Sharing extensions

Once you've built an extension you want others to use, pick the path that matches your audience. For anything meant for the wider Silo community, publish to the extension registry — that's what Browse and extensions.getsilo.dev read. Folder, Git, tarball, and npm remain useful sideloads for private or one-off shares.

Publish to the Silo registry

Publishing is release-driven: register once, then every GitHub Release you cut is ingested automatically. No registry accounts or tokens — your id is <github-owner>.<name>, bound to the repo you control.

1. Set up releases (once per repo). New extension? npx create-silo-extension scaffolds the publish-extension-action workflow. Existing extension: add that action, then publish with npm version patch && git push --follow-tags.
2. Register (once per extension). Use the form at extensions.getsilo.dev/publish — it opens a pre-filled PR against silo-code/extensions-registry. A bot validates and merges.
3. Done. After ingest, the listing appears at extensions.getsilo.dev/<id> and in Settings → Extensions → Browse. Users install with one click or silo install <id>. Later releases update the listing; installed users see an Update badge.

See Publishing an extension for the package shape and Permissions & access for what you declare in silo.permissions.

When to use this: public extensions for the Silo community.

Install from a local folder

The simplest share: hand someone the folder (zip, AirDrop, USB) and have them run one command:

silo install /path/to/my-extension

Or they can open Settings → Extensions → Install from folder… and pick the folder. Best for local teammates or quick one-off installs.

Share via a Git repository

For extensions you maintain over time, a Git repo is the natural home. The recipient clones it and builds locally:

git clone https://github.com/you/my-extension
cd my-extension
npm install && npm run build
silo install .

This works for a single-extension repo or a collection repo where each extension lives in its own subfolder:

my-extensions/
  clock/
    package.json
    src/index.tsx
  weather/
    package.json
    src/index.tsx

git clone https://github.com/you/my-extensions
cd my-extensions/clock && npm install && npm run build && silo install .

When to use this: pro users who want to inspect the source, make local tweaks, or stay on the latest commit. Requires Node/npm on the recipient's machine. To put the same package on Browse for everyone else, publish to the registry as well.

Share a packed tarball

npm pack produces a self-contained .tgz from your built extension. Anyone with Silo can install it directly — no Node, no build step:

npm run build
npm pack                      # → silo-my-clock-0.1.0.tgz

Options for distributing the .tgz:

• Attach to a GitHub release — required for registry publishing, and also usable as a direct install URL (asset download link).
• Commit to a repo — for a collection repo, commit each .tgz alongside its source; the raw GitHub URL becomes the install link.
• Send the file directly — paste the path or URL into Settings → Extensions and click Install.

https://github.com/you/my-extensions/raw/main/clock/silo-my-clock-0.1.0.tgz

When to use this: sharing with less technical users, or when you want to pin a specific built version without requiring the recipient to build anything.

The create-silo-extension scaffold includes a pack script that builds and packs in one step:

npm run pack                  # build + npm pack → silo-my-ext-0.1.0.tgz

Publish to npm

Publishing makes your extension installable by package name from anywhere (sideload path — separate from the Silo registry):

npm publish --access public

Users install by typing the package name into Settings → Extensions → npm package name or tarball URL…:

silo-my-clock

Or they can use the npm tarball URL directly:

https://registry.npmjs.org/silo-my-clock/-/silo-my-clock-0.1.0.tgz

When to use this: npm distribution alongside (or instead of) the Silo registry. npm alone does not list the extension on Browse or extensions.getsilo.dev.

Comparison

Method	On Browse / catalog	Requires Node/npm	Pinned version	Public URL
Silo registry	Yes	No (to install)	Yes (per release)	Yes
Local folder	No	To build	—	No
Git clone + build	No	Yes	No (tracks branch)	No
Packed tarball	No	No	Yes	Optional
npm publish	No	No	Yes	Yes