One registry, 200+ experiences: how the QRFlow catalog works

Most QR tools hardcode their type list. Every new type means new forms, new routes, new releases. That's why their catalogs grow by a couple of types per year.

QRFlow stores its catalog in an experience registry — a database of every type the platform supports, with its category, setup fields, encoding template, and capability flags: does it support static codes, analytics, the canvas builder, access gates, premium-only availability?

The create flow simply reads the registry. When you open a type, its form is generated from the registry's field definitions; when you save, the encoding is produced from its template. Adding a new type is a data change, not a software release — which is how the catalog reached 200+ types across 20+ categories.

The flags matter just as much as the fields. They let us gate features honestly: the canvas builder appears only for types that render hosted pages, static generation only where offline encoding makes sense. And they give us a clean path to beta releases, per-plan availability, and eventually a marketplace of community-built experiences.

The lesson we keep re-learning: platforms beat features. Every time we move something from code into the registry, the whole product gets easier to grow.