Flatpak manifest for new apps?

Question

Is Flatpak manifest file still needed for new apps?

I read about it here: https://docs.elementary.io/develop/writing-apps/our-first-app/packaging but I also checked some Elementry OS apps sources on github and I found .travis.yml file only.

Answer 1

Are you really sure to use Flatpak in Elementary OS? Flatpak is full of issues.

From my com.github.slawtul.hamster.yml file:

runtime: org.gnome.Platform
runtime-version: '3.38'
sdk: org.gnome.Sdk

I run command:

flatpak-builder build  com.github.slawtul.hamster.yml --user --install --force-clean

Result:

error: org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/3.38 not installed
Failed to init: Unable to find sdk org.gnome.Sdk version 3.38

I run manually command and press 9:

flatpak install org.gnome.Sdk 3.38

Result:

Looking for matches…
Found similar ref(s) for ‘org.gnome.Sdk’ in remote ‘flathub’ (system).
Use this remote? [Y/n]: Y
Similar refs found for ‘org.gnome.Sdk’ in remote ‘flathub’ (system):

   1) runtime/org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/40
   2) runtime/org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/3.24
   3) runtime/org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/3.26
   4) runtime/org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/3.28
   5) runtime/org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/3.30
   6) runtime/org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/3.32
   7) runtime/org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/3.34
   8) runtime/org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/3.36
   9) runtime/org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/3.38

Which do you want to use (0 to abort)? [0-9]: 9
error: Nothing matches 3.38 in remote flathub

So even if flatpak informs me it found ref when I press number I get an error "Nothing matches" :)

Only this works (two slashes):

flatpak install org.gnome.Sdk//3.38

Looking for matches…
Found similar ref(s) for ‘org.gnome.Sdk//3.38’ in remote ‘flathub’ (system).
Use this remote? [Y/n]: Y


        ID                                             Branch            Op           Remote            Download
 1. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default            20.08             i            flathub            95,3 MB / 96,0 MB
 2. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264              2.0               i            flathub             1,5 MB / 1,5 MB
 3. [✓] org.gnome.Sdk.Locale                           3.38              i            flathub             4,6 MB / 330,7 MB
 4. [✓] org.gtk.Gtk3theme.elementary                   3.22              i            flathub            75,8 kB / 1,3 MB
 5. [✓] org.gnome.Sdk                                  3.38              i            flathub           569,2 MB / 641,9 MB

Of course running below command still gives an error:

flatpak-builder build  com.github.slawtul.hamster.yml --user --install --force-clean

error: org.gnome.Platform/x86_64/3.38 not installed
Failed to init: Unable to find runtime org.gnome.Platform version 3.38

So this is not a good start.

Any help?

Flatpak 1.8.3 version

Answer 2

I found that Flatpak manifest for Elementary OS apps is a new thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDDG0BSAdPo&ab_channel=elementary