dao-os-docs/en/src/ecosystem/app_bazaar.md

The Application Bazaar

Dao OS does not have a traditional, centralized "App Store." A store implies a single owner who acts as a gatekeeper, approving, rejecting, and taxing applications. This is contrary to our core philosophy.

Instead, we are building a set of open protocols that create a decentralized Application Bazaar—a vibrant, open, and resilient marketplace of ideas and tools, where users are sovereign and developers are free.

This bazaar is built upon four pillars: Discovery, Trust, Distribution, and Monetization.

1. Discovery: Federated Curation

In a world without a central index, how do users find apps? The answer is through a network of trusted curators.

• Developer Publishing: A developer does not "submit" their app for approval. Instead, they publish their application's Manifest (a manifest.toml file containing all metadata) to a P2P storage network like IPFS. They can then announce this manifest's address on public channels.
• The Role of Curators: Anyone—a tech media outlet, a trusted developer community, an influencer, or the Dao OS Foundation itself—can run a "curation" service. These curators crawl the network for new manifests and create their own themed "Curation Lists" (e.g., "Top 10 Productivity Apps," "Beautifully Designed UIs").
• The User Experience: Within their Facet Avatar, a user can subscribe to multiple Curation Lists they trust. Their "Bazaar" or "Discover" tab becomes a personalized aggregation of these trusted sources.

This model replaces a single, biased App Store ranking with a rich, multi-faceted, user-curated discovery experience.

2. Trust & Safety: Verifiable Reputation

How can users trust an app from a random list? They don't have to. The bazaar is built directly on top of our Community Reputation & Automated Verification System.

Every app listing, regardless of its curator, must display the Trust Dashboard, which provides transparent, multi-faceted signals:

1. Automated Verification: The immutable results of the dao-verify tool, checking for security vulnerabilities and API compliance.
2. Community Vouching: A list of reputable DIDs that have cryptographically "vouched for" or endorsed the application.
3. Curator Reputation: The reputation of the curator who listed the app is itself a trust signal.

The final decision to "register" an application always rests with the user, armed with these transparent and verifiable data points.

3. Distribution: Censorship-Resistant & Direct

When a user decides to install an app, the process is direct and decentralized.

• The application's manifest contains the content-addressed hashes (CIDs) of its software packages (the .wasm service module and the Web UI bundle), which are also stored on IPFS.
• The user's Meta Unit uses this hash to fetch the files directly from the P2P network.
• This ensures that no central server can block the distribution of an application. As long as the data exists somewhere on the P2P network, it is accessible.

4. Monetization: Sovereign & Peer-to-Peer

We eliminate the 30% "platform tax." Our value exchange model is direct from user to developer.

• The app's manifest can declare a business model (e.g., one-time purchase price, subscription link).
• When a user initiates a purchase, the Meta Unit triggers our Value Exchange Service Interface.
• This facilitates a peer-to-peer transaction using an external payment protocol of the user's choice, sending value directly from the user's wallet to the developer's address specified in the manifest.

Dao OS acts as a facilitator and a notary for the transaction, not a middleman.