diff --git a/APP_LAUNCHER_INTEGRATION.md b/APP_LAUNCHER_INTEGRATION.md
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+# App Launcher Integration Guide
+
+## Overview
+
+The `apps-manifest.json` file provides a complete mapping between Cargo.toml features and user-friendly app descriptions for the botui app launcher.
+
+## File Location
+
+```
+botserver/apps-manifest.json
+```
+
+## Structure
+
+### Categories
+
+Apps are organized into 8 categories:
+
+1. **Communication** (💬) - Chat, Mail, Meet, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.
+2. **Productivity** (⚡) - Tasks, Calendar, Project, Goals, Workspaces, etc.
+3. **Documents** (📄) - Drive, Docs, Sheet, Slides, Paper
+4. **Media** (🎬) - Video, Player, Canvas
+5. **Learning** (📚) - Learn, Research, Sources
+6. **Analytics** (📈) - Analytics, Dashboards, Monitoring
+7. **Development** (⚙️) - Automation, Designer, Editor
+8. **Administration** (🔐) - Attendant, Security, Settings, Directory
+9. **Core** (🏗️) - Cache, LLM, Vector DB
+
+### App Schema
+
+Each app includes:
+
+```json
+{
+  "id": "tasks",
+  "name": "Tasks",
+  "description": "Task management with scheduling",
+  "feature": "tasks",
+  "icon": "✅",
+  "enabled_by_default": true,
+  "dependencies": ["automation", "drive", "monitoring"]
+}
+```
+
+### Bundles
+
+Pre-configured feature sets:
+
+- **minimal** - Essential infrastructure (chat, automation, drive, cache)
+- **lightweight** - Basic productivity (chat, drive, tasks, people)
+- **full** - Complete feature set
+- **communications** - All communication apps
+- **productivity** - Productivity suite
+- **documents** - Document suite
+
+## Integration with botui
+
+### Reading the Manifest
+
+```javascript
+// In botui/ui/suite/js/app-launcher.js
+fetch('/api/apps/manifest')
+  .then(res => res.json())
+  .then(manifest => {
+    renderAppLauncher(manifest);
+  });
+```
+
+### Rendering Apps
+
+```javascript
+function renderAppLauncher(manifest) {
+  const categories = manifest.categories;
+  
+  for (const [categoryId, category] of Object.entries(categories)) {
+    const categoryEl = createCategory(category);
+    
+    category.apps.forEach(app => {
+      const appCard = createAppCard(app);
+      categoryEl.appendChild(appCard);
+    });
+  }
+}
+```
+
+### App Card Template
+
+```html
+<div class="app-card" data-feature="${app.feature}">
+  <div class="app-icon">${app.icon}</div>
+  <div class="app-name">${app.name}</div>
+  <div class="app-description">${app.description}</div>
+  <div class="app-toggle">
+    <input type="checkbox" 
+           ${app.enabled_by_default ? 'checked' : ''}
+           ${app.core_dependency ? 'disabled' : ''}>
+  </div>
+  ${app.dependencies.length > 0 ? 
+    `<div class="app-deps">Requires: ${app.dependencies.join(', ')}</div>` 
+    : ''}
+</div>
+```
+
+## Backend API Endpoint
+
+Add to `botserver/src/main.rs`:
+
+```rust
+async fn get_apps_manifest() -> Json<serde_json::Value> {
+    let manifest = include_str!("../apps-manifest.json");
+    let value: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_str(manifest)
+        .expect("Invalid apps-manifest.json");
+    Json(value)
+}
+
+// In router configuration:
+api_router = api_router.route("/api/apps/manifest", get(get_apps_manifest));
+```
+
+## Compilation Testing
+
+Use the `test_apps.sh` script to verify all apps compile:
+
+```bash
+cd /home/rodriguez/src/gb
+./test_apps.sh
+```
+
+This will:
+1. Test each app feature individually
+2. Report which apps pass/fail compilation
+3. Provide a summary of results
+
+## Core Dependencies
+
+These apps cannot be disabled (marked with `core_dependency: true`):
+
+- **automation** - Required for .gbot script execution
+- **drive** - S3 storage used throughout
+- **cache** - Redis integrated into sessions
+
+## Feature Bundling
+
+When a user enables an app, all its dependencies are automatically enabled:
+
+- Enable `tasks` → Automatically enables `automation`, `drive`, `monitoring`
+- Enable `mail` → Automatically enables `mail_core`, `drive`
+- Enable `research` → Automatically enables `llm`, `vectordb`
+
+## Syncing with Cargo.toml
+
+When adding new features to `Cargo.toml`:
+
+1. Add the feature definition in `Cargo.toml`
+2. Add the app entry in `apps-manifest.json`
+3. Update the app launcher UI in botui
+4. Run `./test_apps.sh` to verify compilation
+5. Commit both files together
+
+## Example: Adding a New App
+
+### 1. In Cargo.toml
+
+```toml
+[features]
+myapp = ["dep:myapp-crate", "drive"]
+```
+
+### 2. In apps-manifest.json
+
+```json
+{
+  "id": "myapp",
+  "name": "My App",
+  "description": "My awesome app",
+  "feature": "myapp",
+  "icon": "🚀",
+  "enabled_by_default": false,
+  "dependencies": ["drive"]
+}
+```
+
+### 3. Test
+
+```bash
+cargo check -p botserver --no-default-features --features myapp
+```
+
+## Notes
+
+- Icons use emoji for cross-platform compatibility
+- Dependencies are automatically resolved by Cargo
+- Core dependencies are shown but cannot be toggled off
+- The manifest version matches botserver version
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 1face59aa..717822337 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,112 +9,82 @@ workspace = true
 features = ["database", "i18n"]
 
