GSoC 2026 – NRNB (Cytoscape App Store) Contribution Update

[zafar]

Dear NRNB Team & Kristina,

I hope you are doing well.

My name is Zafar, and I am very interested in contributing to NRNB for GSoC 2026, particularly through the Cytoscape ecosystem projects.

I have set up the Cytoscape App Store locally (Django 4.2) and have been studying the codebase and architecture in detail. So far, I have worked around the Unified App Discovery proposal (#285) and search/index improvements (#281), including implementing a fix to ensure that only active Cytoscape apps are indexed by Haystack and validating the behavior locally. I have also reviewed the Service App support proposal (#115) and asked architectural clarification questions to better align with the intended direction for integrating Web/Service apps into the App Store.

My approach has been to understand the existing design thoroughly before proposing changes and to contribute improvements that are minimal, safe, and maintainable.

I am highly motivated to continue contributing to Cytoscape under NRNB and would greatly appreciate any guidance on which areas you would recommend prioritizing as I prepare my GSoC proposal.

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,
Zafar

[Christopher Churas]

Hi,

Thank you for your interest. It is great to see you have set up the App Store locally. I'll take a look at the pull requests. 

Were you thinking of applying to both NRNB projects? That is allowed, but note you can only be accepted for one project.

When drafting your proposal, we recommend:

1. Clearly defining the current limitations.

2. Proposing a concrete technical design (models, APIs, indexing strategy).

3. Breaking work into measurable milestones with deliverables.

4. Including testing and migration considerations.

5. Identifying risks and fallback strategies.

A focused, well-scoped proposal with clear technical depth will be much stronger than a broad feature list.

We look forward to seeing your draft proposal.

thanks,

chris

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