Launching

#Who can launch

Anyone with a Solana wallet can launch a market for an eligible repository. You do not need to own, maintain or contribute to the repository. The wallet that signs the launch is recorded as the market's launcher (its discoverer).

#Eligible repositories

A repository can be launched when:

• it is public on GitHub;
• it is not archived;
• it resolves from a plain repository URL, such as https://github.com/owner/repo (an optional .git suffix or trailing slash is accepted);
• it does not already have a market on gitpad.

URLs with extra paths (files, issues, pull requests), query strings or other hosts are rejected. Private and archived repositories are not eligible.

#One market per repository

gitpad keys each market by GitHub's numeric repository ID. A database lock serializes launch attempts for the same ID, and a unique index guarantees at most one canonical market. If two people try to launch the same repository at the same moment, one launch succeeds and the other is sent to the existing market.

If a launch for the repository was submitted but its outcome is not yet known, new launches for that repository are blocked until the chain evidence is checked. A renamed or transferred repository keeps its market. See Repository identity.

#The review step

1. Resolve. Paste the repository URL at /launch. gitpad fetches the repository from GitHub and shows its identity.
2. Configure. Set the token name, ticker, artwork and optional initial buy.
3. Review launch. gitpad prepares the exact transaction and simulates it before asking for a signature. Fields lock during review. Editing cancels the unsigned review, and switching wallets invalidates it. Reviews expire and can be refreshed.
4. Approve in wallet. You sign one transaction that creates the mint, the canonical pool and, if chosen, the initial buy.
5. Confirmation. gitpad records the signature before broadcast and marks the market confirmed only after it verifies the pool and mint on chain. The market then appears on /explore.

If the transaction is pending, use its receipt or Check status before trying again.

#Name, ticker and artwork

Change image offers up to four candidates from logos in the repository's README, a relevant asset directory, and the owner's GitHub avatar. Badges, screenshots, demos, banners and sponsor images are excluded.

Upload image accepts PNG, JPEG, WebP or GIF, up to 2 MB, at least 32 by 32 pixels and at most 16 megapixels. GIFs use their first frame. SVG uploads are not accepted. Every image is converted to a static 512 by 512 PNG with the whole image fitted into the square.

The artwork is saved at launch and does not change if the repository's README or avatar changes later. The token's on-chain metadata is immutable, and there is no route to edit the name, ticker or artwork after launch.

#Optional initial buy

The default is No buy. You can instead choose a preset:

The server picks the largest SOL input whose output does not exceed the selected percentage. The initial buy pays the normal 1.75% trading fee. On a fresh market using the current curve, the Max 3% buy costs about 0.856 SOL including that fee; account deposits and the network fee are additional.

The 3% cap applies only to the purchase bundled with the launch. It is not a limit on later purchases by the same wallet, and it is not a guarantee against concentrated ownership.

#Costs

A launch debits your wallet for:

• Account deposits for the new mint, pool and token accounts;
• the network fee;
• the initial buy, if any, including its trading fee.

There is no separate gitpad launch fee. The launch review shows each component and the estimated total from a simulation of the exact transaction. These are estimates at the time of review, not fixed prices. If the simulation fails or your balance is insufficient, approval is blocked.

#What the launcher gets

• Discovery rewards. For enrolled markets, the launch wallet earns 50% of gitpad's partner share of curve trading fees, until the curve completes, 30 days pass, or 2.5 SOL has been earned, whichever comes first. See Discovery rewards.
• The tokens from the initial buy, if you chose one.
• Public attribution as the market's discoverer, shown on the market and on the /discoverers leaderboard.

#What the launcher does not get

• No builder fees. Builder fees can only be claimed by a current GitHub admin of the repository. If you are also an admin, you claim through the normal builder flow like anyone else.
• No rights to the repository. A launch grants no ownership of the code, brand or project, and no GitHub authority.
• No endorsement. A launch does not imply that the maintainers approve of the market.
• No control over the market. The launcher cannot change fees, the curve, the metadata or the pool after launch.

#Launching from other places

• AI agents can find repositories and prepare a launch review link through gitpad's MCP server. You still review and sign in your own wallet. See Agents.
• README button. Maintainers can add a "Launch on gitpad" button to their README. See README badge.