[RaviTejaKNTS]

Why

A search-traffic audit on 2026-11-10 found that /self-host-apps shows 24 of 4,913 apps in its server HTML and /cli-apps shows 30 of 309. ?page= and ?category= URLs return the same static HTML as page one and are noindex by design. stack127_docs/caching.md and seo.md already name the fix: a category gets its own path with its own registry row.

What changes

• Static category pages at /self-host-apps/categories/<category> and /cli-apps/categories/<category>. Each lists every app in the category as lean server-rendered rows.
• Each category is a directory child page: its own stack127_pages and stack127_directory_pages rows and its own MDX intro.
• Both hubs get a "Browse by category" block of plain links, driven by the registry, so an unpublished category never produces a dead link.
• A category needs at least 15 apps to get a page.
• Scripts under scripts/stack127/app-categories/ insert missing draft rows and prepare the publisher manifest.
• Migration 20261110120000_app_category_pages.sql adds the count function and triggers that keep category pages fresh and retire a page that drops under 15 apps. It grants the new functions to stack127_app when that role exists.

Publication plan

• CLI apps: 12 category pages go public and indexable after release, through the directories publisher. Their titles, search fields, and intros are written and reviewed in development.
• Self-host apps: the 39 category pages stay unpublished in production. The category data is wrong in places (for example "video-conferencing" holds 352 apps, including Gluetun and Frigate). The route ships and returns 404 until the data is cleaned and the pages are published.

Checks

• npm run quality: 116 tests pass. Focused tests: 54. Development database tests: 6. Strict static source check passes.
• Largest category page in development: 818,472 bytes of HTML (AI and ML, 1,201 apps).
• Sol review found one blocker (missing stack127_app grant) and two smaller issues. All are fixed in bc732927; a re-check of that commit is running.

After release

• Run scripts/stack127/app-categories/verify-app-role.sql against production to confirm the stack127_app role can use the new functions.
• Publish the 12 CLI category pages with the directories publisher.

Note on PR #112

PR #112 removes the hardware directories and touches some of the same shared files (scripts/stack127/cache/targets.mjs, proxy.ts, lib/registered-site-pages.json). Whichever merges second needs a merge from main.

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