FLATPAK METADATA(5) flatpak metadata FLATPAK METADATA(5)
NAME
flatpak-metadata - Information about an application or runtime
DESCRIPTION
Flatpak uses metadata files to describe applications and runtimes. The
metadata file for a deployed application or runtime is placed in the
toplevel deploy directory. For example, the metadata for the locally
installed application org.gnome.Calculator is in
~/.local/share/flatpak/app/org.gnome.Calculator/current/active/metadata.
Most aspects of the metadata configuration can be overridden when
launching applications, either temporarily via options of the flatpak
run command, or permanently with the flatpak override command.
A metadata file describing the effective configuration is available
inside the running sandbox at /.flatpak-info. For compatibility with
older Flatpak versions, /run/user/$UID/flatpak-info is a symbolic link
to the same file.
FILE FORMAT
The metadata file is using the same .ini file format that is used for
systemd unit files or application .desktop files.
[Application] or [Runtime]
Metadata for applications starts with an [Application] group, metadata
for runtimes with a [Runtime] group.
The following keys can be present in these groups:
name (string)
The name of the application or runtime. This key is mandatory.
runtime (string)
The fully qualified name of the runtime that is used by the
application. This key is mandatory for applications.
sdk (string)
The fully qualified name of the sdk that matches the runtime.
Available since 0.1.
command (string)
The command to run. Only relevant for applications. Available since
0.1.
required-flatpak (string list)
The required version of Flatpak to run this application or runtime.
For applications, this was available since 0.8.0. For runtimes,
this was available since 0.9.1, and backported to 0.8.3 for the
0.8.x branch.
Flatpak after version 1.4.3 and 1.2.5 support multiple versions
here. This can be useful if you need to support features that are
backported to a previous stable series. For example if you want to
use a feature added in 1.6.0 that was also backported to 1.4.4 you
would use 1.6.0;1.4.4;. Note that older versions of flatpak will
just use the first element in the list, so make that the largest
version.
tags (string list)
Tags to include in AppStream XML. Typical values in use on Flathub
include beta, stable, proprietary and upstream-maintained.
Available since 0.4.12.
[Context]
This group determines various system resources that may be shared with
the application when it is run in a flatpak sandbox.
All keys in this group (and the group itself) are optional.
shared (list)
List of subsystems to share with the host system. Possible
subsystems: network, ipc. Available since 0.3.
sockets (list)
List of well-known sockets to make available in the sandbox.
Possible sockets: x11, wayland, fallback-x11, pulseaudio,
session-bus, system-bus, ssh-auth, pcsc, cups. When making a socket
available, flatpak also sets well-known environment variables like
DISPLAY or DBUS_SYSTEM_BUS_ADDRESS to let the application find
sockets that are not in a fixed location. Available since 0.3.
devices (list)
List of devices to make available in the sandbox. Possible values:
dri
Graphics direct rendering (/dev/dri). Available since 0.3.
kvm
Virtualization (/dev/kvm). Available since 0.6.12.
all
All device nodes in /dev, but not /dev/shm (which is separately
specified). Available since 0.6.6.
shm
Access to the host /dev/shm (/dev/shm). Available since 1.6.1.
filesystems (list)
List of filesystem subsets to make available to the application.
Possible values:
home
The entire home directory. Available since 0.3.
home/path
Alias for ~/path Available since 1.10. For better compatibility
with older Flatpak versions, prefer to write this as ~/path.
host
The entire host file system, except for directories that are
handled specially by Flatpak. In particular, this shares /home,
/media, /opt, /run/media and /srv if they exist.
/dev is not shared: use devices=all; instead.
Parts of /sys are always shared. This option does not make
additional files in /sys available.
Additionally, this keyword provides all of the same directories
in /run/host as the host-os and host-etc keywords. If this
keyword is used in conjunction with one of the host- keywords,
whichever access level is higher (more permissive) will be used
for the directories in /run/host: for example,
host:rw;host-os:ro; is equivalent to host:rw;.
