The developer's guideFrom an account to a game on sale
Seven chapters, each true of the service as it runs. The reference for the bytes is docs/protocol.md; this is the path.
The limits
What is refused, and why.
On the wire
| A line | ≤ 255 bytes including the newline, either way; longer is ERR 400 line too long |
| Gamertag | 3–10 of A–Z0–9_; game id and mode 3–12; award key 3–16; initials exactly 3 |
| Scores | six a minute an account, then ERR 429; the MAC checked first, the shape next, then your service if you have one |
TOP | 1 to 10 rows |
| Idle | three minutes of silence closes the link; PING keeps it |
| Presence | a session not heard from for two minutes leaves the live page |
| Friends | fifty; notes 1–140 printable characters, twenty waiting from one sender |
FILE | ≤ 4,096 bytes a call; DATA lines of 60 bytes as hex so the X16's link keeps them whole |
Error codes: 400 malformed, 401 out of order (HELLO or AUTH first), 403 a wrong reply, MAC or PIN, or a game not yet approved, 404 unknown — or hidden from this account, 409 said twice, or a version that moved on, 422 a row your service refused, 429 too many this minute, 500 the store, 503 your service did not answer, 505 a protocol version this server does not speak.
On the site
- Sign-in: twenty tries an address a minute, five wrong passwords an account a minute (a right one clears them).
- Registration: five accounts made from one address an hour; addresses, domains, gamertags and address ranges the service has banned are refused at sign-up with one line.
- Mail (a reset, a verification link again): five an address an hour, three an account.
- A post from another site is refused at the door; a session ends on sign-out, a new password, or a ban — everywhere at once.
On a game service
One line each way on /x, fitted to 255; two seconds to answer; HTTPS off the box. A SCORE your service does not answer is refused, never taken unjudged.
On the store
A build ≤ 16 MB, kept for ever; a capsule or screenshot ≤ 1.5 MB, eight screenshots; an icon ≤ 4 KB; a description ≤ 6,000 characters, a sentence ≤ 200, news five lines of 60. Twenty awards, a thousand points.
What the service will not do
Read a PIN (it never has one). Show a hidden game exists. Take a score unjudged when you have a service. Keep your key readable. Sell your game anywhere but as reseller under the terms you agreed. Close without telling you.