Keys and first start

Keys are optional. Without them the app still works: games are recognized by their file name, for example Super Mario Odyssey [0100000000010000][v0].nsp. With your keys it reads the files themselves, so games are found even when the names are wrong, and you can compress and decompress them.

File	Needed for
prod.keys	Reading your files and compressing them. Dump it from your own console
title.keys	Only to compress games whose NSP has no ticket. Dumped together with prod.keys

How to get them. On a console that runs custom firmware, a key dumping tool (such as Lockpick_RCM) writes prod.keys and title.keys to the SD card, usually in sd:/switch/. Dump them again after updating the console, so games made for the new firmware can be read too. Keys are yours: never share them nor post them in issues, logs or screenshots.

Put them in the data folder (with Docker, the folder mounted on /usr/local/share/switch-library-manager-web), or set another folder in Settings. You can also upload them from the browser, in Settings › Library or in the setup wizard: the app checks they are keys of a console, keeps them in its data folder (readable by itself only) and never shows them nor writes them to its log. You can also mount prod.keys read-only: -v /path/to/prod.keys:/usr/local/share/switch-library-manager-web/prod.keys:ro.

The app looks for prod.keys in this order: the path in Settings, the data folder, then ~/.switch/prod.keys. title.keys is read from the same folder as prod.keys.

Games made for a newer firmware need keys dumped from a console with that firmware: the Issues page tells you when a key is missing.

First start

1. On the first start the titles database is downloaded (names, covers, updates and DLC of every game).
2. A setup wizard opens: your folders (checked as you type), your keys, the firmware of your console, the background hours, compression, automations, notifications, times to beat and an administrator, one step at a time. Every step can be skipped, and the wizard can be put off or turned off. Run it again at any time from Settings: each step shows how it is set now.
3. Your games appear once the folders are scanned. New, removed or replaced files are picked up by themselves.