Silex

Silex is a static APT repository generator for jailbroken iOS package feeds.

在线 Demo：repo.mjh.im | 中文文档：README_zh.md

Forked from Silica v1.2.2, Silex is a deep customisation for the modern jailbreak ecosystem. It keeps the original "static generation, no backend" model while adding rootless/roothide support, multi-version packages, bilingual UI, lightweight JSON APIs, and more.

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Why this fork exists

Original Silica limitations

Limitation	Detail
Hardcoded iphoneos-arm	No rootless (arm64) or roothide (arm64e) support
Single deb + repack	Only one version per package; dpkg-deb -b breaks lzma archives
No multi-version	Older debs discarded — users can't roll back
English-only UI	Native depictions and web pages have no i18n support
No version-check API	Packages can't query the repo for updates
Description tied to Theos	Modifying descriptions requires make package
Hardcoded Release architectures	Inaccurate when multiple architectures coexist
Bare package-list homepage	No branding, no cards, no dark mode
ASCII-escaped JSON	Chinese text unreadable in index.json

What this fork changes

1. Dynamic architecture support

Upstream hardcoded iphoneos-arm in CompileControl and CompileRelease.

After: index.json supports an architecture field (defaults to iphoneos-arm64). The Release file collects architectures dynamically from all packages.

{ "architecture": "iphoneos-arm64" }

Generated Release:

Architectures: iphoneos-arm64 iphoneos-arm64e

Files: util/DebianPackager.py — CompileControl, CompileRelease

2. Multi-version coexistence

Upstream CreateDEB: found the first .deb → renamed to bundle_id.deb → returned. All other versions were discarded.

After: iterates all .deb files → sorts by version descending → keeps older versions with their original filenames → copies the latest also as bundle_id.deb (short name for the download link).

docs/pkg/
├── im.mjh.fakeperm.deb                       ← latest, short-name download
├── im.mjh.fakeperm_8.3.0_iphoneos-arm64.deb  ← historical version
└── im.mjh.fakeperm_8.5.0_iphoneos-arm64.deb  ← historical version

dpkg-scanpackages -m natively supports multiple entries for the same Package name. In Sileo/Cydia, long-press a package to switch versions.

File: util/DebianPackager.py — CreateDEB

3. Direct copy (no repack)

Upstream CreateDEB used dpkg-deb -b to repack, destroying the original lzma tar and causing roothide's dpkg to error with "Read-only file system".

After: directly copies the Theos-produced original .deb, preserving the original compression format and structure.

File: util/DebianPackager.py — CreateDEB

4. Roothide support

roothide packages share the same Theos output as rootless, differing only in architecture (arm64e vs arm64). Upstream couldn't handle dual bundle_ids.

After:

• Separate package directory (虚拟权限_Roothide/ → bundle_id: im.mjh.fakeperm.roothide)
• At compile time: patches the deb's internal control file (Package: im.mjh.fakeperm → im.mjh.fakeperm.roothide)
• Auto-injects Name: ... (Roothide)
• Auto-sets Section: Roothide for independent category display

New function: PatchDebControl(deb_path, replacements) — uses ar/zstd/tar to modify control fields without repacking.

File: util/DebianPackager.py — PatchDebControl

5. Tagline → Description injection

Upstream: Description depended entirely on the control file from Theos.

After: auto-injects index.json's tagline into every deb's Description field at compile time. To update a description, just edit the tagline and recompile.

File: util/DebianPackager.py — CreateDEB

6. Version-check API

New endpoint: GET /api/version.json

{
  "im.mjh.fakeperm": {
    "version": "8.6.0",
    "date": "2026-06-11 22:45",
    "name": "Fake Permission"
  }
}

Client logic:

1. GET the full JSON → lookup by MY_BUNDLE_ID
2. If version > local_version → show a red badge "vX.Y.Z available"
3. Otherwise do nothing

File: util/DepictionGenerator.py — RenderVersionAPI

7. Personal-card homepage

Upstream: a package list + external index.css.

After: standalone card-style homepage (no external CSS), with avatar, repo name, description, three one-tap add-to-package-manager buttons, and dark mode.

Button	URL Scheme
Sileo	sileo://source/https://
Cydia	cydia://url/https://…
Zebra	zbra://sources/add/https://

File: Styles/index.mustache

8. Bilingual depiction UI

Upstream: English-only (Details / Changelog / Information / Developer, etc.).

After:

• Nav tabs: Details / 更新日志 Changelog
• Info table: Developer / Version / Compatibility / Section (all bilingual)
• Roothide section auto-appends (Roothide) to package name
• JS compatibility hints also bilingual

Files: Styles/tweak.mustache, Styles/index.js, util/DepictionGenerator.py — RenderPackageHTML

9. Bilingual Sileo native depictions

All JSON native depiction labels and tab names are now bilingual.

