Adding & Maintaining Crates

Create a new crate

1. Duplicate the template/ directory and rename it to your slug (lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens).
2. Update the copied ro-crate-metadata.json with your service-specific data. Keep only the fields you intend to populate.
3. Keep the files referenced in hasPart (fdl.yml, script.sh, icon.png, optional sample-input.txt) in sync with reality—either provide the files or remove the references.
4. Include any deployment notes (README.md, sample payloads) that users might need to exercise the service.

Required metadata

The ./ dataset node must include:

• name: Human-friendly service name.
• description: Two or three sentences describing what the service does and how OSCAR users benefit.
• serviceType: synchronous or asynchronous.
• license: Link or inline object describing the license.
• author: Person or organization responsible for the service.
• URL: Target application endpoint, repository, or landing page.
• datePublished: YYYY-MM-DD format.
• hasPart: Entries for fdl.yml and script.sh (both files are mandatory in every crate).

Include optional-but-valuable fields when available: memoryRequirements, processorRequirements, softwareRequirements, keywords, and version.

Testing metadata

Run the build locally to ensure the crate is parsed correctly:

npm run build && rocrate-validator validate -p ro-crate-1.1 --no-paging ./crates/<service>

• The build will warn if an icon is missing or if the dataset node cannot be found.
• rocrate-validator (Python) or any JSON-LD validator confirms structural correctness whenever you tweak schema-heavy sections.

Keeping crates up to date

• Version updates: Increment datePublished, and describe the change in the pull request.
• Deprecations: Mention alternatives in the dataset description and note the status in the pull request if a service is being retired.
• Icon refresh: Replace the PNG and ensure the aspect ratio stays square so cards render uniformly.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Crate missing from the catalog	Check for JSON syntax errors or missing ./ dataset node. Run npm run dev and inspect the console warnings.
Icon placeholder shows initials	Confirm the dataset logo reference points to icon.png and that the file exists.
Filters misbehave	Ensure serviceType uses lowercase values that match the <select> options in src/build.mjs.

Once your crate passes these checks, open a pull request referencing the relevant issue.