CCAI : Cloudron Custom App Installer

[timconsidine]

Attempting to be concise, I have completed changes to the CCAI environment.

CCAI

1. original "hosted-as-a-service" ccai.appx.uk is now disabled and now a placeholder to avoid broken forum links
2. new "entry point" is customappgateway.appx.uk

CustomAppGateway

1. previously just an installer for CCAI-P, via browser or binary
2. deliberate web UI change to create distance from old system/concept

3. no more browser-based installations involving submission of creds in a browser
4. only supported deploy route is an installer script using a binary (Mac, Linux, Windows as needed), which cleans up by removing the binary on completion
5. now can install not just CCAI-P but other custom apps
6. custom apps master catalogue now lives in customappgateway
7. recommended to install CCAI-P and then install apps from there to enable updates
8. but there is also an option to install a single custom app from customappgateway, for those who don't want CCAI-P and don't care about updates
9. I re-factored the installer binary to be available for use by others - driven by run-time arguments, no custom app meta-data baked into the installer : see customappgateway.appx.uk Advanced section

CCAI-P

1. CCAI-P now supports updates to installed custom apps ... providing they were installed using the new CCAI-P version (uses local 'installed.json' to know what to check)
2. Master App Catalogue now maintained (only) by me - I will attempt to keep populated & updated, but let me know if something needs adding or changing - happy to do so
3. CCAI-P now supports a Local Catalogue, maintainable by you ! Independence, privacy, experimentation - whatever !

4. CCAI-P app update checking and processing is not fully checked (I haven't got any apps to update and I haven't invested time in faking a test). Let me know if any issues. Will try to do some real or fake testing.

Given Cloudron 9.1 upcoming support for custom apps, I am not planning any further major changes, just fixing any reported issues.

[timconsidine]

@humptydumpty I finished the upgrade !
Apologies again that you got caught up in the middle of it

[humptydumpty]

@timconsidine I can't help with code, but more than happy to help with testing!

• I reinstalled CCAI-P via the Windows.exe installer and that went smoothly.
• I reinstalled Zoneminder via the new CCAI-P and that also went smoothly.
• Attempted to install Excalidraw but that didn't work (I logged out in CCAI, restarted app, and clicked on start-over). Here's the log from the CCAI page.

[12:51:13 PM] Repository URL provided: https://git.cloudron.io/timconsidine/cloudron-excalidraw
[12:51:13 PM] Server will auto-detect default branch and construct manifest URL
[12:51:13 PM] Starting installation process...
[12:51:13 PM] Installation started. Streaming logs...
[12:51:13 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] Cleaning up any existing installer directory...
[12:51:13 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] Creating temporary directory for installation files...
[12:51:13 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] Repository URL provided: https://git.cloudron.io/timconsidine/cloudron-excalidraw
[12:51:13 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] Server will auto-detect default branch and construct manifest URL
[12:51:13 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] Trying https://git.cloudron.io/timconsidine/cloudron-excalidraw/-/raw/main/CloudronManifest.json (Attempt 1/3)
[12:51:13 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] DEBUG: Starting download for https://git.cloudron.io/timconsidine/cloudron-excalidraw/-/raw/main/CloudronManifest.json
[12:51:16 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] CloudronManifest.json downloaded successfully
[12:51:16 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] Fetching asset logo.png from https://git.cloudron.io/timconsidine/cloudron-excalidraw/-/raw/main/logo.png
[12:51:16 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] DEBUG: Starting download for https://git.cloudron.io/timconsidine/cloudron-excalidraw/-/raw/main/logo.png
[12:51:16 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] Fetching postInstallMessage file POSTINSTALL.md from https://git.cloudron.io/timconsidine/cloudron-excalidraw/-/raw/main/POSTINSTALL.md
[12:51:16 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] DEBUG: Starting download for https://git.cloudron.io/timconsidine/cloudron-excalidraw/-/raw/main/POSTINSTALL.md
[12:51:16 PM] [2026-02-05 18:51:14] postInstallMessage download failed for POSTINSTALL.md: HTTP 404
[12:51:16 PM] ERROR: Installation failed: Unknown error

[timconsidine]

@humptydumpty let me try it here ....

[timconsidine]

Fixed the issues reported by @humptydumpty

Going to test installation of every app in catalogue, which will take a little time, feel free to report any issues you find.

[timconsidine]

Pushed couple more fixes, continuing to test installation of every app

[humptydumpty]

I can confirm all reported bugs are fixed! Thanks Tim!

[timconsidine]

Public service announcement to minimise chance of pulling the rug from under @humptydumpty or others again

Testing of all custom apps in catalogue reveal some stubborn issues on a couple of apps. So ...

Breaking changes to refactor CCAI-P and CustomAppGateway - they are going to go down for a short while

Will post here when back up.

[timconsidine]

CustomAppGateway and CCAI-P back in service.

As part of testing installation of all apps in the catalogue, I discovered gremlins (such as what happens if a source repo becomes unavailable or project abandoned, as well some "bound-to-fail-eventually" parsing and other "cleverness").

So I refactored both projects to be simpler and more robust, which needed them to go down.

I probably should do another round of testing all listed apps install correctly. That's on the ToDo list. I think it is all working (ha ha ha, famous last words).

if you already installed CCAI-P, I strongly recommend you reinstall it from customappgateway.appx.uk

Custom apps already installed should not need re-installation.
It's just the installers which have changed.

[DualOSWinWiz]

@timconsidine i would like to thank you for your efforts and contributions. Please try to do windmill https://github.com/windmill-labs/windmill
And Dify

https://github.com/AshleyDelph84/dify-self-host

I spend 2 weekends and still not successful

[timconsidine]

@DualOSWinWiz said in CCAI : Cloudron Custom App Installer:

I spend 2 weekends and still not successful

Well, don't assume I will do better !

Have to finish my VAT return but will look at them afterwards