
else:
    for err in errors:
        print(f"  ✗ {err}")

validate returns an empty list when all checks pass.

Dev-Install on SciTeX Cloud 

After local validation passes, install the app directly on a running SciTeX Cloud server for development testing:

# Install using environment variables for credentials
export SCITEX_API_TOKEN="your-jwt-token"
export SCITEX_SERVER_URL="http://127.0.0.1:8000"

scitex-app app dev-install .

# Or pass options explicitly
scitex-app app dev-install . \
    --server http://my-server:8000 \
    --token  "$SCITEX_API_TOKEN"

On success the app appears immediately in the workspace sidebar.

Important

The server must have access to the app source files (shared volume, NFS mount, or cloned repo). Dev-install registers the local path; it does not upload files.

Environment Variables 

Variable	Description
`SCITEX_API_TOKEN`	JWT Bearer token (obtain from Settings → API Tokens in the UI)
`SCITEX_SERVER_URL`	Base URL of the SciTeX Cloud server (default: `http://127.0.0.1:8000`)

Python API 

from scitex_app.appmaker._dev_install import dev_install

result = dev_install(
    app_dir=".",
    server_url="http://127.0.0.1:8000",
    token="your-jwt-token",
)

if result["success"]:
    print("Installed:", result.get("module_name"))
else:
    print("Failed:", result["errors"])

dev_install runs local validation first and returns early with {"success": False, "errors": [...]} if validation fails.

Submit for Publication 

Once the app is ready for public release, submit it for review:

scitex-app app submit .

# Or with explicit server and token
scitex-app app submit /path/to/my_awesome_app \
    --server https://scitex.example.com \
    --token  "$SCITEX_API_TOKEN"

This validates the app locally, then opens a pull-request on the scitex-apps registry repository for maintainer review.

from scitex_app.appmaker._publish import publish

result = publish(
    app_dir=".",
    server_url="https://scitex.example.com",
    token="your-jwt-token",
)

if result["success"]:
    print("PR URL:", result["pr_url"])

Manifest Reference 

Every app must include a manifest.json at its root:

{
  "name":        "my_awesome_app",
  "slug":        "my-awesome-app",
  "label":       "My Awesome App",
  "version":     "0.1.0",
  "icon":        "fas fa-flask",
  "description": "Analyses spectral data",
  "license":     "AGPL-3.0",

  "frontend_type": "html",

  "privileges": [
    {"type": "filesystem", "scope": "project"},
    {"type": "network",    "scope": "none"},
    {"type": "api",        "scope": "scitex"}
  ],

  "dependencies": {
    "python": ["numpy>=1.24", "pandas>=2.0"],
    "system": [],
    "node":   [],
    "r":      []
  }
}

Required fields: name, slug, label, version, icon, license.

Privilege Scopes 

Type	Valid scopes
`filesystem`	`project`, `readonly`, `none`
`network`	`none`, `allowlist`
`api`	`scitex`, `llm`, `none`

CSS Rules 

App CSS is isolated from the platform shell. Follow these rules:

Use --workspace-* and --text-* CSS custom properties
Do not use deprecated --color-* variables

Do not apply !important to platform shell selectors:

.stx-shell-sidebar, .stx-shell-sidebar__title,
.panel-resizer, footer

Do not hide the footer (footer { display: none } is blocked)
Do not override workspace frame template blocks: workspace_worktree_pane, workspace_ai_pane, workspace_viewer_pane, workspace_apps_pane

Typical Workflow 

# 1. Scaffold
mkdir ~/proj/my_awesome_app
scitex-app app init ~/proj/my_awesome_app --name my_awesome_app

# 2. Edit source files in your editor
cd ~/proj/my_awesome_app
# ... implement views.py, templates, etc. ...

# 3. Validate locally
scitex-app app validate .

# 4. Dev-install on a running server for live testing
export SCITEX_API_TOKEN="..."
scitex-app app dev-install . --server http://127.0.0.1:8000

# 5. Iterate: edit → validate → dev-install
# (The server hot-reloads on file changes)

# 6. Submit when ready
scitex-app app submit .