opencode-mobile/distribution/strategy.md

OpenCode Mobile — Distribution + Monetization Strategy

Date: 2026-05-24 Sources: 3 research reports (market analysis, monetization, F-Droid distribution) + Play Console signup state.

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Pick one model for everything downstream

Free client everywhere + paid "opencode Cloud" hosted backend.

Mirrors Tailscale ($45M ARR, OSS client, paid coordination service) and the opencode authors' own model (OSS CLI, paid OpenCode Zen gateway, several million ARR in 5 months).

• Client (this repo, MIT): free on Play Store, IzzyOnDroid, and F-Droid. Identical binary on all three (same signing key via reproducible builds).
• opencode Cloud (separate product, proprietary): managed opencode server hosting. One-tap connect option in the app alongside "self-hosted" and "tunnel". Target $10/mo individual, $30/mo team. Not built yet — see Action items.
• Donations layer: GitHub Sponsors / OpenCollective to cover Sentry + CI costs (~$60/mo) while cloud revenue scales.

Rejected alternatives:

• ❌ Paid Play + free F-Droid — MIT allows redistribution; community resentment when users find F-Droid version; license-check callbacks always get stripped in forks. DAVx⁵ exception works only because it's a one-time donation, not a feature gate.
• ❌ Subscription gated in client — telemetry license checks earn F-Droid Tracking anti-feature and instantly get stripped by community forks.
• ❌ Ads — kills OSS credibility, contradicts a developer audience.

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Distribution channels — priority order

#	Channel	Identity	Status	Time to live	Notes
1	Google Play (Internal)	ai.opencode.mobile	⏸ blocked on identity verification	Days after ID approved	CI ready. Track: internal first, then closed testing (12+ testers / 14d) before production.
2	IzzyOnDroid	ai.opencode.mobile (same key)	❌ not started	1–3 days	Submit prebuilt APK to https://codeberg.org/IzzyOnDroid/repodata/issues. Fastest OSS channel.
3	F-Droid mainline	ai.opencode.mobile (same key, reproducible build)	❌ not started	4–12 weeks	File MR at https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata. Requires expo-notifications FCM audit + Sentry opt-in gate.
4	Apple App Store	ai.opencode.mobile	⏸ pending iOS prep agent	Weeks (Apple enrollment $99 + review)	iOS agent running — separate report.

All channels: same package id (ai.opencode.mobile), same signing key. Lets users update across stores in-place.

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Blockers + outstanding work

Hard blockers (need user)

1. Google Play identity verification — upload governor ID (Dzianis Vashchuk). Unlocks: API access, Create app, AAB upload, CI publish.
2. Apple Developer Program enrollment — $99/year, D-U-N-S 142059652 ready. iOS agent will produce runbook.
3. App icon + adaptive icon + feature graphic — current assets/*.json are placeholders. Need real PNGs before either Play or App Store publish.
4. Privacy policy URL — must be live at https://opencode.vibebrowser.app/privacy before Play publish. Template in play-listing.md.

Soft blockers (we can fix without user)

5. Sentry opt-in consent gate — currently always-on; needed for F-Droid Tracking anti-feature avoidance. Add settings toggle + first-launch consent screen. Persist in expo-secure-store.
6. Audit expo-notifications FCM usage — ✅ done 2026-05-24. src/lib/notifications.ts uses local-only (scheduleNotificationAsync); no getExpoPushTokenAsync/getDevicePushTokenAsync anywhere. Remaining concern: library still compiles FCM receiver classes — F-Droid scanner may flag. Fix later with a fdroid Gradle flavor that excludes the FCM artifact. Non-blocker for IzzyOnDroid (more tolerant). For mainline F-Droid: add productFlavors { fdroid { /* exclude FCM */ } } to android/app/build.gradle.
7. APK size check — IzzyOnDroid limit 30 MB. AAB currently 58.5 MB but that's universal — per-ABI splits typically 15–20 MB.
8. Fastlane metadata — fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/{short_description.txt,full_description.txt,images/} so F-Droid auto-pulls listing.
9. Reproducible build verification — F-Droid builds from source, compares to our signed APK. Need to verify our build is reproducible (no embedded timestamps, no machine-specific paths).

Pre-launch tasks (low priority, optional)

10. opencode Cloud MVP — managed opencode hosting service. Stripe billing. The actual revenue product. Big scope, separate project.
11. GitHub Sponsors profile — VIBE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC org. Tiers: $5 / $15 / $50.
12. Closed testing tester recruitment — 12+ testers for 14d before production. Recruit from opencode community / dev Twitter / r/androiddev.

