Introduction and Interest in Cytoscape App Development (GSoC 2026)

[Kushvinth Madhavan]

Hello everyone,

My name is Kushvinth Madhavan, a B.Tech CSE student from Chennai, India. I am applying for GSoC 2026 under NRNB, and I am very interested in contributing to the Cytoscape ecosystem.

I am also an open source contributor with contributions to FAANG-level organizations such as Apple and Google DeepMind, along with ongoing work in the Cytoscape ecosystem.

I have contributed to Cytoscape Web and the Cytoscape App Store, working on frontend improvements, backend fixes, and service app support.

For GSoC, I am proposing a project to improve the Cytoscape App Store by supporting Desktop, Web, and Service Apps in a unified way, along with better search, validation, and APIs.

Looking forward to learning and contributing.

Best regards,
Kushvinth Madhavan

[Christopher Churas]

Hi,

Thank you for your interest. Just be sure to formally submit your proposal through google summer of code site.

chris

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[Kushvinth Madhavan]

Hi sir, 

Could you please review my proposal and let me know if there are any edits or changes you would like me to make?

Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mzJWjXbJtUj3IfdgVtVIzZ1PXormkwIpiCRTIdPUDUU/edit?usp=sharing

Regards,

Kushvinth

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cytoscape-app-dev/CAOHW_pd3ty3%3DnJK-%2Bs_EisHORErjaqLUaPLjHi47wxN8mv6ynA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Christopher Churas]

Hi Kushvinth,

Although I would love to have the AppStore switched over to a docker environment, that is not in the scope of the ticket. Would it be something you think you can do during the effort?

There is now better documentation about cytoscape web apps: https://github.com/cytoscape/cytoscape-web-app-examples (this link added to #285 issue)

For web apps we might need to support a user uploading a bundle file (.js) instead of a URL, but this might change. 

thanks,

chris

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cytoscape-app-dev/CALwMq%2B-Rej8BR8KoC%3DaqF3H%2BrRiCsGLXNYMWP7E-Tb%2Bk0ytsjA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Kushvinth Madhavan]

Hi Kushvinth,

Thanks for the clarification around keeping DevOps/infrastructure changes out of scope; that makes sense. I’ll avoid things like Docker, CI/CD, and deployment-related changes for this effort.

Based on your notes and the updated Cytoscape Web Apps documentation, I’ve outlined a set of improvements that stay fully within scope but still add meaningful value to the App Store and developer experience:

1. Web App Submission Enhancements

• Add support for optional .js bundle uploads (alongside the existing URL-based approach), keeping this flexible since the direction may evolve

• Basic validation for uploaded bundles (file type, size, etc.)

• Store bundle metadata for future extensibility

2. Web App Testing / Preview

• Add a “Test Web App” button in the review/admin interface

• Allow opening apps in a sandboxed iframe/modal for quick validation before approval

3. Metadata & Documentation Improvements

• Extend submission schema to include structured documentation (e.g., description, usage notes, links to examples)

• Align fields with the patterns in the cytoscape-web-app-examples repo, where applicable

If this direction looks good to you, I can start by prioritizing the web app submission + preview workflow, since that seems most immediately relevant.

Let me know if you’d like me to narrow this down further or prioritize differently.

Best,
Kushvinth

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cytoscape-app-dev/CAOHW_pev5LRkV4UgoPQZPBFPhp-_MbTv4RngZWbQDzCpX-0ONw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Kushvinth Madhavan]

Hi Chris,
Kindly review the proposal again, i have added the stuff you asked for (which is uploading a bundle file (.js) instead of a URL)

best,

Chris