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 (launcher support varies)
name	string	-	Custom display name for remote downloads
pre_notice	string	-	Message to show before launching
when	expression	-	Conditional execution (see Expressions)

Examples

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

Genesis/Sonic the Hedgehog (USA).md

Launch from an absolute path:

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

Launch with a specific launcher override:

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

Open a Steam game's details page instead of launching:

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

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. Search queries - 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.

Search queries

Paths containing * are automatically handled as media database search queries:

Genesis/*sonic*
SNES/*mario world*

This delegates to launch.search internally, launching the first indexed 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 Sonic using title matching:

**launch.title:Genesis/Sonic the Hedgehog

Launch the US version of Super Mario World:

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

Use the tags argument instead of inline format:

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

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.

Platform Support

Launching a system by ID is supported on MiSTer and MiSTeX. The menu argument returns to the platform's menu or frontend where supported, including Batocera.

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 the Atari 2600 system:

**launch.system:Atari2600

Launch WonderSwan Color, useful for meta-systems without their own core:

**launch.system:WonderSwanColor

Return to the main menu:

**launch.system: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 indexed media matching a search query

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 a random SNES game:

**launch.random:snes

Launch a random game from SNES, NES, or Genesis:

**launch.random:snes,nes,genesis

Launch a random game from any system:

**launch.random:all

Launch a random file from a folder, useful for MGL collections:

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

Launch a random Genesis game matching "sonic" in the media database:

**launch.random:Genesis/*sonic*

Launch a random Mario game from any system:

**launch.random:all/*mario*

System Weighting

When multiple systems are specified, a system is picked at random first (with equal weight per system), then a random game is selected from that system. This prevents systems with larger libraries from dominating random picks.

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launch.search

Searches indexed media and launches the first result.

Syntax

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

Arguments

query (required) A media database search query. * can be used for broad partial matches.

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

Find and launch the first indexed game matching "mario" from any system:

**launch.search:*mario*

Find and launch the first indexed SNES game matching "mario":

**launch.search:SNES/*mario*

Find a more specific match, such as a US version of a Super Mario game:

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

info

Search queries are case insensitive and use the indexed media database, not direct filesystem globbing.

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launch.last

Launches a recently played game from playtime history.

Syntax

**launch.last
**launch.last:<offset>

Arguments

offset (optional) Which recent game to launch, where 1 is the most recently played. Defaults to 1. Duplicate plays of the same game are collapsed, so 2 is the previous different game, 3 the one before that, and so on.

Advanced Arguments

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

Examples

Relaunch the most recently played game:

**launch.last

Launch the previously played game, skipping the most recent one:

**launch.last:2

Cycle back to the third most recently played unique game:

**launch.last:3

info

Requires playtime tracking to have recorded history. If not enough unique games are in history to satisfy the offset, the command logs a warning and does nothing.