Usage Launching

Launching

Part of the Usage reference. · ← Previous: Installation & maintenance · Next: Depots & branches →

play

Launch a game and wait for it to exit. Requires an active session. If Steam Cloud sync is enabled, saves are synced down before launch and up afterward.

aurelia play <APP_ID> [-p <PROTON>] [-w] [-s] [-n | -u] [-x <PATH> | -X] [-N]

Option	Description
-p, --proton <PROTON>	Force a specific Proton/Wine runner (Linux only). Implies a Windows target.
-w, --windows	Run the Windows executable directly with no Proton/Wine layer. Windows hosts only: rejected on Linux, where a Windows .exe can't be run natively.
-s, --steam	Launch with real Steam integration so Steamworks/DRM work. Prefers the host Steam client (Proton's lsteamclient bridge, started silently if not running). When no host Steam is installed it falls back to the Windows Steam runtime inside Wine. Without it, the game runs standalone. Implied for Family-Shared games, which require Steam to authorise the borrowed licence. The host-vs-in-Wine choice is configurable, see config steam-runtime-policy.
-n, --native-engine	Route this launch through the luxtorpeda native-engine plugin (Linux only). Installs the plugin on first use. Conflicts with --proton/--windows.
-u, --umu	Wrap this launch through the umu-launcher plugin (Proton via umu-run, Linux only). Installs the plugin on first use. Combine with --proton to pick the Proton build umu runs. Conflicts with --windows/--native-engine.
-x, --script <PATH>	Wrap this launch with a specific launch script, overriding the per-game config and the auto-detected script.
-X, --no-script	Bypass all launch scripts for this launch.
-N, --no-update	Skip the automatic update check and install before launching. Ignored for Family-Shared games, where the update is mandatory. The old spelling --noupdate still works as an alias.

Platform behavior:

• On Windows, games always run natively (there is no Proton/Wine layer), so plain aurelia play <APP_ID> works and --windows is implied.
• On Linux, native Linux builds run directly. Windows builds run through Proton/Wine. Use --proton <ver> to pin a specific runner (see config protons for available names). The launch entry is chosen by the installed depot: Aurelia picks the executable that actually exists on disk, so a game installed as a native Linux build runs natively even if --proton is passed.

Steam integration (--steam):

• Standalone (default): the game runs without a Steam client. Works for owned games with lenient DRM. Steam DRM and Steamworks online features are unavailable.

• With --steam: Aurelia provides a real Steam client so DRM/Steamworks work. It resolves the source from the steam-runtime-policy (global default, or the per-game policy set with config game <id> --steam-runtime):

  • auto (default): use the host Steam client when one is installed (starting it silently), otherwise fall back to the Windows Steam runtime inside Wine (see below).
  • on: always use the in-Wine Steam runtime, even if a host Steam exists.
  • off: host Steam only, never the in-Wine runtime.

  The in-Wine fallback requires the runtime to be installed first (aurelia steam-runtime install). If neither a host Steam nor the in-Wine runtime is available, the launch runs standalone and DRM-protected games will not start.

Required for Steamworks online features and for Family-Shared games (where --steam is forced on).

aurelia play 1245620                 # native on Windows / auto on Linux, standalone
aurelia play 1245620 --windows       # Windows host: force native execution
aurelia play 1245620 --proton experimental   # Linux: pin a Proton version
aurelia play 1245620 --steam         # real Steam integration (host, else in-Wine runtime)

---

running

List the games Aurelia is currently running (launched via aurelia play). Records whose process has already exited are pruned, so the list reflects what's actually live.

aurelia running [--json]

aurelia running
aurelia running --json

stop

Stop a running game previously launched with aurelia play. Omitting the app id lists the running games (same as running).

aurelia stop [<APP_ID>] [--force]

Option	Description
-f, --force	Kill the game immediately (SIGKILL) instead of asking it to exit gracefully first. Use when a game is hung and ignores a normal stop.

A normal stop asks the game to exit cleanly (so it can save). --force terminates it at once. Either way Aurelia sweeps the game's whole process tree, including Proton's re-parented steam.exe/wineserver/game processes (matched by STEAM_COMPAT_APP_ID), so nothing is left behind.

aurelia stop                # list running games
aurelia stop 1245620        # graceful stop
aurelia stop 1245620 --force   # force-kill a hung game