@gamecrate/cli

gamecrate launches a modded game inside a Docker container. You describe a profile once in one config file, then run it by name. Each profile gets its own save directory, its own logs, and only the mods it lists.

The tool knows nothing about any one game. A plugin supplies the file formats and the engine facts, so the core stays the same for every title.

This package is the gamecrate command itself. It resolves a profile to a mod set, stages that set, and launches the game. Without at least one plugin, it has no games to run.

Install

The package is not on npm yet, so build it from a clone of the monorepo:

git clone https://github.com/RimWorks/gamecrate.git
cd gamecrate
npm install
npm run build
npm install -g ./packages/cli

The build needs bun and Node 22 or newer.

First launch

Write ~/.config/gamecrate/profiles.yml. This is the smallest RimWorld config that runs:

plugins: ['@gamecrate/rimworld']
# Optional. Without it, gamecrate uses steamcmd from PATH, then a Docker image.
steamcmd:
  path: ~/.local/bin/steamcmd
games:
  rimworld:
    # The plugin already says source: mount and container: /game.
    gameFiles:
      host: ~/games/RimWorld
    image:
      ref: ghcr.io/your-org/rimworld:1.6
      acquire: pull
    # Optional. Only for workshop items a Steam install already downloaded.
    workshopRoot: ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/workshop/content/294100
    scanRoots:
      - path: ~/projects/mods
        maxDepth: 2
    profiles:
      dev:
        mods: [brrainz.harmony, yourname.yourmod]

The bare name @gamecrate/rimworld only resolves once the package is installed next to the config. Configuration shows both ways to point at a plugin. A workshop item reaches a profile two ways: gamecrate downloads it with steamcmd, or it reads an existing Steam install under workshopRoot. Both keys are optional, and Mod sources covers the choice. Then:

gamecrate doctor
gamecrate rimworld dev

doctor checks Docker, the image, the game directory, and the workshop root before anything launches. When a config uses workshop items, it also reports which steamcmd it found and the directories downloaded items land in. The second line resolves the dev profile, stages its two mods, and starts the game. gamecrate rimworld dev --print-plan shows what it would do without launching.

Documentation

| Read this | When you want to | | --- | --- | | Configuration | Write the config file, load a plugin, define profiles, or set per-repository defaults | | Mod sources | Pin a mod to a directory, a git repository, or a workshop item gamecrate downloads, and learn which copy wins | | The mods commands | Add, remove, and sync library pins from the command line | | Running | Launch, run in the background, read the result, close a window, and clean up | | Reference | Every subcommand, flag, environment variable, and exit code | | Writing a plugin | Teach gamecrate a new game |

@gamecrate/rimworld is the RimWorld plugin, and the one complete example of the plugin contract.