 [features]
-# ===== SINGLE DEFAULT FEATURE SET =====
-# Note: automation (Rhai scripting) is required for .gbot script execution
+# ===== DEFAULT =====
 default = ["chat", "automation", "drive", "tasks", "cache", "directory"]
 
-# ===== CORE CAPABILITIES (Internal Bundles) =====
-storage_core = ["dep:aws-config", "dep:aws-sdk-s3", "dep:aws-smithy-async"]
-automation_core = ["dep:rhai", "dep:cron"]
-cache_core = ["dep:redis"]
-mail_core = ["dep:lettre", "dep:mailparse", "dep:imap", "dep:native-tls"]
-realtime_core = ["dep:livekit"]
-pdf_core = ["dep:pdf-extract"]
+# ===== CORE INFRASTRUCTURE (Always needed) =====
+automation = ["dep:rhai", "dep:cron"]
+drive = ["dep:aws-config", "dep:aws-sdk-s3", "dep:aws-smithy-async", "dep:pdf-extract"]
+cache = ["dep:redis"]
+directory = []
 
-# ===== COMMUNICATION APPS =====
+# ===== APPS (Flat list - no dependencies between apps) =====
+# Communication
 chat = []
 people = []
-mail = ["mail_core"]
-meet = ["realtime_core"]
+mail = ["dep:lettre", "dep:mailparse", "dep:imap", "dep:native-tls"]
+meet = ["dep:livekit"]
 social = []
 whatsapp = []
 telegram = []
 instagram = []
 msteams = []
-communications = ["chat", "people", "mail", "meet", "social", "whatsapp", "telegram", "instagram", "msteams", "cache"]
 
-# ===== PRODUCTIVITY APPS =====
+# Productivity
 calendar = []
-# Tasks requires automation (scripts) and drive (attachments)
-tasks = ["automation", "drive", "monitoring"] 
+tasks = ["dep:cron"]
 project = ["quick-xml"]
 goals = []
-workspace = []
-workspaces = ["workspace"]
+workspaces = []
 tickets = []
 billing = []
-productivity = ["calendar", "tasks", "project", "goals", "workspaces", "cache"]
 
-# ===== DOCUMENT APPS =====
-paper = ["docs", "pdf"]
+# Documents
 docs = ["docx-rs", "ooxmlsdk"]
 sheet = ["calamine", "spreadsheet-ods"]
 slides = ["ooxmlsdk"]
-drive = ["storage_core", "pdf"]
-documents = ["paper", "docs", "sheet", "slides", "drive"]
+paper = []
 
-# ===== MEDIA APPS =====
+# Media
 video = []
 player = []
 canvas = []
-media = ["video", "player", "canvas"]
 
-# ===== LEARNING & RESEARCH APPS =====
+# Learning
 learn = []
-research = ["llm", "vectordb"]
+research = []
 sources = []
-learning = ["learn", "research", "sources"]
 
-# ===== ANALYTICS APPS =====
+# Analytics
 analytics = []
 dashboards = []
 monitoring = ["dep:sysinfo"]
-analytics_suite = ["analytics", "dashboards", "monitoring"]
 
-# ===== DEVELOPMENT TOOLS =====
+# Development
 designer = []
 editor = []
-automation = ["automation_core"]
-development = ["designer", "editor", "automation"]
 
-# ===== ADMIN APPS =====
+# Admin
 attendant = []
 security = []
 settings = []
-admin = ["attendant", "security", "settings"]
 
-# ===== COMPATIBILITY ALIASES =====
-# These ensure old feature names still work or map correctly
-pdf = ["pdf_core"]
-cache = ["cache_core"]
-
-
-
-# ===== CORE TECHNOLOGIES =====
+# Core Tech
 llm = []
 vectordb = ["dep:qdrant-client"]
 nvidia = []
 compliance = ["dep:csv"]
 timeseries = []
 weba = []
-directory = []
 progress-bars = ["dep:indicatif"]
 grpc = []
 jemalloc = ["dep:tikv-jemallocator", "dep:tikv-jemalloc-ctl"]
-console = ["dep:crossterm", "dep:ratatui", "monitoring"]
+console = ["dep:crossterm", "dep:ratatui"]
 
-# ===== BUNDLE FEATURES =====
-full = [
-    "chat", "people", "mail",
-    "tasks", "calendar",
-    "drive", "docs",
-    "llm", "cache", "compliance"
-]
-
-# Minimal build includes core infrastructure: automation (Rhai), drive (S3), cache (Redis)
-# These are deeply integrated and used throughout the codebase
+# ===== BUNDLES (Optional - for convenience) =====
 minimal = ["chat", "automation", "drive", "cache"]
-lightweight = ["chat", "drive", "tasks", "people"]
+lightweight = ["chat", "automation", "drive", "cache", "tasks", "people"]
+full = ["chat", "people", "mail", "tasks", "calendar", "drive", "docs", "llm", "cache", "compliance"]
 
 [dependencies]
 diesel_migrations = { workspace = true }