Packages are what bots run. You get them from the marketplace or write them yourself.
What is a package?
The code that tells a bot what to do. A package is a small set of JavaScript files, often with settings and buttons that show on the bot's page. You install packages in your library, then give one to each bot. See What is a package.
Does a bot need a package?
To do anything in the game, yes. A MITM bot connects without one, and you can already read its chat, inventory and messages in Asteroboard. A Full socket bot needs a connection script just to enter the game. See What is a package.
Where do I find packages?
On the marketplace, the Library category of asterobot.net: https://asterobot.net/files/category/10-library/. Copy the address of a file's page, then in Library Manager click Download package, paste it in File ID or URL, click Preview, then Install. Asterobot has to be signed in to asterobot.net. See Install from the marketplace.
Is a package from the marketplace safe?
Asterobot can't tell you. A package runs with your bot's game session and can do anything your character can. Asterobot's own check only proves that a marketplace package's files haven't changed since you downloaded them, not that its code is safe. Before you play one, read its file page on asterobot.net, look at its dependencies, read the code if you can, and keep the bot's console open the first time. See Trusting a package.
What do Local, Community and Official mean?
They say where a package's name comes from:
| Badge | Name | Where the package comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Local | A plain name, such as my-harvester |
You created, copied or imported it. Only local packages can be edited. |
| Community | @ the author, : the title, such as @some-author:auto-harvest |
A marketplace file published by an asterobot.net member |
| Official | @asterobot: and the title |
A marketplace file that asterobot.net marks as official |
The badge comes from the name alone, so a package imported from a .zip file can show Community or Official too. Only a package installed from the marketplace has a Source row on its page. See What is a package.
Does the Official badge mean the code is safe?
No. It tells you who published the package, not what its code does, and it doesn't replace reading the file's page. See The marketplace.
Why can't I download a package?
The two messages you can get mean different things:
You don't have permission to download this file.under the preview card: the file's rules on asterobot.net don't let your account download it. There's nothing to fix in Asterobot.File not found, or you don't have permission to view it.after Preview: the file doesn't exist, the account can't see it, or Asterobot couldn't ask asterobot.net, for example because it isn't signed in. Check the address, then the account button at the bottom of the sidebar.
See The marketplace.
How do I update a package?
In Library Manager, click Check for updates, then Update to followed by the version. The new version installs next to the old one, and your bots keep playing the old one until you move them. Nothing is checked automatically, and only packages installed from the marketplace can be updated this way. See Update packages.
Do I lose my package settings when I update?
No. Package settings are saved for each bot under the package's name, not its version, so a bot moved to the new version keeps them. Only a setting the new version removed, renamed or gave another type starts again from its default. See Update packages.
Why does a package say Incompatible?
The package states which versions of Asterobot it works with, and yours isn't one of them. It stays in your library but won't start. Update the package, or Asterobot, until the two match. See What is a package.
Play only says Couldn't start the behavior. Where's the reason?
On the bot's Settings tab, under Package settings. When the package can't be loaded, for example because it's incompatible or its files fail the integrity check with package source integrity mismatch, Couldn't read this package's settings appears there with the reason. Check first that the bot is Connected to game server: a package can't start on a bot that isn't. See Package errors.
Can I edit a package I downloaded from the marketplace?
No. Marketplace packages are read-only: Edit code isn't offered for them, and a package whose files were changed by hand is refused. To change one, Export it and bring it back with Import a .zip under a local name. That copy is yours to edit, but it no longer gets updates. See The editor.
Can several bots play the same package?
Yes. Each bot runs its own copy of the script, with its own package settings. See What scripts can do.
How do I give a package to a friend?
Export it as a .zip from its menu in Library Manager, and have your friend add it with Import a .zip. A package shared that way has no link to the marketplace, so it gets no updates. To share with everyone, publish it. See Share your package.
How do I publish a package?
Any asterobot.net member can. Export your package as a .zip, then submit a file in the Library category of asterobot.net, with that .zip as its only attachment, a title, which becomes part of the package's name, and your package's version. See Before you publish and Publish on asterobot.net.
Where are packages stored?
In the library/packages/ folder of Asterobot's data folder, one folder per version. See Files and folders.