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Public API Access for the LaunchBox Games Database 🌐🔧

LaunchBox Games Database

📋Summary

Create and expose a public API for the LaunchBox Games Database, allowing developers and community tools to programmatically access metadata, images, platform info, and other resources from the database.

❗Problem

Currently, there is no official API available for accessing the LaunchBox Games Database. This limits integration opportunities with community tools, external scrapers, frontend plugins, and content management systems. Enthusiasts and developers who want to build around the LaunchBox ecosystem—such as tools for playlist generation, automated metadata checks, or collection stats—must resort to workarounds or manual exports.

Without an API, it’s also difficult for third-party projects (e.g., custom apps, dashboards, or open-source frontends) to benefit from the rich metadata already curated by the LaunchBox community.

💡Proposal

Develop and release a documented RESTful API for the LaunchBox Games Database, with endpoints for:

  • Game information and metadata

  • Platform and region data

  • Associated images and media

  • Search and filtering by title, genre, developer, publisher, etc.

  • Community ratings and tags (read-only access)

Authentication (e.g., API keys or OAuth) could be used to control access levels, and rate limits could help manage server load.

✅Benefits

  • Encourages third-party tool development and community innovation

  • Enables seamless integration with other platforms, dashboards, and scripts

  • Opens the door for advanced features like metadata auditing, syncing across devices, or real-time collection stats

  • Helps external developers contribute to LaunchBox-compatible ecosystems and services

  • Strengthens LaunchBox’s role as a metadata hub within the broader retro and PC gaming communities 🧠📊

Posted by AstroBob ·
Status: Open To Community2 comments

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Comments2

  • 3333333333333333

    •

    May 6

    The potential for custom applications would be crazy. Hot take, 👩‍🚒 making the api a premium for feature would increase revenue. Maybe an expansion in developers and features? 🤐

  • JoeViking245

    •

    Jan 13

    As a viable alternative to accessing an API, third-party plugin developers can access/parse the users’ local LaunchBox.Metadata.db file.

    The local database file contains all the information found on the online database and accessing it would have no additional impact to the LaunchBox server.

    Endpoints, filtered and otherwise are endless.

    One drawback to this is the local database file may be “out of date”. This can be remediated via Tools < Download < Force Update Games Database Metadata... prior to accessing it. Alternately, if there were a method created in the current Unbroken.LaunchBox.Plugins.Data Namespace, it could be done directly in the third-party plugin.