> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/thedogecraft/sparkle/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Apps

> Install and uninstall over 100 applications using Winget or Chocolatey, with support for exporting and importing your app selection.

The Apps page is a curated application installer that uses Winget (Windows Package Manager) or Chocolatey to install and remove software. You browse apps by category, select what you want, and click **Install Selected** or **Uninstall Selected** to run the operation. Progress is shown in the title bar.

## Package manager support

Sparkle supports two package managers:

* **Winget** — The default Windows Package Manager. Available on Windows 10 and later.
* **Chocolatey** — A community-driven package manager with a large library of apps.

Use the **Select Source** dropdown to switch between them. If the selected package manager is not installed, Sparkle detects this and offers to install it for you.

<Note>
  When you switch sources, your current app selection is cleared so that only apps available in the new source are shown.
</Note>

## App categories

Apps are organized into nine categories:

| Category               | Examples                                                                       |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Browsers**           | Firefox, Chrome, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, Tor Browser, Zen Browser               |
| **Communication**      | Discord, Slack, Teams, Telegram, Zoom, Signal, Vesktop                         |
| **Development**        | VS Code, Visual Studio, Git, GitHub Desktop, Node.js, Docker, Python, Rust, Go |
| **Games**              | Steam, Epic Games, EA App, Battle.net, Minecraft Launcher, Playnite, Modrinth  |
| **Multimedia**         | Spotify, VLC, OBS Studio, Audacity, Krita, ShareX, FxSound                     |
| **Productivity**       | Notion, Dropbox, Microsoft Office, Blender                                     |
| **Privacy & Security** | Surfshark, NordVPN, Proton VPN, Mullvad, Bitwarden, Malwarebytes               |
| **Utilities**          | 7-Zip, PowerToys, Rufus, MSI Afterburner, Everything Search                    |
| **Python**             | Python 3.8 through 3.13                                                        |

Use the search bar at the top to filter apps by name across all categories.

## Selecting and installing apps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Select apps">
    Click an app card or its checkbox to select it. You can select multiple apps across different categories. Click **Uncheck All** to clear your selection.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install or uninstall">
    Click **Install Selected** to install all selected apps, or **Uninstall Selected** to remove them. Sparkle passes the app IDs to Winget or Chocolatey and runs the operation in the background. Progress is tracked in the title bar.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Some apps display a warning icon if they have known installation issues when running as administrator. Read the warning before proceeding.
</Warning>

## Exporting and importing an app list

You can save your current selection and restore it later or share it with others.

* **Export List** — Downloads a `sparkle-apps.json` file containing the package IDs of all currently selected apps.
* **Import List** — Opens a file picker to load a previously exported JSON file. After importing, a modal shows the apps in the file with checkboxes so you can deselect any you don't want before installing.

The exported file is a plain JSON array of package ID strings:

```json theme={null}
[
  "Mozilla.Firefox",
  "VideoLAN.VLC",
  "Microsoft.VisualStudioCode"
]
```

## App card information

Each app card shows:

* App icon
* App name
* Short description
* Package ID
* External link button to open the app's website (when a URL is provided)

## Adding apps via apps.json

The app list is loaded from `src/renderer/assets/apps.json`. To contribute a new app, add an entry with the following structure:

```json theme={null}
{
  "name": "App Name",
  "id": "Publisher.AppName",
  "chocolatey": "package-name",
  "category": "category-name",
  "info": "Short description of the app.",
  "link": "https://example.com",
  "icon": "https://example.com/icon.png"
}
```

### Field reference

| Field        | Required | Description                                                                                           |
| ------------ | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `name`       | Yes      | Display name shown on the app card.                                                                   |
| `id`         | Yes\*    | Winget package ID (e.g., `Mozilla.Firefox`).                                                          |
| `chocolatey` | No       | Chocolatey package name. Required if the app should appear when Chocolatey is selected as the source. |
| `category`   | Yes      | Category for grouping. Must match an existing category name (e.g., `browsers`, `development`).        |
| `info`       | Yes      | Short description shown on the app card.                                                              |
| `link`       | No       | Website URL. Shown as an external link button on the card.                                            |
| `icon`       | Yes      | URL to the app's icon image. Displayed on the card.                                                   |
| `warning`    | No       | Optional warning message shown to users before installation.                                          |

\*Required for the Winget source. An app can have only a `chocolatey` field if it is not available via Winget.

After editing `apps.json`, submit a pull request on [GitHub](https://github.com/parcoil/sparkle).