File: util/DepictionGenerator.py — RenderPackageNative, RenderNativeChangelog

10. copytree collision prevention

shutil.copytree now uses dirs_exist_ok=True to prevent FileExistsError from stale temp/ directories.

File: index.py Step 6

11. Automatic pre-build cleanup

ok.sh: clears all previous outputs before each build to ensure a clean compile.

12. Interactive build/push script

ok.sh workflow:

Compile? (y/n): y
→ compiling
Done!
Publish & push? (y/n): y
Enter commit message: ...
→ automatic git add/commit/push

13. Human-readable index.json

json.dump uses ensure_ascii=False, indent=4 so Chinese text in JSON files is readable and manually editable.

File: util/DebianPackager.py

Comparison table

Feature	Upstream Silica	Silex
Architecture	iphoneos-arm only	arm64 / arm64e, dynamic collection
Multi-version	No	Auto-sorted by version, archived
Deb handling	dpkg-deb repack	Direct copy + field patching
Roothide	Not supported	Independent section + auto-rename
Tagline → Description	Must modify Theos	Edit index.json → recompile
Version-check API	None	/api/version.json
Homepage	Package list	Personal card (one-tap add)
Depiction UI	English only	Bilingual (zh + en)
Build script	setup.sh	ok.sh (interactive build + push)
JSON readability	ASCII-escaped	Human-readable Chinese

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Screenshots

Homepage	Package Detail

Sileo Native	Changelog

Place screenshots in the screenshots/ directory.

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Project Structure

Silex/
├── index.py                  # Main compiler entry
├── Packages/                 # Package directory (debs + metadata)
├── Styles/                   # Templates and branding assets
├── util/                     # Compiler helpers
├── docs/                     # Generated static repo output
├── ok.sh                     # Interactive build/push script
└── requirements.txt          # Python dependencies

Package Layout

Packages/
├── MyTweak/                  # rootless (arm64)
│   ├── mytweak_1.0.0_iphoneos-arm64.deb
│   ├── mytweak_1.1.0_iphoneos-arm64.deb  ← multiple versions
│   └── silex_data/
│       ├── index.json
│       ├── description.md
│       ├── icon.png
│       ├── banner.png
│       ├── screenshots/
│       └── scripts/
│
├── MyTweak_Roothide/         # roothide branch (arm64e)
│   ├── mytweak_1.1.0_iphoneos-arm64e.deb
│   └── silex_data/
│       ├── index.json        # bundle_id: xxx.roothide
│       └── …

Notes:

• arm64 and arm64e versions of the same package must live in separate directories
• Roothide bundle_id must end with .roothide
• On macOS, ._ resource-fork files from ar are auto-filtered by PatchDebControl
• dpkg-scanpackages "uninitialized value" warnings are cosmetic (dpkg bug)

Requirements

System

macOS:

brew install dpkg zstd

Debian / Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install dpkg-dev gnupg git xz-utils bzip2 zstd

Python

• Python 3+
• pip

pip install -r requirements.txt

Configuration

Main repo config at Styles/settings.json:

{
    "name": "Silex",
    "description": "A customizable static repository generated with Silex.",
    "tint": "#27BEF5",
    "cname": "repo.example.com",
    "maintainer": { "name": "Repo Maintainer", "email": "maintainer@example.com" },
    "social": [{ "name": "Project Homepage", "url": "https://example.com" }],
    "announcements": [{ "level": "warning", "title": "Notice", "message": "Add your message here." }],
    "automatic_git": "false",
    "footer": "{{repo_name}} · Updated {{silex_compile_date}}",
    "enable_gpg": "false"
}

Field	Description
name	Repo display name
description	Short repo description
tint	Default accent colour (hex)
cname	Public domain, without https://
maintainer	Repo maintainer info
social	Repo-level links shown in support views
announcements	Homepage banner notices
automatic_git	Auto git commit after compile
enable_gpg	Sign Release.gpg
footer	Mustache-rendered footer

Announcement levels: info, warning, error, success.

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Package Metadata (index.json)

Minimal example

{
    "bundle_id": "com.example.package",
    "name": "Example Package",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "tagline": "A short description.",
    "developer": { "name": "Example Developer" },
    "section": "Tweaks",
    "architecture": "iphoneos-arm64",
    "works_min": "15.0",
    "works_max": "17.0",
    "featured": "false"
}

Full example

{
    "bundle_id": "com.example.package",
    "name": "Example Package",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "tagline": "Short summary — auto-injected as deb Description.",
    "homepage": "https://example.com",
    "source": "https://github.com/example/example-package",
    "developer": { "name": "Example Developer", "email": "developer@example.com" },
    "social": [{ "name": "GitHub", "url": "https://github.com/example" }],
    "section": "Tweaks",
    "architecture": "iphoneos-arm64",
    "architectures": ["iphoneos-arm64", "iphoneos-arm64e"],
    "works_min": "15.0",
    "works_max": "17.0",
    "featured": "true",
    "status": "active",
    "release_channel": "stable",
    "install_env": ["rootless", "roothide"],
    "injection": ["ellekit"],
    "install_notes": ["Restart the target app after changing settings."],
    "known_conflicts": ["Do not install alongside ExampleConflict."],
    "replaces_notice": ["This package replaces the older legacy layout."],
    "search_keywords": ["example", "rootless", "roothide"],
    "changelog_limit": 3,
    "changelog": [
        {
            "version": "1.0.0",
            "changes": {
                "new": ["Added rootless support."],
                "improve": ["Improved injection reliability."]
            }
        }
    ]
}

