@workadventure/map-starter-kit-core

Core app, HTML pages and static assets for the WorkAdventure Map Starter Kit. Update this package to get new UI and server features without touching your maps or config.

Features

• Web UI – Step-by-step wizard (Git, hosting, steps, validation) for setting up and validating your map project
• Map listing – Discovers .tmj maps on disk with properties (name, description, image, copyright, size, last modified)
• Uploader – Configure and run map uploads to map-storage; list maps from map-storage for self-hosted flows
• Static assets – Serves public assets, tilesets, and compiled JS; transforms and serves TypeScript under /src (esbuild) for browser scripts
• Express app – CORS, JSON body parsing, cache headers; can be mounted in another app or run standalone via Vite

Installation

npm install @workadventure/map-starter-kit-core

Peer / consumer: The built server expects express to be available at runtime. For TypeScript consumers, install @types/express so the exported Application type resolves.

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Package exports and usage from another package

This package is built and published as a single server bundle. Consumers must use the built output, not the source, to avoid module resolution errors.

How exports are managed

Field	Role
main	Entry when a tool doesn’t use exports. Should point to dist/server.js so the bundle is used, not src/server.ts.
types	Tells TypeScript which declaration file to use for the package entry (dist/server.d.ts).
exports	Modern entry map: "." and "./dist/server.js" resolve to dist/server.js with types dist/server.d.ts.
files	What gets published: dist, public, README.md. Source (src/) is not published so consumers never resolve to .ts files.

Recommended in package.json for correct consumption:

{
  "main": "dist/server.js",
  "types": "dist/server.d.ts",
  "exports": {
    ".": {
      "types": "./dist/server.d.ts",
      "import": "./dist/server.js",
      "require": "./dist/server.js"
    },
    "./dist/server.js": {
      "types": "./dist/server.d.ts",
      "import": "./dist/server.js",
      "require": "./dist/server.js"
    }
  },
  "files": ["dist", "public", "README.md"]
}

Using the package in another project

1. Install the package

npm install @workadventure/map-starter-kit-core

2. Import and use it with vite node app plugin

import core from '@workadventure/map-starter-kit-core/dist/server.js';

export default core.default;
export const viteNodeApp = core.viteNodeApp;

3. Development server (standalone)

From the map-starter-kit repo (or a project that uses this package as the core):

npm run dev

Runs the Vite dev server with vite-plugin-node (Express). Opens the app at the configured host (e.g. http://localhost:5173/).

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Project structure

map-starter-kit-core/
├── src/
│   ├── server.ts              # Express app entry (CORS, static, routes)
│   ├── utils/
│   │   └── getCoreRoot.ts     # Resolve core package root (cwd vs package dir)
│   └── controllers/
│       ├── FrontController.ts # HTML pages (Mustache): /, step1-git, step2-hosting, step3-*, step4-*
│       ├── MapController.ts   # /maps/list – list .tmj maps with properties
│       └── UploaderController.ts  # /uploader/* – configure, status, maps-storage-list, upload
├── public/                    # Static assets
│   ├── assets/
│   │   ├── js/                # Client scripts (e.g. index.js – maps list, Mustache)
│   │   └── views/            # HTML views (index.html, step1-git.html, …)
│   ├── images/
│   └── styles/
├── types/
│   └── server.d.ts            # Module declaration for dist/server.js (copied to dist on build)
├── dist/                      # Build output (published)
│   ├── server.js              # Bundled server entry
│   └── server.d.ts            # Types for consumers
├── vite.config.ts
├── tsconfig.json
└── package.json

Only dist, public, and README.md are included in the published package (files). Source (src/) is not published so consumers always get the built bundle.

API / Routes

Method	Path	Description
Front (HTML)
GET	/	Home (index)
GET	/step1-git	Step 1 – Git
GET	/step2-hosting	Step 2 – Hosting
GET	/step3-steps	Step 3 – Steps
GET	/step3-steps-selfhosted	Step 3 – Self-hosted
GET	/step4-validated	Step 4 – Validated
GET	/step4-validated-selfhosted	Step 4 – Validated (self-hosted)
Maps
GET	/maps/list	List .tmj maps with properties (path, mapName, mapImage, size, lastModified, etc.)
Uploader
POST	/uploader/configure	Configure MAP_STORAGE (body: mapStorageUrl, mapStorageApiKey, uploadDirectory)
GET	/uploader/status	Current config status (e.g. presence of .env.secret)
GET	/uploader/maps-storage-list	List maps from map-storage (for self-hosted step 4)
POST	/uploader/upload	Run the upload (uses config from .env.secret)

Static and special paths:

• /public/* – Static files from core’s public/
• /assets/* – From project’s dist/assets/
• /tilesets/* – From project’s tilesets/
• /src/*.ts – Served as compiled JS (esbuild), e.g. for browser scripts using WorkAdventure APIs

Configuration

Uploader (MAP_STORAGE)

Configure via POST /uploader/configure with:

• mapStorageUrl – map-storage base URL
• mapStorageApiKey – API key for map-storage
• uploadDirectory – Local directory to upload from

This writes (or updates) a secret file (e.g. .env.secret or src/.env.secret depending on route) used by the upload and maps-storage-list endpoints. Do not commit this file.

Core root

getCoreRoot() resolves the root of the core package:

• When run from the project root (e.g. map-starter-kit): process.cwd()
• When run from packages/map-starter-kit-core or node_modules: the package directory

So templates and public are always loaded from the core package, while maps, .env, and tilesets stay in the project root.

Scripts

Script	Command	Description
dev	vite	Start dev server (Express via vite-plugin-node)
build	tsc && vite build && node -e "…"	Type-check, build server to dist/, copy server.d.ts

Releasing

Releases are automated with semantic-release and GitHub Actions:

• Workflow: .github/workflows/release.yml
• Trigger: Push to main or master
• Conventions: Conventional Commits (feat:, fix:, BREAKING CHANGE:) determine the next version; a release is published only when there are relevant commits.
• Artifacts: GitHub Release + npm publish of @workadventure/map-starter-kit-core.

npm auth (after classic token deprecation):

• Recommended: Trusted Publishing (OIDC) for this repo and workflow (no long-lived token).
• Alternative: Create a granular access token on npm, then set the NPM_TOKEN secret in the repo.

Tech stack

• Runtime: Node.js, Express 5
• Build: TypeScript 5, Vite 7, vite-plugin-node
• Templates: Mustache
• Release: semantic-release

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

Links

• Repository: github.com/workadventure/map-starter-kit-core
• Issues: github.com/workadventure/map-starter-kit-core/issues
• npm: @workadventure/map-starter-kit-core