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What's already done (this session)

Item	Status
Google Play developer account (org)	✅ Created, ID 8842655543970815326, $25 paid
Mercury virtual card	✅ Saved to Bitwarden
D-U-N-S 142059652	✅ Retrieved, saved to Bitwarden + skill
GCP project opencode-mobile-deploy	✅ Created
androidpublisher API	✅ Enabled
Service account playstore-deploy@…	✅ Created, JSON key saved to Bitwarden + GitHub secret
Signed AAB	✅ Built at android/app/build/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab (58.5 MB)
Website verification	✅ www.vibebrowser.app verified via Search Console auto-detection
Contact email verification	✅ support@vibebrowser.app verified via Play Console code
Payments profile	✅ Linked with D-U-N-S 142059652
CI workflow audit + fixes	✅ publish-play-store.yml — versionCode auto-bump, r0adkll@v1.1.5, whatsNewDirectory wired
Play Store listing copy	✅ distribution/play-listing.md
Skill vibetechnologies-llc	✅ Created with company facts
Subagent vibetechnologies-llc-curator	✅ Created for auto-maintenance

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Per-channel publishing recipe

Google Play (after identity verified)

1. (manual, in browser) Home → Verify your identity → upload governor ID. Wait days.
2. (manual) Setup → API access → Link opencode-mobile-deploy. Grant playstore-deploy@… "Release to production".
3. (manual) Create app ai.opencode.mobile. Fill listing from play-listing.md. Upload icon + feature graphic + screenshots. Complete Data safety + Content rating + App access.
4. (manual, first time) Upload app-release.aab to Internal testing track. Add tester emails.
5. (automated thereafter) git tag v0.2.4 && git push --tags → CI builds + publishes to Internal.

IzzyOnDroid (after first Play AAB exists for parity)

1. Tag GitHub release v0.2.x with signed universal APK attached (not AAB — APK).
2. File issue at https://codeberg.org/IzzyOnDroid/repodata/issues:

   App name: OpenCode Mobile
   Package: ai.opencode.mobile
   License: MIT
   GitHub release: https://github.com/dzianisv/opencode-mobile/releases
   APK SHA-256: <sha256>
   Description: Mobile client for the opencode AI coding agent CLI. Self-hosted backend.
   Note: NonFreeNet anti-feature applies (connects to user-self-hosted opencode server).
   

3. Wait 1–3 days for inclusion. Updates auto-pulled from each new GitHub release tag.

F-Droid mainline (after Sentry opt-in + FCM audit done)

1. Fork https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata.
2. Create metadata/ai.opencode.mobile.yml with reproducible-build config (template in F-Droid report).
3. Set AllowedAPKSigningKeys: <sha256-fingerprint> so F-Droid serves our pre-signed APK.
4. File MR. Iterate on build failures with reviewers. 4–12 week timeline.
5. Once accepted, request IzzyOnDroid delisting (they auto-remove when mainline accepts).

Apple App Store

Per iOS agent report (pending) — runbook at distribution/ios-enrollment-runbook.md (to be created).

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Trigger for auto-publish (item 3 from user's plan)

"As soon as we get the ability to publish" = identity verified + app created + first manual AAB uploaded.

Once those manual steps are complete:

• Tag v0.2.4 (or whatever the next version is) → existing publish-play-store.yml CI runs:
  • Bumps android.versionCode from github.run_number
  • Builds signed AAB
  • Uploads to Internal track with what's-new notes

No additional infrastructure needed — CI is already wired for this. Just push the tag.

For email notification when Google approves identity: Google sends to vibeteaichnologies@gmail.com. Add a gws gmail poll script that watches for "Developer account verification" subject from noreply@google.com and pings via webhook / posts a GitHub issue.

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Files in this repo related to distribution

distribution/
├── PLAY_CONSOLE_SETUP.md           # original handoff doc (now mostly historical)
├── play-listing.md                 # full Play Store copy + answers
├── strategy.md                     # this file
├── whatsnew/
│   └── whatsnew-en-US              # release notes consumed by CI per-release
└── (pending)
    ├── app-store-listing.md        # iOS agent will create
    ├── ios-enrollment-runbook.md   # iOS agent will create
    └── whatsnew-ios/
        └── release-notes-en-US.txt # iOS first release notes

.github/workflows/
├── build.yml                       # Android dev build CI
├── cua-smoke.yml                   # CUA smoke tests
├── publish-play-store.yml          # AUTOMATED Play publish on tag/release
└── (pending)
    └── publish-app-store.yml       # iOS agent will draft