DejaTop

Beta Release — v1.0.0-beta

DejaTop is a zero-dependency C++17 CLI tool that automatically generates .desktop entries for Linux native apps, AppImages, GOG games, and Windows games run through Wine or Steam Proton (including GE-Proton).

No configuration files. No GUI. One command.

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Features

Feature	Details
Zero Dependencies	Pure C++17, no GTK/Qt/ncurses/Python
One-Shot Magic	Instant desktop entries, zero prompts
Smart Prefix Discovery	Auto-detects existing prefixes from Steam, Heroic, Lutris
Flatpak Steam Support	Scans both native and Flatpak Steam userdata
GE-Proton Priority	Prefers GE-Proton → Experimental → Official Proton
Smart Icon Discovery	Recursively picks best .ico/.png icon, or extracts directly from .exe files if icoutils is installed
Case-Insensitive Management	--delete, --replace-icon work with partial names
Tab Completion	Bash completion script included for all commands, flags, and existing entries

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Installation

make
make install

Installs to ~/.local/bin/dejatop and man page to ~/.local/share/man/man1/.

To uninstall:

make uninstall

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Usage

One-Shot Creation

# Windows game — auto-discovers Proton + existing prefix
dejatop /mnt/Games/ACIII/ACIII.exe --name "Assassin's Creed III"

# Native / GOG / AppImage — no Proton logic, pure exec
dejatop ~/GOG-Games/Portal/start.sh --name "Portal"

# With all overrides
dejatop /path/to/game.exe --name "My Game" --icon /path/to/icon.png --runner proton --prefix ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/12345

For .exe files, DejaTop will:

1. Scan Steam (native + Flatpak), Heroic, and Lutris for an existing prefix
2. If none found, prompt [Y/n] to create a shared DejaTop prefix
3. Pick the best Proton version (GE-Proton first)
4. Auto-select the best icon from the game directory
5. Generate the .desktop entry and Proton wrapper script

Managing Entries

# Swap a wrong icon (case-insensitive)
dejatop --replace-icon "assassin" /path/to/icon.png

# Delete an entry
dejatop --delete "portal"

# List all managed entries
dejatop --list

Documentation

man dejatop

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Proton Runner Selection

For .exe files, Proton is selected in this priority order:

1. Latest GE-Proton (e.g. GE-Proton9-27) from ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/
2. Proton - Experimental or latest official Proton from Steam
3. Error — if nothing is found, DejaTop exits cleanly with a clear message

.sh and .AppImage files are always treated as native — Proton/prefix logic is never triggered for them.

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Prefix Discovery Order (for .exe files)

1. Steam native — ~/.local/share/Steam/userdata/*/config/shortcuts.vdf
2. Steam Flatpak — ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/data/Steam/userdata/
3. Heroic — ~/.config/heroic/GamesConfig/*.json
4. Lutris — ~/.config/lutris/games/*.yml
5. Prompt — if nothing is found, asks [Y/n] to create a shared prefix

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Roadmap & Todo

• .exe icon extraction — Icons baked inside .exe files can be extracted directly if icoutils (wrestool + icotool) is installed.
• Steam Flatpak — Proton execution — Flatpak Steam prefix discovery works. However, running a Proton binary that lives inside the Flatpak sandbox from outside it requires a flatpak run wrapper (not yet implemented). Native Steam Proton works fine.
• GOG Galaxy prefix detection — GOG game prefixes are not yet auto-discovered (GOG uses its own config location).
• Standalone Wine prefix detection — Wine prefixes created without Heroic or Lutris (e.g. raw WINEPREFIX=... usage) are not scanned.
• --delete does not remove the wrapper script — --delete removes the .desktop file but leaves the wrapper .sh in ~/.local/share/DejaTop/wrappers/. Cleanup not yet implemented.
• --list shows raw sanitized names — --list strips the dejatop_ prefix and .desktop suffix from the filename, but shows the sanitized name (e.g. AssassinsCreedIII) instead of the human-readable Name= field from inside the file.
• Runner detection for unknown extensions — Files without .exe, .sh, or .AppImage extensions (e.g. bare binaries with no extension) are always treated as native. There is no fallback prompt to let the user choose the runner.
• --runner wine has no prefix management — When --runner wine is passed manually, the Exec= is set to wine "path/to/game.exe" directly with no wrapper script and no prefix handling.
• Heroic JSON parsing is naive — The Heroic parser does a simple string search for "winePrefix": in the file. If Heroic changes its JSON schema or uses nested configs it may miss the prefix.
• sanitizeName strips all special characters — Game names with spaces, dots, or unicode (e.g. "DOOM (2016)") get heavily sanitized, making filenames like DOOM2016 with no separator. A smarter slug function would preserve readability.
• --delete and --replace-icon match on filename, not Name= — Searching "portal" matches dejatop_Portal.desktop by filename. If the user names their entry something different from the filename (via --name), the lookup may fail or match the wrong entry.
• Library Batch Mode — Add a --batch command to scan entire game directories (e.g., ~/GOG Games/) and generate entries for all installed games in a single pass.
• Entry Management — Add --rename to seamlessly change the name of existing entries, and --update to refresh the selected Proton version.
• Dry-Run Previews — Add --dry-run to safely preview the generated desktop entry and wrapper script without writing anything to disk.
• Enhanced Launcher Discovery — Improve detection logic for Heroic Games Launcher, Lutris, and standalone Wine prefixes.
• Custom Environment Variables — Support reading Steam's per-game launch options, and add a --env flag to pass custom variables (like MANGOHUD=1) to any runner.
• Robustness & Validation — Add strict verification using desktop-file-validate to ensure 100% standard compliance, and fix edge cases involving paths with special characters.

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License

GNU General Public License v3.0