Metadata field reference

Core fields

Field	Required	Description
bundle_id	Yes	Unique package ID; .roothide suffix for roothide
name	Yes	Display name
version	Yes	Must match the deb's internal version
tagline	Yes	Short description; injected as deb Description
section	Yes	Category: Tweaks, Roothide, Themes, etc.
works_min	Yes	Minimum iOS version
works_max	Yes	Maximum iOS version

Optional fields

Field	Description
homepage	Project homepage URL
source	Source code URL
social	Developer social links
tint	Package-specific accent colour
featured	Show in featured carousel
description.md	Markdown long description (in silex_data/)

Status & channel

status: active, beta, experimental, deprecated, internal, archived

release_channel: stable, beta, nightly, experimental

Changelog

Plain text:

{ "version": "1.0.0", "changes": "Fixed crashes and improved startup speed." }

Structured:

{ "version": "1.0.0", "changes": {
    "new": ["Added rootless support."],
    "fix": ["Fixed settings crash on iOS 16."],
    "improve": ["Improved injection reliability."],
    "remove": ["Removed legacy API."],
    "note": ["Requires SpringBoard restart."]
}}

Use changelog_limit to cap the number of rendered entries.

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Description files & assets

description.md

The main long-form depiction body. Supports full Markdown. If missing, falls back to tagline.

Optional assets

• icon.png — package icon
• banner.png — package banner
• screenshots/ — screenshot carousel images
• scripts/ — maintainer scripts copied into DEBIAN/

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Homepage

The generated homepage is a full-featured package portal:

• Repo announcement banners
• Featured package carousel
• Section-based browsing
• One-tap add buttons (Sileo / Cydia / Zebra)
• Search + filter by status, channel, environment
• Architecture and injection badges
• Dark mode

Depictions

Web depictions

Banner, icon, capsule tabs (Details / Changelog), Markdown description, compatibility matrix, install notes, known conflicts, screenshot carousel, social links, dark mode — all with custom CSS.

Native depictions

Sileo-formatted JSON depictions with screenshots, Markdown content, metadata tables, compatibility labels, support actions, and a changelog tab. All tab and label names are bilingual.

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Build

python3 index.py

Or use the interactive script:

./ok.sh

Unlike python3 index.py, ok.sh clears previous outputs first for a clean build, and walks you through compile → commit → push.

Output goes to docs/.

Output

• Packages, Packages.bz2, Packages.xz, Packages.zst
• Release (and optional Release.gpg)
• pkg/ — package files
• depiction/web/ — HTML depictions
• depiction/native/ — native depiction JSON
• assets/ — icons, banners, descriptions, screenshots
• api/ — JSON API endpoints
• index.html — homepage

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API Endpoints

All are static JSON files under docs/api/.

api/version.json

Version lookup keyed by bundle ID:

{ "com.example.package": { "version": "1.2.3", "date": "2026-06-11 22:45", "name": "Example Package" } }

api/packages.json

Full package list with version, status, channel, environment, architectures, developer, summary.

api/featured.json

Featured packages with summary and status/channel labels.

api/search.json

Flattened search entries with search_blob for client-side filtering.

api/channels.json

Packages grouped by release channel.

Other endpoints

• api/tweak_release.json — full metadata
• api/repo_settings.json — repo config
• api/about.json — compiler version info

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Multi-Version Packages

• Older .deb files coexist in the package directory
• Latest version is also published as docs/pkg/<bundle_id>.deb (the default download)
• Older versions keep their original filenames
• Repo metadata uses the newest version
• Users can long-press a package in Sileo/Cydia to pick a different version

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Customisation

Main customisable files in Styles/:

• index.mustache — homepage template
• tweak.mustache — package depiction template
• index.css — shared styles
• index.js — homepage filtering and JS behaviour
• settings.json — repo metadata, branding, announcements

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Quick start

1. Copy Packages/ExamplePackage/ to a new directory
2. Replace silex_data/index.json
3. Replace silex_data/description.md
4. Add your .deb
5. Optionally add icon, banner, and screenshots
6. Run python3 index.py

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Notes for public forks

• Remove personal package files from Packages/
• Remove compiled output from docs/ (unless this repo is also your live host)
• Replace example maintainer/domain values in Styles/settings.json
• Check announcements and example links before publishing
• Review ok.sh remote config before pushing

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License

See LICENSE.