These other reserved directories are currently excluded: /app,
/bin, /boot, /efi, /etc, /lib, /lib32, /lib64, /proc, /root,
/run, /sbin, /tmp, /usr, /var.
Available since 0.3.
host-os
The host operating system's libraries, executables and static
data from /usr and the related directories /bin, /lib, /lib32,
/lib64, /sbin. Additionally, this keyword provides access to a
subset of /etc that is associated with packaged libraries and
executables, even if the host-etc keyword was not used:
/etc/ld.so.cache, (used by the dynamic linker) and
/etc/alternatives (on operating systems that use it, such as
Debian).
To avoid conflicting with the Flatpak runtime, these are
mounted in the sandbox at /run/host/usr,
/run/host/etc/ld.so.cache and so on.
Available since 1.7.
host-etc
The host operating system's configuration from /etc.
To avoid conflicting with the Flatpak runtime, this is mounted
in the sandbox at /run/host/etc.
Available since 1.7.
xdg-desktop, xdg-documents, xdg-download, xdg-music, xdg-pictures,
xdg-public-share, xdg-videos, xdg-templates
freedesktop.org special directories[1]. Available since 0.3.
xdg-desktop/path, xdg-documents/path, etc.
Subdirectories of freedesktop.org special directories.
Available since 0.4.13.
xdg-cache, xdg-config, xdg-data
Directories defined by the freedesktop.org Base Directory
Specification[2]. Available since 0.6.14.
xdg-cache/path, xdg-config/path, xdg-data/path
Subdirectories of directories defined by the freedesktop.org
Base Directory Specification. Available since 0.6.14.
xdg-run/path
Subdirectories of the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR defined by the
freedesktop.org Base Directory Specification. Note that xdg-run
on its own is not supported. Available since 0.4.13.
/path
An arbitrary absolute path. Available since 0.3.
~/path
An arbitrary path relative to the home directory. Available
since 0.3.
~
The same as home. Available since 1.10. For better
compatibility with older Flatpak versions, prefer to write this
as home.
One of the above followed by :ro
Make the given directory available read-only.
One of the above followed by :rw
Make the given directory available read/write. This is the
default.
One of the above followed by :create
Make the given directory available read/write, and create it if
it does not already exist.
persistent (list)
List of homedir-relative paths to make available at the
corresponding path in the per-application home directory, allowing
the locations to be used for persistent data when the application
does not have access to the real homedir. For instance making
".myapp" persistent would make "~/.myapp" in the sandbox a bind
mount to "~/.var/app/org.my.App/.myapp", thus allowing an
unmodified application to save data in the per-application
location. Available since 0.3.
features (list)
List of features available or unavailable to the application,
currently from the following list:
devel
Allow system calls used by development-oriented tools such as
perf, strace and gdb. Available since 0.6.10.
multiarch
Allow running multilib/multiarch binaries, for example i386
binaries in an x86_64 environment. Available since 0.6.12.
bluetooth
Allow the application to use bluetooth (AF_BLUETOOTH) sockets.
Note, for bluetooth to fully work you must also have network
access. Available since 0.11.8.
canbus
Allow the application to use canbus (AF_CAN) sockets. Note, for
this work you must also have network access. Available since
1.0.3.
per-app-dev-shm
Share a single instance of /dev/shm between all instances of
this application run by the same user ID, including
sub-sandboxes. If the application has the shm device permission
in its devices list, then this feature flag is ignored.
Available since 1.12.0.
A feature can be prefixed with ! to indicate the absence of that
feature, for example !devel if development and debugging are not
allowed.
unset-environment (list)
A list of names of environment variables to unset. Note that
environment variables to set to a value (possibly empty) appear in
the [Environment] group instead.
