Server Edition
The Charon Server Edition is the team collaboration layer built on top of the standalone editor. It gives studios a shared, version-controlled game data repository that every designer, developer, and QA engineer accesses through a browser — no local installation required.
It is available as a hosted cloud service at charon.live or self-hosted on your own infrastructure for studios with data-residency or security requirements.
Why Teams Need It
The standalone editor is designed for a single user working locally. As soon as a second designer touches the same data file, the team is managing conflicts in spreadsheets or shared drives. The server edition eliminates that problem:
Single source of truth — all designers edit the same live data; no more “who has the latest version?” questions.
Branch-based workflows — feature branches let designers work in isolation and merge changes only when ready, the same way engineers use Git.
Full audit trail — every data change is attributed to a user with a timestamp, satisfying compliance and post-mortem requirements.
Works with existing pipelines — the CLI and REST API are the same as the standalone edition, so CI/CD scripts, engine plugins, and code generation workflows require no changes.
Feature Comparison
Feature |
Standalone |
Server |
|---|---|---|
Game data editing UI |
✓ |
✓ |
CLI access (all DATA / GENERATE commands) |
✓ |
✓ |
Local file storage |
✓ |
✓ |
Multi-user real-time collaboration |
✓ |
|
Workspaces, Projects, Branches |
✓ |
|
Role-based access control |
✓ |
|
Enterprise SSO (OAuth2, SAML, AD) |
✓ |
|
API key management |
✓ |
|
Audit logs (auth events, command traces) |
✓ |
|
On-premises / private cloud deployment |
✓ |
Collaboration Model
Game data is organised in a three-level hierarchy: Workspace → Project → Branch.
Designers work on named branches (e.g. feature/new-enemies) and merge changes to a
shared main branch using Charon’s patch/diff tooling — a workflow familiar to any
engineer who uses Git, adapted for non-technical designers who never touch the terminal.
See Workspaces, Projects, and Branches for the full collaboration guide.
Authentication and Enterprise Integration
The server edition supports multiple identity models to fit into your studio’s existing infrastructure:
Email + password with optional TOTP two-factor authentication — suitable for small teams or studios without a central directory.
OAuth2 — delegate authentication to any standards-compliant identity provider, including Google Workspace, GitHub, or an in-house IdP.
SAML 2.0 / Active Directory — for enterprise studios that require single sign-on through their corporate directory. Users log in with their existing company credentials; no separate Charon account needed.
API keys — generated per user for CLI and REST API access in automated pipelines.
Contact support@gamedevware.com to discuss SSO integration options for your studio.
Access Control
Fine-grained roles control what each team member can do within a project: Viewer, Editor, Designer, Administrator.
See Roles and Permissions for the full role and permission matrix.
Deployment Options
- Cloud (charon.live)
The fastest way to get started. No infrastructure to manage. Game data is stored on charon.live servers. Suitable for teams without strict data-residency requirements.
- On-premises / Private Cloud
Deploy the server on your own infrastructure — on-premises servers, private cloud VPC, or an air-gapped environment. You retain full control over where game data is stored and who can reach the service. See On-Premises Deployment for deployment guidance.
Note
Files created by the server edition are fully compatible with the standalone CLI and engine plugins. Any branch can be downloaded at any time and opened locally — teams are never locked in to the hosted service.