Community applications

SolarOS Playground

Playground lets you discover, install, and run community Python and Lua applications directly on SolarOS. Connect the device to Wi-Fi and open the catalog:

playground

The first opening downloads the catalog. Use the arrow keys to browse, Enter to inspect an application, d to install it, and r to run an installed copy. Press / to search. Playground also provides shell commands:

playground refresh
playground search QUERY
playground install APP-ID
playground run APP-ID

See the Playground manual for all controls, storage choices, update markers, and source commands.

Extend SolarOS without rebuilding it

Playground applications are scripts and assets rather than firmware packages. They run through the python or lua application already built into SolarOS, so a new tool, experiment, or game can be shared without compiling and flashing new firmware.

Both runtimes expose SolarOS services through the solaros API. Python applications use import solaros; Lua applications use the preloaded solaros table or require("solaros"). The available storage, networking, hardware, TUI, and graphics APIs depend on the board and firmware flavor:

• Python runtime and SolarOS API
• Lua runtime and SolarOS API

Applications declare their minimum SolarOS version and required board capabilities, allowing Playground to show whether they can run on the current device.

Share an application

The preferred way to share an application is to contribute it to the SolarOS Playground repository on GitHub. Start from an existing Python or Lua example, add the application source and manifest, build the catalog, run its tests, and open a pull request. The contribution guide and manifest reference describe the complete process.

Contributing through the shared repository makes applications discoverable to all Playground users and gives the executable source a public review path.

Forks and self-hosted repositories

You can use a compatible catalog outside the default repository:

• Fork the GitHub repository, generate its dist/ output, and select the fork

with playground source https://github.com/YOUR-NAME/solar_os_playground.

• Host the generated dist/ directory yourself and select the full catalog

URL with playground source https://example.org/solaros/catalog.json.

• Return to the community catalog with playground source reset.

SolarOS stores the selected source on the device. Packages are checked against the size and SHA-256 digest in that catalog before installation, but Playground applications are not sandboxed. Only install applications and select repositories whose maintainers you trust.