[Instance]
This group only appears in /.flatpak-info for a running app, and not in
the metadata files written by application authors. It is filled in by
Flatpak itself.
instance-id (string)
The ID of the running instance. This number is used as the name of
the directory in XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/.flatpak where Flatpak stores
information about this instance.
instance-path (string)
The absolute path on the host system of the app's persistent
storage area in $HOME/.var.
app-path (string)
The absolute path on the host system of the app's app files, as
mounted at /app inside the container. Available since 0.6.10.
Since 1.12.0, if flatpak run was run with the --app-path option,
this key gives the absolute path of whatever files were mounted on
/app, even if that differs from the app's normal app files.
If flatpak run was run with --app-path= (resulting in an empty
directory being mounted on /app), the value is set to the empty
string.
original-app-path (string)
If flatpak run was run with the --app-path option, this key gives
the absolute path of the app's original files, as mounted at
/run/parent/app inside the container. Available since 1.12.0.
If this key is missing, the app files are given by app-path.
app-commit (string)
The commit ID of the application that is running. The filename of a
deployment of this commit can be found in original-app-path if
present, or app-path otherwise.
app-extensions (list of strings)
A list of app extensions that are mounted into the running
instance. The format for each list item is EXTENSION_ID=COMMIT. If
original-app-path is present, the extensions are mounted below
/run/parent/app; otherwise, they are mounted below /app.
branch (string)
The branch of the app, for example stable. Available since 0.6.10.
arch (string)
The architecture of the running instance.
flatpak-version (string)
The version number of the Flatpak version that ran this app.
Available since 0.6.11.
runtime-path (string)
The absolute path on the host system of the app's runtime files, as
mounted at /usr inside the container. Available since 0.6.10.
Since 1.12.0, if flatpak run was run with the --usr-path option,
this key gives the absolute path of whatever files were mounted on
/usr, even if that differs from the app's normal runtime files.
original-runtime-path (string)
If flatpak run was run with the --runtime-path option, this key
gives the absolute path of the app's original runtime, as mounted
at /run/parent/usr inside the container. Available since 1.12.0.
If this key is missing, the runtime files are given by
runtime-path.
runtime-commit (string)
The commit ID of the runtime that is used. The filename of a
deployment of this commit can be found in original-runtime-path if
present, or runtime-path otherwise.
runtime-extensions (list of strings)
A list of runtime extensions that are mounted into the running
instance. The format for each list item is EXTENSION_ID=COMMIT. If
original-app-path is present, the extensions are mounted below
/run/parent/usr; otherwise, they are mounted below /usr.
extra-args (string)
Extra arguments that were passed to flatpak run.
sandbox (boolean)
Whether the --sandbox option was passed to flatpak run.
build (boolean)
Whether this instance was created by flatpak build.
session-bus-proxy (boolean)
True if this app cannot access the D-Bus session bus directly
(either it goes via a proxy, or it cannot access the session bus at
all). Available since 0.8.0.
system-bus-proxy (boolean)
True if this app cannot access the D-Bus system bus directly
(either it goes via a proxy, or it cannot access the system bus at
all). Available since 0.8.0.
[Session Bus Policy]
If the sockets key is not allowing full access to the D-Bus session
bus, then flatpak provides filtered access.
The default policy for the session bus only allows the application to
own its own application ID, its subnames and its own application id as
a subname of "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2". For instance if the app is
called "org.my.App", it can only own "org.my.App", "org.my.App.*" and
"org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.org.my.App". It is only allowed to talk to
names matching those patterns, plus the bus itself
(org.freedesktop.DBus) and the portal APIs (bus names of the form
org.freedesktop.portal.*).
Additionally the app is always allowed to reply to messages sent to it,
and emit broadcast signals (but these will not reach other sandboxed
apps unless they are allowed to talk to your app.
If the [Session Bus Policy] group is present, it provides policy for
session bus access.
