Principle:Langgenius Dify Explore Feature
| Knowledge Sources | Dify |
|---|---|
| Domains | Frontend, Discovery |
| Last Updated | 2026-02-12 07:00 GMT |
Overview
The Explore feature provides an app marketplace and discovery page where users browse, install, pin, and manage recommended Dify applications organized by categories and banners.
Description
The Explore feature serves as Dify's built-in application marketplace. The service layer (service/explore.ts) provides functions to fetchAppList (which returns both categories and position-sorted recommended applications), fetchAppDetail for individual app information, fetchInstalledAppList for the user's installed applications, uninstallApp to remove installed applications, updatePinStatus to pin or unpin favorites, and fetchBanners for locale-aware promotional banners. An additional getAppAccessModeByAppId function supports enterprise access control for web applications.
The React Query hooks layer (service/use-explore.ts) wraps these service calls in useQuery and useMutation hooks with proper cache invalidation. For instance, useExploreAppList fetches and sorts applications with locale-aware cache keys, while useUninstallApp and useUpdateAppPinStatus automatically invalidate the installed apps query cache on success. The hooks also integrate with the share service to fetch application metadata and parameters for preview and trial purposes.
The feature supports a multi-tenancy model where applications can have different access modes. Banners are locale-sensitive, enabling region-specific promotional content. The position-based sorting of recommended apps ensures that curated ordering from the admin panel is preserved in the user-facing explore interface.
Usage
Use this principle when:
- Extending the app marketplace with new filtering, sorting, or categorization capabilities
- Adding new application lifecycle actions (install, uninstall, pin, rate, etc.)
- Implementing locale-aware content presentation in the explore interface
Theoretical Basis
The Explore feature follows the Marketplace Pattern common in platform ecosystems, providing a curated discovery surface that lowers the barrier to finding and adopting applications. The separation of the app catalog (recommended apps) from the user's installed apps mirrors the publish-subscribe model where the catalog is the publication channel and installation represents subscription. Cache invalidation on mutations ensures eventual consistency between the catalog state and the user's local view.