Usage Installation and Maintenance

Installation & maintenance

Part of the Usage reference. · ← Previous: Collections · Next: Launching →

These commands require an active session.

install

Download and install a game.

aurelia install <APP_ID> [-p <windows|linux>] [--library <PATH>] [--dry-run] [--restart-steam]

Option	Description
-p, --platform <windows|linux>	Depot platform to install. Auto-detected if omitted.
-l, --library <PATH>	Steam library folder (drive/location) to install into: a library root containing a steamapps directory, as listed by aurelia libraries. Defaults to the configured steam_library_path.
-d, --dry-run	Don't install. Just report the estimated download and on-disk size.
-r, --restart-steam	When installing a DLC, stop the Steam client and restart it afterward so the running client picks up the change (Windows). Without it, it only warns.

If --platform is omitted, the available platforms are detected and the first one is chosen (printed as Auto-selected platform: ...). Progress is streamed to the terminal, and the command exits non-zero if the download fails.

The install folder under steamapps/common comes from the app's installdir. If that name is not a single plain folder name (empty, ., .., or containing a path separator), the game is installed into _ instead, so an install can never be written outside steamapps/common.

By default the game is installed into Aurelia's configured Steam library (steam_library_path). Pass --library <PATH> to install onto a specific drive/location instead. List the available library folders (one per drive) with aurelia libraries.

With --dry-run, nothing is downloaded. Aurelia prints the estimated download size (compressed transfer) and disk size (installed footprint) for the target platform, derived from PICS depot metadata. With --json it emits { "app_id", "platform", "download_size", "disk_size", "depot_count" } (sizes in bytes), useful for an install dialog. The estimate covers the base game (DLC depots are excluded).

aurelia install 1245620 --dry-run
aurelia install 1245620 --dry-run --json

DLC: If the app id is a DLC, its content is installed into the base game's directory and registered in the base game's appmanifest: its depots are added with the dlcappid tag and the DLC is removed from the manifest's DisabledDLC list, so the game recognises it as installed and enabled. The base game must already be installed.

aurelia install 1245620
aurelia install 1245620 --platform windows

Installs run inside the session daemon, so they continue in the background even if the foreground command is interrupted (Ctrl+C detaches the client but does not cancel the download). Use install stop to cancel, or install list to see what's running.

install list / install stop

Manage in-flight installs running in the daemon.

aurelia install list [--json]
aurelia install stop <APP_ID> [--json]

install list shows each install in progress with its app id, byte progress, percentage and status (No installs in progress. when idle). With --json it emits an array of { "app_id", "name", "downloaded_bytes", "total_bytes", "percent", "status", "is_downloading" }.

install stop <APP_ID> signals the running install for that app to abort. With --json it emits { "event": "stopping", "app_id" }, or { "event": "not_found", "app_id" } if no matching install is active (e.g. the daemon isn't running or the download already finished).

aurelia install list
aurelia install list --json
aurelia install stop 1245620

Stopping reaches a running install only when it shares the daemon with the stop command (the normal path, since commands auto-forward to the daemon). A foreground install started in a separate process (e.g. with the daemon disabled) can't be stopped from another process.

libraries

List the Steam library folders games can be installed into, one per drive/location, each with its free space. These are the roots accepted by install --library (and move/relink/import). Only roots that actually contain a steamapps directory are reported. No session required (a local, offline check).

aurelia libraries [--json]

The text view prints one library per line with its free space, e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam (123.4 GiB free). The --json output is { "libraries": [ { "path", "free_bytes" } ] } (path is the library root and free_bytes is the free space on that drive in bytes, or null when it couldn't be determined), useful for populating an install-drive picker.

aurelia libraries
aurelia libraries --json

update

Download the latest manifest for an installed game (apply a pending update). With no app id it lists every installed game that has an update available.

aurelia update 1245620

A pinned game (see Downgrade & version pinning) is not upgraded: aurelia update <id> refuses with a message pointing at aurelia unpin <id>. Pass --force to update it anyway (the pin is left in place). aurelia update with no id lists pinned games separately, never as "update available".

verify

Verify the integrity of an installed game's files, re-downloading any that are missing or corrupt. Progress is streamed.

aurelia verify 1245620

uninstall

Uninstall a game.

aurelia uninstall <APP_ID> [--delete-prefix]

Option	Description
-d, --delete-prefix	Also delete the game's Wine prefix / compatibility data (Linux).

uninstall refuses to run (refusing to uninstall app <id>: unsafe installdir …) when the appmanifest's installdir is not a single plain folder name, e.g. empty, ., .., or a path with separators. That way a damaged or malicious manifest can't make it delete anything outside steamapps/common.

aurelia uninstall 1245620
aurelia uninstall 1245620 --delete-prefix

move

Move an installed game to a different Steam library folder, updating Steam's on-disk data so the client recognises the game at its new path instead of reporting it as missing.

aurelia move <APP_ID> <LIBRARY> [--restart-steam]

Option	Description
<LIBRARY>	Destination Steam library root (the folder containing steamapps/), e.g. D:\SteamLibrary. Must already be a Steam library.
-r, --restart-steam	Stop Steam for the duration of the move and restart it afterward.