Each key in this group has the form of a D-Bus bus name or prefix
thereof, for example org.gnome.SessionManager or
org.freedesktop.portal.*
The possible values for entry are, in increasing order or access:
none
The bus name or names in question is invisible to the application.
Available since 0.2.
see
The bus name or names can be enumerated by the application.
Available since 0.2.
talk
The application can send messages/ and receive replies and signals
from the bus name or names. Available since 0.2.
own
The application can own the bus name or names (as well as all the
above). Available since 0.2.
[System Bus Policy]
If the sockets key is not allowing full access to the D-Bus system bus,
then flatpak does not make the system bus available unless the [System
Bus Policy] group is present and provides a policy for filtered access.
Available since 0.2.
Entries in this group have the same form as for the [Session Bus
Policy] group. However, the app has no permissions by default.
[Environment]
The [Environment] group specifies environment variables to set when
running the application. Available since 0.3.
Entries in this group have the form VAR=VALUE where VAR is the name of
an environment variable to set.
Note that environment variables can also be unset (removed from the
environment) by listing them in the unset-environment entry of the
[Context] group.
[Extension NAME]
Runtimes and applications can define extension points, which allow
optional, additional runtimes to be mounted at a specified location
inside the sandbox when they are present on the system. Typical uses
for extension points include translations for applications, or
debuginfo for sdks. The name of the extension point is specified as
part of the group heading. Since 0.11.4, the name may optionally
include a tag in the NAME in the name@tag ref syntax if you wish to use
different configurations (eg, versions) of the same extension
concurrently. The "tag" is effectively ignored, but is necessary in
order to allow the same extension name to be specified more than once.
directory (string)
The relative path at which the extension will be mounted in the
sandbox. If the extension point is for an application, the path is
relative to /app, otherwise it is relative to /usr. This key is
mandatory. Available since 0.1.
version (string)
The branch to use when looking for the extension. If this is not
specified, it defaults to the branch of the application or runtime
that the extension point is for. Available since 0.4.1.
versions (string)
The branches to use when looking for the extension. If this is not
specified, it defaults to the branch of the application or runtime
that the extension point is for. Available since 0.9.1, and
backported to the 0.8.x branch in 0.8.4.
add-ld-path (string)
A path relative to the extension point directory that will be
appended to LD_LIBRARY_PATH. Available since 0.9.1, and backported
to the 0.8.x branch in 0.8.3.
merge-dirs (string)
A list of relative paths of directories below the extension point
directory that will be merged. Available since 0.9.1, and
backported to the 0.8.x branch in 0.8.3.
download-if (string)
A condition that must be true for the extension to be
auto-downloaded. As of 1.1.1 this supports multiple conditions
separated by semi-colons.
These are the supported conditions:
active-gl-driver
Is true if the name of the active GL driver matches the
extension point basename. Available since 0.9.1, and backported
to the 0.8.x branch in 0.8.3.
active-gtk-theme
Is true if the name of the current GTK theme (via
org.gnome.desktop.interface GSetting) matches the extension
point basename. Added 0.10.1.
have-intel-gpu
Is true if the i915 kernel module is loaded. Added 0.10.1.
have-kernel-module-*
Is true if the suffix (case-sensitive) is found in
/proc/modules. For example have-kernel-module-nvidia. Added
1.13.1.
on-xdg-desktop-*
Is true if the suffix (case-insensitively) is in the
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP env var. For example
on-xdg-desktop-GNOME-classic. Added 1.1.1.
autoprune-unless (string)
A condition that must be false for the extension to be considered
unused when pruning. For example, flatpak uninstall --unused uses
this information. The only currently recognized value is
active-gl-driver, which is true if the name of the active GL driver
matches the extension point basename. Available since 0.11.8.
enable-if (string)
A condition that must be true for the extension to be enabled. As
of 1.1.1 this supports multiple conditions separated by
semi-colons. See download-if for available conditions.
