Installation

Installation

Every release has packages for Linux and Windows. All of them are 64-bit (x86_64).

Windows

Windows 10 and 11 are supported.

File	What it is
Heronite-Setup-x86_64.exe (recommended)	Installs for your user into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Heronite. No administrator rights needed.
Heronite-Portable-x86_64.zip	Extract it anywhere and run Heronite\heronite.exe. The library, settings, and screenshots stay in that folder.

The Windows files are not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn about them: choose More info, then Run anyway.

Logging in to Epic Games, GOG, or Amazon uses the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime. Windows 11 has it; on Windows 10, install it from Microsoft if the login window asks for it.

Portable copy

A portable copy is a folder that holds everything: the program, your Collection, settings, caches, and screenshots. Move it to another PC or a USB drive and it keeps working. It does not write to the registry and does not register heronite:// links.

What makes a copy portable is the portable.txt file next to heronite.exe. Delete that file and the copy uses the normal user folders instead (see Files and Folders).

Linux

System	File	Install
Any distribution (recommended)	Heronite-x86_64.AppImage	chmod +x Heronite-x86_64.AppImage && ./Heronite-x86_64.AppImage
Debian 12+, Ubuntu 22.04+, Mint, Pop!_OS	heronite_<version>-1_amd64.deb	sudo apt install ./heronite_*_amd64.deb
Fedora 36+, openSUSE	heronite-<version>-1.x86_64.rpm	sudo dnf install ./heronite-*.x86_64.rpm
Arch, Manjaro, EndeavourOS, CachyOS	heronite-<version>-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst	sudo pacman -U heronite-*-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

Heronite draws its window with Vulkan, so you need a working Vulkan driver (Mesa for AMD and Intel, the proprietary driver for NVIDIA). The packages install the program as heronite-rs.

Optional tools

Heronite works without these. Each one turns on a feature:

Tool	For
bubblewrap (bwrap)	The sandbox for games you do not trust
gamescope	The gamescope option in a game's settings
umu-launcher	Running games through umu (Heronite downloads its own copy if this is missing)
gpu-screen-recorder	Replay (the system package or the Flathub app)
Ludusavi	Save backups after each session
python3	GOG downloads (the gogdl tool runs on Python)
WebKitGTK 4.1	The store login window. Without it, use the browser method on the login page.

Updates

Heronite checks GitHub for a new release shortly after it starts and then every 6 hours. Every download is checked against the release signing key (minisign) before it is used.

• AppImage: the new version is downloaded next to the old one and replaces it. It runs from the next start. Keep the AppImage in a folder you can write to, like ~/Applications.
• .deb, .rpm, and Arch packages: Heronite downloads the signed package and installs it through pkexec, so it asks for your password. This never happens by itself.
• Windows installer: the new setup runs silently when you quit Heronite.
• Windows portable: the program files are replaced in place; the old ones are kept as .old until the next start.

In Settings → About you can turn off "Check for updates automatically", or turn on "Install updates automatically" (off by default). Setting the environment variable HERONITE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 also turns off the checks.

Removing Heronite

• Windows installer: Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Heronite → Uninstall.
• Windows portable: delete the folder.
• Linux packages: sudo apt remove heronite, sudo dnf remove heronite, or sudo pacman -R heronite.
• AppImage: delete the file.

Removing the program keeps your Collection, settings, and games. To remove those too, delete the folders listed in Files and Folders. Games installed by Heronite are in ~/Games/Heronite on Linux unless you chose another folder.

Building from source

See Run from source in the README and CONTRIBUTING.md.