Getting Access

Become an approved UbuntuPlay developer to sign game releases, publish plugins, and distribute through the Marketplace.

1. Apply for a Developer Account

1. Go to the Developer Portal signup page.

2. Create a Better Auth account with your email and password.

3. Fill in your profile: name, organisation, website, and a short description of what you plan to build.

4. Submit the application. New accounts start in pending status until reviewed.

2. Account States

3. Create an API Key

Once active, generate a key from the Dev Portal or via the API:

POST /hub/api/dev/api-keys
Content-Type: application/json
Cookie: better-auth.session_token=<your-session>

{
  "name": "My Laptop",
  "scopes": ["sign:game", "publish:plugin"]
}

The response contains the raw key once. Store it securely:

{
  "ok": true,
  "key": "updev_abc123...",
  "keyId": "key_...",
  "warning": "Copy this key now — it will not be shown again."
}

4. Authenticate Requests

There are two ways to call developer endpoints:

Session cookie (browser / portal)

When calling from the Dev Portal, the Better Auth session cookie is sent automatically.

API key (scripts, CI, game builders)

Pass the key in the X-Api-Key header for game signing and plugin publishing:

curl -X POST https://ubuntuplay.fly.dev/hub/api/dev/sign \
  -H "X-Api-Key: updev_your_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"manifest": {"type": "game_add", "version": "1.0.0", "files": [...]}}'

5. First Request — Check Your Profile

Profile and portal endpoints such as GET /hub/api/dev/me use your session cookie (they do not accept X-Api-Key). From a script, sign in first and reuse the cookie:

curl -c cookies.txt -X POST https://ubuntuplay.fly.dev/api/auth/sign-in/email \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "you@example.com", "password": "…"}'

curl -b cookies.txt https://ubuntuplay.fly.dev/hub/api/dev/me