Launch

These commands launch games, systems, and other media.

launch

Launches media from a path or identifier.

The launch command is implied when no command prefix is used (Auto Launch mode). For example, simply writing Genesis/Sonic the Hedgehog.md will launch that game.

Syntax

**launch:<path>

Arguments

path (required) The media to launch. Accepts multiple formats - see Path Formats below.

Advanced Arguments

Argument	Type	Default	Description
launcher	string	-	Override the default launcher
system	string	-	Apply system defaults to a local file path
action	string	run	run to launch, details to show info (Steam only)
name	string	-	Custom display name for remote downloads
pre_notice	string	-	Message to show before launching
when	expression	-	Conditional execution (see Expressions)

Examples

Genesis/Sonic the Hedgehog (USA).md

Launches a game using system lookup (Auto Launch mode - no **launch: prefix needed).

**launch:/media/fat/games/Genesis/Sonic.md

Launches from an absolute path.

**launch:Genesis/Sonic.md?launcher=LLAPIMegaDrive

Launches with a specific launcher override.

**launch:steam://1145360?action=details

Opens a Steam game's details page instead of launching.

Path Formats

The launch command supports several path formats, tried in this order:

1. Remote URLs (http://, https://, smb://) - if system argument provided
2. Absolute paths (starting with /)
3. URI schemes (steam://, etc.)
4. Relative paths - searched in game folders
5. Title ID - System/Title without file extension
6. System lookup - System/path/to/file.ext
7. Glob patterns - if path contains *

Title ID

The portable format for tokens that work across devices. Paths in System/Title format (no file extension) are detected as title lookups and use fuzzy matching:

Genesis/Sonic the Hedgehog
SNES/Super Mario World
N64/Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time

The @ prefix can also be used, which explicitly invokes launch.title:

@Genesis/Sonic the Hedgehog

Both forms use fuzzy matching to find games regardless of filename differences between devices.

With tags to filter specific versions:

@SNES/Super Mario World (region:us)
@Genesis/Sonic (-unfinished:demo)
@N64/Zelda (~region:us)(~region:eu)

Tag operators:

• (tag:value) or (+tag:value) - must have this tag (AND)
• (-tag:value) - must not have this tag (NOT)
• (~tag:value) - at least one of these must match (OR)

See the Tags documentation for available filters.

System Lookup

Uses the system ID as a virtual folder:

N64/1 US - A-M/Game.z64
TurboGrafx16/Game.pce
PCEngine/Game.pce

Works across different devices with the same internal folder structure. System aliases are supported.

Absolute Path

Direct path starting with /:

/media/fat/games/Genesis/Game.md

Relative Path

Path relative to game folders:

Genesis/1 US - Q-Z/Game.md
_Arcade/Game.mra

Similar to system lookup but uses the exact system games folder name.

Glob Patterns

Paths containing * wildcards are automatically handled as search patterns:

Genesis/*sonic*
SNES/*mario world*

This delegates to launch.search internally, launching the first match.

Zip File Paths

On MiSTer, paths can reference files inside zip archives:

_Arcade/@Arcade - Konami.zip/Pong.mra
Genesis/@Genesis - 2022-05-18.zip/Sonic.md

URI Schemes

URIs are passed directly to the appropriate platform launcher:

steam://1145360

Remote Install

Download and install media from SMB or HTTP URLs:

smb://10.0.0.123/Games/path/to/file.bin?system=Genesis
http://10.0.0.123/path/to/file.bin?system=Genesis

The system argument is required for remote URLs. Files are cached locally after first download. Authentication can be configured in auth.toml.

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launch.title

Launches media by title ID.

Syntax

**launch.title:<system>/<title>

Arguments

system (required) The system ID (e.g., Genesis, SNES, N64).

title (required) The game title to search for. Supports fuzzy matching.

Inline tags can be added after the title:

**launch.title:SNES/Super Mario World (region:us)
**launch.title:Genesis/Sonic (-unfinished:demo)

Advanced Arguments

Argument	Type	Default	Description
launcher	string	-	Override the default launcher
tags	string	-	Tag filters (alternative to inline format)
action	string	run	run to launch, details to show info
when	expression	-	Conditional execution (see Expressions)

Examples

**launch.title:Genesis/Sonic the Hedgehog

Launches Sonic using title matching.

**launch.title:SNES/Super Mario World (region:us)

Launches the US version of Super Mario World.

**launch.title:Genesis/Sonic?tags=region:us,lang:en

Uses the tags argument instead of inline format.

tip

The @ prefix (e.g., @Genesis/Sonic) is shorthand for **launch.title:Genesis/Sonic. Both forms are equivalent.

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launch.system

Launches a system/emulator without loading specific media.

Syntax

**launch.system:<system>

Arguments

system (required) The system ID to launch. Use menu to return to the main menu.

Advanced Arguments

Argument	Type	Default	Description
when	expression	-	Conditional execution (see Expressions)

Examples

**launch.system:Atari2600

Launches the Atari 2600 system.

**launch.system:WonderSwanColor

Launches WonderSwan Color (useful for meta-systems without their own core).

**launch.system:menu

Returns to the main menu.

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launch.random

Launches a random game from specified systems or search criteria.

Syntax

**launch.random:<query>

Arguments

query (required) One of the following formats:

Format	Description
<system>	Random game from one system
<system1>,<system2>,...	Random from multiple systems
all	Random from any system
/path/to/folder	Random file from a folder
<system>/*pattern*	Random matching a glob pattern

Advanced Arguments

Argument	Type	Default	Description
launcher	string	-	Override the default launcher
tags	string	-	Tag filters to narrow results
action	string	run	run to launch, details to show info
when	expression	-	Conditional execution (see Expressions)

Examples

**launch.random:snes

Launches a random SNES game.

**launch.random:snes,nes,genesis

Launches a random game from SNES, NES, or Genesis.

**launch.random:all

Launches a random game from any system.

**launch.random:/media/fat/_#Favorites

Launches a random file from a folder (useful for MGL collections).

**launch.random:Genesis/*sonic*

Launches a random game with "sonic" in the filename.

**launch.random:all/*mario*

Launches a random Mario game from any system.

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launch.search

Searches for a game by filename pattern and launches the first result.

Syntax

**launch.search:<pattern>
**launch.search:<system>/<pattern>

Arguments

pattern (required) A glob pattern to match filenames. Use * as a wildcard.

system (optional) The system ID to search within. If omitted, searches all systems.

Advanced Arguments

Argument	Type	Default	Description
launcher	string	-	Override the default launcher
tags	string	-	Tag filters to narrow results
action	string	run	run to launch, details to show info
when	expression	-	Conditional execution (see Expressions)

Examples

**launch.search:*mario*

Finds and launches the first game with "mario" in the filename from any system.

**launch.search:SNES/*mario*

Finds and launches the first SNES game with "mario" in the filename.

**launch.search:SNES/super mario*(*usa*

Finds a more specific match (US version of Super Mario games).

info

Search queries are case insensitive.