Proposal for the Unified App Registry for Cytoscape App Store

Currently, the Cytoscape App Store only supports plugins for the Cytoscape Desktop App. Since a web version of Cytoscape is available, web plugins and service apps can add functionality, similar to the desktop plugins. With multiple platforms, a unified app registry would be ideal in organizing plugins and extensions, with layered filtering capabilities (e.g. platform type, app type). To solve this problem, the proposal includes an implementation plan on frontend UI changes and filtering, database migrations, an updated submission and approval flow for both web apps and service apps, and health monitoring for all apps. The first 3-4 weeks will be spent discussing final changes with mentors, with database migrations to accomodate the new platform types. The frontend will also receive changes including filtering, new tags and categories. Weeks 5 and 6 will follow a similar process for web service apps. Weeks 7-10 will consist of adjusting the submission workflow, including frontend UI changes for developers and database migrations. Health checks will also be implemented, with certain criteria to determine the health status of an app. Weeks 11-12 will consist of unit testing, including health check testing, testing new uploads, latency checks and documentation.