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Intro to Valist
Valist is the web3-native software publishing protocol & app store.
Valist is the web3-native software publishing protocol & app store.
You can think of it as the App Store, or Steam, but for Web3 -- no reliance on a single entity to deliver software from the developer to the end user!
Right now, software distribution is relying entirely on centralized web2 companies to distribute and publish our software.
Imagine you're building an app or game for months, or years, putting your hard work, love, and energy into it -- finally the day comes where you're ready to share it with the world! Next thing you know, you're being interrogated by your app store/distributor for countless details, jumping through the hoops of their release process, and when they finally take your app's build, you can only hope they let it pass through the gates! Then, if you manage to get your app published, they take 30+% of your hard earned revenue!
There are so many problems with this. The craziest part is:
- They own your products.
- They own your users.
- Your users don't even truly own the assets they've purchased.
How did we ever let this happen? These are the problems that are created when you rely on companies and not protocols.
It supports any kind of software -- from binaries to web apps to Unity games -- all in a unified interface, with a familiar look and feel.
The most popular, and supported use cases for Valist are:
- Publishing static web apps (Next.js, Create React App, Gatsby, etc.)
- Publishing Unity games and apps
- Monetizing Unity games with Software License NFTs (i.e., selling and token-gating a Unity game for $20 USDC or DAI easily)
- Publishing static binaries and executables
- Golang, Rust, and other binaries are excellent fits here
- Publishing Electron & other desktop apps
- Publishing apps to multiple platforms (Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and Web currently supported)
Valist works by using IPFS and Filecoin to store all software and other data assets, and Polygon to coordinate the
account/project/version combination in a decentralized registry smart contract that enforces all the security policies set on the Valist account.This is all wrapped into an easy to use interface, with gas-less transactions and password-less email login as a cherry-on-top.
A protocol-level fee of
2.5% for apps monetized with Software License NFTs pays for all users storage and transaction fees, and an opt-in 2.5% Community Treasury fee enables public goods and indie game / app development funding. Imagine if traditional app stores redirected even a fraction of revenue to fund new and existing projects! That's what the Valist Community + Protocol brings to the table.The Valist SDK is what powers the Web Dashboard, the Sapphire Launcher, the CLI, GitHub Action, and any other Valist-powered tooling.
An example of a Valist Release on-chain looks like:
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{
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"name": "1.2.3",
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"description": "Example multi-platform binary release!",
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"install": {
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"windows_amd64": "hello-windows-amd64",
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"linux_amd64": "hello-linux-amd64",
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"darwin_arm64": "hello-darwin-arm64",
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"darwin_amd64": "hello-darwin-amd64"
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},
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"external_url": "https://gateway.valist.io/ipfs/bafybeidlsyuka7ycdqtj5hltmlv6gghfkbr45gmissqvi6lbgdkqmbfieu"
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}
Gateway URLs are stored with
https://gateway.valist.io/ipfs/ as the prefix, but you can easily strip this away and fetch the CID directly from IPFS! The Valist clients do this automatically, and load from native IPFS wherever possible.Valist is fully decentralized, meaning you can run Valist entirely local, plugging in your own web3 infrastructure, without depending on a single point of failure. All you need is a Polygon RPC node, an IPFS node (or use the embedded node with Sapphire!), and a Valist Subgraph endpoint.
Valist.io is simply a hosted version of the Valist protocol, with some extra performance and services on top!
Ready to get started? Click next to learn how to create an account & project and start delivering your software in a web3-native way!
Last modified 3mo ago