Extension Repositories

How to host your own repository of Novon extensions.

While Novon includes an official extension repository by default, anyone can host their own. This is useful for distributing private extensions, NSFW sources, or forks of existing sources.

Repository Structure

An extension repository requires two things:

  1. An index.json file (the registry).
  2. The .novext bundle files, hosted over HTTPS.

A typical repository folder structure looks like this:

text
my-repo/
├── index.json
├── icons/
│   ├── com.example.source1.png
│   └── com.example.source2.png
└── bundles/
    ├── com.example.source1-1.0.0.novext
    └── com.example.source2-2.1.0.novext

Architecture of index.json

The app periodically fetches index.json to discover new extensions and updates for installed ones.

json
{
  "repoName": "Novol Custom Extensions",
  "repoUrl": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/username/repo/main/index.json",
  "maintainerUrl": "https://github.com/Username",
  "generated": "2026-04-14T09:12:00Z",
  "apiVersion": "2",
  "extensions": [
    {
      "id": "com.novon.kolnovel",
      "name": "KolNovel",
      "version": "1.3.4",
      "apiVersion": "2",
      "minAppVersion": "1.0.0",
      "lang": "ar",
      "nsfw": false,
      "hasCloudflare": true,
      "categories": ["webnovel", "aggregator"],
      "icon": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/username/repo/main/icons/kolnovel.png",
      "downloadUrl": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/username/repo/main/bundles/com.novon.kolnovel-1.3.4.novext",
      "sha256": "150b3cbbc303cb77123e5d353738bb3aa51d94d67df013883908ec555a2ae8ae",
      "updatedAt": "2026-04-14T08:25:00Z"
    }
  ]
}
Security & Signatures

The sha256 field in the index MUST exactly match the SHA-256 hash of the .novext file. Novon verifies this hash during installation. If it doesn't match, the app will reject the installation to prevent Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks.

Hosting Providers

You must host your repository on an HTTPS server.

The easiest and free way to host a repository is via GitHub:

  1. Create a public GitHub repository.
  2. Push your index.json, bundles/, and icons/ folders.
  3. Your users can add the repository using the Raw URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/username/repo/main/index.json
  4. Alternatively, enable GitHub Pages to serve it from https://username.github.io/repo/index.json.

Automating the Index Generation

Manually updating index.json and computing SHA-256 hashes every time you release an update is tedious.

We provide a Python script that automatically zips your source code, computes the hashes, and writes the index.json file for you.

See the Bundling Extensions guide for the code.