Manage Games
protondl allows listing and managing installed games.
Managing games is currently supported for the following launchers: Steam Lutris Heroic
The <launcher> argument accepts either the numeric ID of a detected launcher from
list-launchers or a <type>:<path> spec to target a launcher
at a custom installation path (see Target a custom launcher path).
List installed games
You may list the installed games of a launcher by running the following command. It displays the launcher's game ID, the name of the game, the install directory, and the compatibility tool the game uses.
Add --awacy to include the AWACY anti-cheat status for each game.
Add --protondb to include the ProtonDB compatibility rating for each game.
Add --deck-status to include the Steam Deck compatibility status for each game.
All flags can be combined.
protondl list-games <launcher> --awacy
protondl list-games <launcher> --protondb
protondl list-games <launcher> --deck-status
protondl list-games <launcher> --awacy --protondb --deck-status
Games without a Steam AppID or without a ProtonDB report are shown as Unknown.
The Steam Deck status is read from the local Steam metadata and is only available
for Steam games; it is shown as VERIFIED, PLAYABLE, UNSUPPORTED, or UNKNOWN,
followed by the recommended runtime if one is set (e.g. VERIFIED (proton_9)).
Steam shortcuts (non-Steam games) are skipped in all status columns. If the status data
could not be fetched (for example, the service is unreachable), the affected column
shows Network Error instead; the table is still printed and the command exits with
code 3. If the installed game list cannot be read, the command exits with code 2.
Show Steam Deck compatibility for a game
For Steam games, you can inspect the Steam Deck compatibility category and the recommended runtime.
The command prints the Steam Deck status as one of UNKNOWN, UNSUPPORTED, PLAYABLE, or VERIFIED.
Set compatibility tool for a specific game
Run the following command to force that a specific game uses a specific compatibility tool.
Use the game id from list-games and the tool name from list-installed.
protondl set-tool <launcher> <game id> <tool name>
# Reset game-specific override and use global tool
protondl set-tool <launcher> <game id> none
set-tool currently requires a Steam or Heroic launcher. For Heroic, only Proton and Wine tools are supported, and listing includes installed DLC.
Manage Steam shortcuts
Non-Steam games and applications can be added to the Steam library as shortcuts. Shortcut management is only supported for Steam launchers.
List shortcuts
List all Steam shortcuts of a launcher, including their AppID, executable, start directory, and the Steam user (userdata folder name) they belong to:
Add a shortcut
Add a new shortcut. The shortcut is added to the Steam user with the most existing shortcuts,
or to the most recently logged in user if there are none. Use --user to target a specific
user (the userdata folder name).
protondl add-shortcut <launcher> <name> <executable> [--startdir <path>] [--icon <icon>] [--user <user>]
# Example
protondl add-shortcut 1 "My Game" "/opt/games/MyGame.sh" --startdir /opt/games
The command fails if name or executable is empty or no Steam user can be determined.
Remove shortcuts
Remove one or more shortcuts by AppID or name (as shown by list-shortcuts). Name matching
is case-insensitive.
protondl remove-shortcuts <launcher> <appid-or-name>...
# Examples
protondl remove-shortcuts 1 3722544834
protondl remove-shortcuts 1 "My Game" 1234567890
Note that Steam needs to be restarted to pick up changes to the shortcuts.