subdirectory-suffix (string)
A suffix that gets appended to the directory name. This is very
useful when the extension point naming scheme is "reversed". For
example, an extension point for GTK+ themes would be
/usr/share/themes/$NAME/gtk-3.0, which could be achieved using
subdirectory-suffix=gtk-3.0. Available since 0.9.1, and backported
to the 0.8.x branch in 0.8.3.
subdirectories (boolean)
If this key is set to true, then flatpak will look for extensions
whose name is a prefix of the extension point name, and mount them
at the corresponding name below the subdirectory. Available since
0.1.
no-autodownload (boolean)
Whether to automatically download extensions matching this
extension point when updating or installing a 'related' application
or runtime. Available since 0.6.7.
locale-subset (boolean)
If set, then the extensions are partially downloaded by default,
based on the currently configured locales. This means that the
extension contents should be a set of directories with the language
code as name. Available since 0.9.13 (and 0.6.6 for any extensions
called *.Locale)
autodelete (boolean)
Whether to automatically delete extensions matching this extension
point when deleting a 'related' application or runtime. Available
since 0.6.7.
collection-id (string)
The ID of the collection that this extension point belongs to. If
this is unspecified, it defaults to the collection ID of the
application or runtime that the extension point is for. Currently,
extension points must be in the same collection as the application
or runtime that they are for. Available since 0.99.1.
[ExtensionOf]
This optional group may be present if the runtime is an extension.
ref (string)
The ref of the runtime or application that this extension belongs
to. Available since 0.9.1.
runtime (string)
The runtime this extension will be inside of. If it is an app
extension, this is the app's runtime; otherwise, this is identical
to ref, without the runtime/ prefix. Available since 1.5.0.
priority (integer)
The priority to give this extension when looking for the best
match. Default is 0. Available since 0.9.1, and backported to the
0.8.x branch in 0.8.3.
tag (string)
The tag name to use when searching for this extension's mount point
in the parent flatpak. Available since 0.11.4.
[Extra Data]
This optional group may be present if the runtime or application uses
extra data that gets downloaded separately. The data in this group gets
merged into the repository summary, with the xa.extra-data-sources key.
If multiple extra data sources are present, their uri, size and
checksum keys are grouped together by using the same suffix. If only
one extra data source is present, the suffix can be omitted.
NoRuntime (boolean)
Whether to mount the runtime while running the /app/bin/apply_extra
script. Defaults to true, i.e. not mounting the runtime. Available
since 0.9.1, and backported to the 0.8.x branch in 0.8.4.
uriX (string)
The uri for extra data source X. The only supported uri schemes are
http and https. Available since 0.6.13.
sizeX (integer)
The size for extra data source X. Available since 0.6.13.
checksumX (string)
The sha256 sum for extra data source X. Available since 0.6.13.
[Policy SUBSYSTEM]
Subsystems can define their own policies to be placed in a group whose
name has this form. Their values are treated as lists, in which items
can have their meaning negated by prepending ! to the value. They are
not otherwise parsed by Flatpak. Available since 0.6.13.
EXAMPLE
[Application]
name=org.gnome.Calculator
runtime=org.gnome.Platform/x86_64/3.20
sdk=org.gnome.Sdk/x86_64/3.20
command=gnome-calculator
[Context]
shared=network;ipc;
sockets=x11;wayland;
filesystems=xdg-run/dconf;~/.config/dconf:ro;
[Session Bus Policy]
ca.desrt.dconf=talk
[Environment]
DCONF_USER_CONFIG_DIR=.config/dconf
[Extension org.gnome.Calculator.Locale]
directory=share/runtime/locale
subdirectories=true
[Extension org.gnome.Calculator.Debug]
directory=lib/debug
SEE ALSO
flatpak(1), flatpak-run(1), flatpak-override(1)
NOTES
1. freedesktop.org special directories
https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/xdg-user-dirs/
2. freedesktop.org Base Directory Specification
https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html
flatpak FLATPAK METADATA(5)
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