Suitefish Windows App

Tip

This tool is actively maintained as a private scientific utility. Feature requests and bug reports are welcome via GitHub Issues and will be reviewed within 1–3 weeks.

🔍 What is this repository about?

Suitefish is a lightweight, free and open-source software store client for Windows. It connects to a Suitefish catalog server over HTTPS, lists the software modules published there, and lets you download, install and manage them directly on your PC — outside of the official app stores.

By default the app talks to the official suitefish.com catalog, but you can point it at your own custom server instead, making it a simple way to distribute and self-host Windows software. The app ships with no ads and adds no tracking of its own.

Warning

Suitefish installs software from an online source outside of official app stores. Only connect to servers you fully trust. A wrong, malicious or misconfigured server can expose you to malware or data leaks — you use the app and any custom server entirely at your own risk.

This repository holds the full source code, build assets and release artifacts for the Windows app.

✨ Features

• Store tab — browse the remote catalog and view each module's identifier, name, description, version, author and license.
• Library tab — see which modules are installed locally, compare the installed version against the latest, update in place and launch their executables.
• Download & install — fetch ZIP packages from the store server and extract them into managed local application folders.
• Update checks — compare the running client against the update server and detect newer versions of installed modules.
• Custom servers — use the default suitefish.com store and update servers or connect to your own; each server is configured independently.
• Privacy-friendly — local SQLite-backed settings, no ads, no in-app tracking; risk and privacy notices shown on start.
• Settings — switch the store and update servers, change the interface language, and choose the tray-on-close behaviour at any time.

🚀 Building from source

The Windows project lives in the _source folder and uses the .NET SDK.

cd _source
dotnet build -c Release   # or open suitefish.sln in Visual Studio

The release build is written to _source/bin/Release/net8.0-windows/. Note that the build is framework-dependent by default — the target machine needs the .NET 8 Desktop Runtime installed to run it.

• Minimum Windows: 10 (64-bit) · Target framework: .NET 8 (net8.0-windows)
• Language: C# · Build system: .NET SDK / MSBuild (Windows Forms)

❓ Support Channels

If you encounter any issues or have questions while using this software, feel free to contact us:

• GitHub Issues is the main platform for reporting bugs, asking questions, or submitting feature requests: https://github.com/bugfishtm/suitefish-windows/issues
• Discord Community is available for live discussions, support, and connecting with other users: Join us on Discord
• Email support is recommended only for urgent security-related issues: security@bugfish.eu

📁 Repository Structure

This table provides an overview of key files and folders related to the repository. Click on the links to access each file for more detailed information. If certain folders are missing from the repository, they are irrelevant to this project.

Document Type	Description
.github	Folder containing GitHub configuration, issue/PR templates and workflow files.
.github/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md	Community guidelines for participation.
.gitattributes	Git configuration file for repository attributes (dev use).
.gitignore	Git configuration file for ignored files/folders (dev use).
_source	The Visual Studio / .NET project — full app source code.
_releases	Published release artifacts (Windows builds).
_changelogs	Per-version changelog files.
_screenshots	Screenshots of the app.
_images	Image and branding assets.
_licenses	License texts for bundled third-party libraries.
_archive	Archived and test assets (dev use).
github_reset.bat	Batch script to reset the repository (dev use).
github_update.bat	Batch script to update the repository (dev use).
CONTRIBUTING.md	Guidelines and instructions for contributors.
CHANGELOG.md	Main changelog file summarizing project changes.
SECURITY.md	Security policy and reporting instructions.
LICENSE.md	Project license and usage terms.
README.md	Main readme file (you are currently viewing this).

🧩 Third-Party Components & Licenses

The app is built on the following open-source libraries, which are bundled into the release build. Each remains under its own license — refer to the respective project for the full terms, and see the _licenses folder.

Component	Used for	License
SQLite	Embedded database engine	Public Domain
System.Data.SQLite	ADO.NET data provider for SQLite	Public Domain
Entity Framework 6	Data access / ORM	Apache-2.0
System.Data.SqlClient	SQL data access	MIT
System.IO.FileSystem.AccessControl	File-system access-control (ACL) support	MIT

Additional runtime libraries are provided by the shared .NET 8 Desktop Runtime and are not redistributed with the build.

📜 License Information

Suitefish is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. The full license can be found in the LICENSE.md file.

🐟 Bugfish