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saphid--frame-control/docs/web-install.md
T
saphidandClaude Opus 5.5 dd9c009206 Install links for websites: frame-control://install
A site can link to frame-control://install?manifest=URL (or ?url=URL) to
install a title with Frame Control. Manifests use FrameDrop's format, so
framedrop.install/v1 is accepted as well as frame-control.install/v1.

- app/install-link.js parses links; main.js registers the scheme (plus
  electron-builder protocols for Info.plist and the .desktop file), takes
  links from open-url, second-instance argv and the first argv, and holds
  them until the page asks for them through preload's onInstallLink.
- ui/frame_webinstall.py checks the URLs (HTTPS only; localhost over http
  only when the link itself is local; no userinfo; every address public,
  rechecked on redirects and pinned for the connection), reads the
  manifest, downloads with a size cap and sha256 check, and dispatch()
  sends .apk to frame_android and .zip/.exe to frame_titles when present.
- server.py adds /api/webinstall/check, start, job and cancel behind the
  existing Host and X-Frame-UI guards; a start needs a one-time id from
  check. Downloads stop on cancel and on shutdown, and leftovers from a
  killed server are swept by PID.
- index.html asks before anything downloads (name, source host, file,
  type, size, whether a sha256 was given) and shows progress.
- docs/web-install.md, docs/install.html (landing page, unpublished).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-09-26 20:18:39 +10:00

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6.6 KiB
Markdown

# Install links for websites
A website can put an "Install with Frame Control" button next to its download.
Clicking it opens Frame Control, which shows what the link wants to install and
asks the user. Only after they click **Install** does it download the file and
install it on the Frame.
What's verified: the link parsing, URL rules, manifest parsing, download,
size cap and sha256 check, by `tests/test_webinstall.py` and
`tests/test_server.py` (no network: a stub server on 127.0.0.1). Installing on
the headset is the same code as dropping a file on Frame Control: `.apk` files go
to the APK installer ([apks.md](apks.md)), `.zip` and `.exe` files to the
Linux/Windows title installer. A link hasn't been clicked through to a headset
install yet.
## The link
```
frame-control://install?manifest=<URL-encoded manifest URL>
frame-control://install?url=<URL-encoded file URL>
```
Use `manifest` when you can: it carries the title's name and a sha256, which
Frame Control checks before installing. `url` is for a file on its own; the
dialog then names the title after the file.
The manifest is FrameDrop's format, so one manifest serves both apps. The
schema may be `framedrop.install/v1` or `frame-control.install/v1`:
```json
{
"schema": "framedrop.install/v1",
"name": "My Game",
"files": [
{ "url": "https://cdn.example.com/mygame-arm64.apk", "sha256": "optional-but-better" }
]
}
```
| Field | |
|---|---|
| `schema` | Required, one of the two above |
| `name` | Shown in the confirm dialog (at most 120 characters). Defaults to the file name. APKs are still named in the Steam library by their own label |
| `files` | Exactly one entry for now; more is refused with a message |
| `files[0].url` | Required. The file to install |
| `files[0].sha256` | Optional, 64 hex digits. The download must match or nothing is installed |
| `files[0].size` | Optional (Frame Control extension), bytes. Shown up front; the download must match |
| `files[0].exe` | Optional (Frame Control extension), for a `.zip` title: the program inside it to run |
What gets installed depends on the file name's extension:
| File | Installed as |
|---|---|
| `.apk` | An Android app in its own Lepton instance with a Steam shortcut ([apks.md](apks.md)) |
| `.zip`, `.exe` | A Linux or Windows title. Versions of Frame Control without the title installer say "Linux/Windows titles need a newer Frame Control" |
| anything else | Refused |
## Rules
Frame Control refuses a link, and downloads nothing, unless:
- Every URL (the manifest's, the file's and each redirect) is `https://`.
`http://` works only for `localhost` or `127.0.0.1`, for testing, and only
when the link itself points there: a public manifest can't send Frame
Control to your own computer.
- No URL has a user name or password in it (`https://user:pw@…`).
- No host is, or resolves to, a private, loopback, link-local, CGNAT
(100.64.0.0/10), multicast or otherwise non-public address. Every address
the name has must be public, it's checked again on every redirect (at most
5), and the download connects to the address that was checked.
- The file URL ends in a file name with one of the extensions above
(`https://example.com/games/` is refused).
- The manifest is JSON of at most 256 KB, and the file at most 4 GiB
(`MAX_MANIFEST` and `MAX_FILE` in `ui/frame_webinstall.py`).
- The user confirms. The dialog shows the title's name, the site the link came
from (and the file's host if different), the file name and type, the size if
known, and whether a sha256 was given.
A web page can't install anything itself: it can only open the link. Frame
Control's local server refuses requests from web pages, so the only way in is
the operating system handing the link to the app, then the user's click.
## Button for your site
Paste this where the download is, with your manifest's URL in `MANIFEST`:
```html
<a id="frame-control-install" href="#"
style="display:inline-block;padding:10px 18px;border-radius:4px;background:#1a9fff;color:#fff;
font:600 15px -apple-system,'Segoe UI',sans-serif;text-decoration:none">Install with Frame Control</a>
<script>
(() => {
const MANIFEST = "https://example.com/mygame/frame-control.json";
const GET_APP = "https://github.com/saphid/steam-frame/releases/latest";
const button = document.getElementById("frame-control-install");
button.href = "frame-control://install?manifest=" + encodeURIComponent(MANIFEST);
button.addEventListener("click", () => {
// If Frame Control opens, this page loses focus; if it doesn't, offer the download.
let left = false;
const away = () => { left = true; };
window.addEventListener("blur", away, { once: true });
setTimeout(() => {
window.removeEventListener("blur", away);
if (!left && confirm("Frame Control didn't open. Download it?")) location.href = GET_APP;
}, 2000);
});
})();
</script>
```
For a single file, use `"frame-control://install?url=" + encodeURIComponent(FILE_URL)`.
`docs/install.html` is a landing page that does the same from a plain link:
`install.html?manifest=<URL-encoded URL>` tries the app and shows a "Get Frame
Control" link. It isn't published anywhere yet; host a copy to use it.
## Testing locally
Serve the manifest and file from your own computer:
```sh
cd mygame && python3 -m http.server 8000
open 'frame-control://install?manifest=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A8000%2Fmanifest.json' # xdg-open on Linux, start "" on Windows
```
The manifest's file URL must then be `http://localhost:8000/…` or
`http://127.0.0.1:8000/…` too.
## How it works
- `app/install-link.js` parses the link (only `frame-control://install` with
exactly one `manifest` or `url`); `app/main.js` registers the scheme
(`app.setAsDefaultProtocolClient`, and electron-builder's `protocols` for the
macOS Info.plist and the Linux `.desktop` file). macOS delivers links through
`open-url`, Windows and Linux as an argument to a second instance. Links
wait in the main process until the page has loaded and asked for them
(`frameApp.onInstallLink` in `app/preload.js`). `framedrop://` is left alone.
- The page posts the link to `/api/webinstall/check`, which reads the manifest,
applies the rules, asks the file's size with a HEAD request and returns a
one-time id. Nothing is downloaded.
- **Install** posts the id to `/api/webinstall/start`. The server downloads to
a temporary folder (progress at `/api/webinstall/job`, cancellable with
`/api/webinstall/cancel`), checks size and sha256, hands the file to
`frame_webinstall.dispatch()` and deletes the folder.
- The app registers the scheme each time it starts, so the last Frame Control
started (e.g. a development checkout) handles the links.