manifest.json Reference

Overview

Every Summer game submitted to Summercraft must include a manifest.json file at the root of the game pack. The browser submission flow validates required keys and types at upload time. The release API records and verifies the artifact; human review currently checks the game contract. The production runtime and automated sandbox are not live, so the runtime rules below are contract requirements rather than deployed enforcement:

entry_scene and player_scene are resolved relative to the manifest’s location in the pack (manifest at the root means "main.tscn" → res://main.tscn).
The entry scene’s root script must extends SummerGame for the future runtime contract.

See platform capability status.

Required Fields

These fields are required by submission validation:

Field	Type	Required	Description
`id`	string	Yes	Stable game identifier. Used for slug generation and updates.
`name`	string	Yes	Display name shown in platform surfaces.
`version`	string	Yes	Semantic or creator-defined version string (for example `1.0.0`).
`summer_sdk`	string	Yes	SDK version your game targets (for example `1.0`).
`entry_scene`	string	Yes	Main scene path/name designated for the runtime contract.
`min_players`	number	Yes	Minimum players required before start flow.
`max_players`	number	Yes	Maximum concurrent players for a match.

Optional Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`player_scene`	string	No	Player scene path/name used by server/client spawning logic.
`description`	string	No	Short game description.
`tags`	string[]	No	Category/search tags.
`genre`	string	No	Primary genre label.
`tick_rate`	number	No	Future server-sync hint; no production runtime currently consumes it.
`preview`	string	No	Preview asset path/name for discovery UI.
`input_actions`	object	No	Input action metadata for UX/docs tooling.

Minimal Valid Example

{
  "id": "coin-collector",
  "name": "Coin Collector",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "summer_sdk": "1.0",
  "entry_scene": "coin_collector.tscn",
  "min_players": 1,
  "max_players": 8
}

Full Example

{
  "id": "quest-arena",
  "name": "Quest Arena",
  "version": "1.2.0",
  "summer_sdk": "1.0",
  "entry_scene": "quest_arena.tscn",
  "player_scene": "player.tscn",
  "min_players": 1,
  "max_players": 12,
  "tick_rate": 60,
  "description": "Persistent multiplayer quests and progression.",
  "preview": "preview.png",
  "genre": "rpg",
  "tags": ["rpg", "quest", "persistence"],
  "input_actions": {
    "quest_complete": {"keyboard": "Q", "gamepad": "Y"},
    "buy_potion": {"keyboard": "B", "gamepad": "X"}
  }
}

Validation Rules That Cause Rejection

Missing any required key
Wrong type for required string fields
min_players or max_players not numeric
Invalid JSON

Versioning and Updates

When you submit a new .pck:

Keep the same id for the same game
Increase version
Re-submit through the publish flow

On the API release path, use the manifest’s version string as the release version too — it must match [A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9._-]{0,31} (no ..), and released versions are immutable: an update is always a new version. The platform stores versions and routes review/publishing from your newest submission.

Summer SDK reference

Automation

Reference

Migration and extensions

MCP

manifest.json Reference

Overview

Required Fields

Optional Fields

Minimal Valid Example

Full Example

Validation Rules That Cause Rejection

Versioning and Updates

​Overview

​Required Fields

​Optional Fields

​Minimal Valid Example

​Full Example

​Validation Rules That Cause Rejection

​Versioning and Updates

Overview

Required Fields

Optional Fields

Minimal Valid Example

Full Example

Validation Rules That Cause Rejection

Versioning and Updates