The move relocates three things and reconciles Steam's bookkeeping:

• the game files (steamapps/common/<installdir>),
• the Proton/Wine prefix (steamapps/compatdata/<appid>), if the game has one,
• the appmanifest_<appid>.acf (copied to the destination, removed from the source, since Steam derives a game's library from where its manifest lives), and
• the apps index in libraryfolders.vdf, so the index isn't left pointing at the old location (best-effort: Steam reconciles it from the manifests on next launch if the file can't be edited cleanly).

Progress is streamed with a MOVING percentage. Moves within the same drive use an instant rename. Moves to another drive copy with byte-level progress. The source is deleted only after the copy fully succeeds, so an interrupted cross-drive move never loses the original.

Steam rewrites these files on exit, so the move refuses to run while Steam is open unless you pass --restart-steam, which makes Aurelia stop Steam, move, then start it again. The destination must already be a registered Steam library (add a drive via Steam → Settings → Storage first). Aurelia warns if it isn't. Like uninstall, move (and relink) refuse a game whose installdir is unsafe.

aurelia move 1245620 D:\SteamLibrary
aurelia move 1245620 /mnt/games/SteamLibrary --restart-steam

relink

Point Steam at an install that already lives in a different library, without copying any files. Use this when you moved a game's folder yourself (Aurelia only updates Steam's records). Use move when the files still need to be copied.

aurelia relink <APP_ID> <LIBRARY> [--restart-steam]

Option	Description
<LIBRARY>	Destination Steam library root. Its steamapps/common/<installdir> must already contain the game's files.
-r, --restart-steam	Stop Steam for the operation and restart it afterward.

It moves the appmanifest_<appid>.acf to the destination library and updates libraryfolders.vdf. The game files and Proton prefix are left untouched. Fails if the files aren't present at the destination. Like move, it refuses to run while Steam is open unless --restart-steam is given.

aurelia relink 1245620 D:\SteamLibrary --restart-steam

import

Register an existing on-disk install that Steam doesn't know about: Aurelia writes its appmanifest_<appid>.acf (depot manifests and build id taken from PICS, so Steam sees it as installed and up to date) and adds it to libraryfolders.vdf.

aurelia import <APP_ID> <LIBRARY> [-p <windows|linux>] [--restart-steam]

Option	Description
<LIBRARY>	Steam library root whose steamapps/common/<installdir> holds the files.
-p, --platform <windows|linux>	Depot platform whose files are present. Defaults to the current OS.
-r, --restart-steam	Stop Steam for the operation and restart it afterward.

The install directory name comes from PICS, so Aurelia knows where to look under steamapps/common. Fails if the files aren't there (use install to download) or if an appmanifest already exists (use relink to relocate it).

aurelia import 1245620 D:\SteamLibrary
aurelia import 1245620 ~/.steam/steam --platform linux --restart-steam

available

Report whether a game is installed and its files are present on disk (mirrors what a front-end needs to decide if a title can be launched).

aurelia available <APP_ID> [--json]

Checks that an appmanifest exists and that the resolved install directory is present. The --json output is { "app_id", "available", "install_path" } (install_path is null when nothing is registered).

This is a local, offline check: it reads only on-disk Steam files and never logs on to Steam (no session required), so a front-end can call it freely per game without contributing to Steam logon rate limits.

aurelia available 1245620
aurelia available 1245620 --json

enable / disable

Enable or disable an owned DLC for its base game by toggling the DLC's entry in the base game's appmanifest DisabledDLC lists. The <APP_ID> is the DLC's app id. Its base game is resolved automatically and must be installed.

aurelia enable  <APP_ID> [--restart-steam]
aurelia disable <APP_ID> [--restart-steam]

Option	Description
-r, --restart-steam	Stop Steam before applying the change and start it again afterward (Windows).

aurelia enable 2690330                  # flip the flag (apply on next Steam start)
aurelia disable 2690330 --restart-steam # apply now by cycling Steam

enable only flips the flag. Run aurelia install <APP_ID> if the DLC's content isn't downloaded yet.

How it applies: DisabledDLC lives in the base game's appmanifest, which the desktop Steam client reads only at startup and overwrites from memory on exit. So an edit made while Steam is running is lost when Steam closes. --restart-steam does the reliable sequence (stop Steam → edit → start Steam) so the change takes effect immediately. Without it, restart Steam yourself for the change to apply. The command tells you when a restart is required.