Early Access and update channels
Early Access is open to everyone. There is no application, no form and no invite. Switch the update channel in the client and you are in.
Switching to Early Access
- Open Settings → About.
- Click the version number five times to unlock Developer Tools.
- Open Settings → Developer Tools → Updates (or scroll to the update section).
- Set Update channel to Early Access.
- Check for updates. New builds arrive through the built-in updater.
That is the whole process. It stays open permanently, so you can join or leave whenever you want by switching back to Stable.
Channels
| Channel | Source branch | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
stable | master | Normal releases, default |
early-access | ea | Feature previews before they reach stable |
unstable | develop | Every merged change, expect breakage |
Early Access is the recommended channel for testing. Unstable is for development and breaks more often.
Discuss and report
Early Access feedback is welcome in Discord. Talk about builds, ask questions and compare notes with other testers there.
Bugs belong in the trackers:
- Client: gamevault-frontend issues
- Server: gamevault-backend issues
- Documentation: gamevault-docs issues
Include the version, channel and operating system. For client problems, add the launch log or the settings dump from Developer Tools.
Early Access is not a subscription
The old Early Access Program for the Microsoft Store app is gone. You do not need GameVault+, a Microsoft account or a Store installation to test pre-release builds. GameVault 2 updates itself through the channel you pick.
Before you switch
Pre-release builds can corrupt settings or installations. Back up your settings and download folders before switching, and expect features to change between builds.
Server pre-releases
The server image is published with three tags:
| Tag | Contents |
|---|---|
phalcode/gamevault-backend:latest | Stable releases |
phalcode/gamevault-backend:early-access | Early Access builds |
phalcode/gamevault-backend:unstable | Every merge from develop |
Switch by changing the image tag in your compose file or .env, then recreate
the container. Keep pre-release tags on a test instance and read the
server changelog
before updating.