World Recon Beta Guide

Getting Started

From discovery to Desktop

1. Create one World Recon Account.
2. Browse published Hosted Worlds on the Website.
3. Open a world page to review its creator, visibility, compatibility, and Current Published Release.
4. Use the read-only Viewer to explore published map tiles.
5. When an approved Desktop build is available, install it and sign in with the same Account.

Your editable Local World exists in Desktop. Hosted Worlds and Releases shown by the Website are API-managed published records.

Account

Create and use one Account

Create an Account with a unique username and a password of at least 12 characters. Your display name and email are optional during beta.

The same identity is used by the Website and Desktop, but each has a separate session. Signing out of the Website does not sign Desktop out.

If you already have an Account, use Login. Password recovery is currently handled through World Recon support.

Discovery and inventory

Public Worlds and My Worlds

Public Worlds is anonymous discovery supplied by the public World Recon Registry. Search checks published names, descriptions, and tags; Category narrows those public results.

My Worlds requires sign-in and lists the complete Hosted World inventory connected to your active Memberships. It may include Public, Unlisted, and Private worlds where the API identifies you as Owner, Editor, or Viewer. My Worlds is not merged into public discovery and currently has no search filters.

World cards show API-provided creator attribution, category, tags, visibility, Membership role when applicable, Current Release, and last update. The Website does not calculate ownership, Membership, visibility, or permissions.

Website Membership grants viewing access only. Owners, Editors, and Viewers use Desktop for all authorized editing and contribution workflows.

Read-only Viewer

Viewer controls

• Pan: drag the map, or use the arrow keys.
• Zoom: use the mouse wheel, +/− buttons, or keyboard +/−.
• Reset: select Reset View or press 0 to fit the active layer.
• Layers: select a published layer in the left panel.
• Failed tiles: the Viewer retries temporary failures and offers Retry Failed Tiles if needed.

The Viewer renders the API-selected immutable Current Published Release using its API-provided Viewer Contract. The contract supplies the exact published assets; the Website does not reconstruct package paths or alter their casing.

The Viewer cannot edit, annotate, submit, merge, or publish.

Desktop handoff

Open in Desktop

When available, Open in Desktop uses an API-provided worldrecon: link. Your browser may ask permission to open World Recon Desktop.

If Desktop is not installed—or no signed beta installer has been published—visit Downloads for the current availability state. Do not install World Recon from an unofficial source.

Opening a Hosted World in Desktop does not make the Website editable. Desktop and the API perform all authorization and Local World operations.

Visibility and Membership

Public, Unlisted, and Private Hosted Worlds

• Public: appears in Public Worlds and can be viewed without signing in.
• Unlisted: is excluded from Public Worlds but appears in My Worlds for authorized members and can be opened through an authorized direct link.
• Private: appears only through authenticated, API-authorized access such as My Worlds.

Owner, Editor, and Viewer are API-provided Membership roles. They explain why a world appears in My Worlds; they do not add Website editing or administration controls.

For privacy, an unavailable private world may look the same as a missing world. Sign in and retry the original link if you expect access.

Published state

Current Published Release

A Release is an immutable published snapshot selected by the API. The world page and Viewer identify the Current Published Release and its compatibility state.

Older Releases may appear in read-only history, but the Viewer opens only the API-selected Current Published Release. Packages are recovery and delivery artifacts; they are not editable Website projects.

Sessions

Session expiration

The Website stores its access token for the current browser session and validates it through the API. When the session expires, the Website clears it and asks you to sign in again.

After signing in from a private world or Viewer link, the Website returns you to the originally requested page when possible.

Troubleshooting

Common beta issues

A world or Viewer is unavailable

Sign in if the world may be private. Otherwise verify the link, check your connection, and retry. Compatibility or required Reference Set issues are reported on the world page when supplied by the API.

Tiles are missing

Wait for automatic retries, then select Retry Failed Tiles. If failures continue, report the world, Release version, layer, browser, and support reference.

Open in Desktop does nothing

Confirm that an approved Desktop build is installed and allow the browser to open the external application. The Website cannot install or authorize Desktop silently.

You were signed out

Your Website session may have expired or been rejected by the API. Sign in again; your Desktop session is unaffected.

Support

Report a beta problem

Use the Contact page. Include what you were doing, the Hosted World and Release version, your browser, and any support reference or trace ID shown by the Website.

Never send your password, access token, package contents, or private-world assets in a support message.