Linux

Linux

On Linux, accshift can switch Steam accounts only. The other launchers do not have native Linux clients, so they are not built into the Linux version. You can confirm with accshift platforms from a terminal.

This page covers Linux-specific behaviour. For everything else, see the Steam page.

Supported Steam installs

accshift looks for loginusers.vdf in this order:

1. $XDG_DATA_HOME/Steam
2. ~/.local/share/Steam (modern native install)
3. ~/.steam/steam (legacy symlink)
4. ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam (Flatpak)
5. ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.steam/steam (Flatpak legacy)
6. ~/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam (Snap)
7. ~/snap/steam/common/.steam/steam (Snap legacy)

If your Steam lives somewhere else, set the path manually in Settings > Steam.

Auto-login storage

accshift uses the install selected by the discovery order above. A Flatpak install uses ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.steam/registry.vdf. Native and Snap installs use ~/.steam/registry.vdf; accshift deliberately does not switch to a stale Flatpak registry merely because that file exists.

Launching Steam

accshift kills the steam and steamwebhelper processes and waits for them to exit. Native installs use steam.sh from the resolved directory when present, then fall back to steam on PATH. Flatpak uses flatpak run com.valvesoftware.Steam; Snap uses the steam wrapper on PATH.

The CLI flags are --admin and --no-admin; both resolve to a no-op on Linux. There is no UAC. If a separate command needs root, invoke pkexec yourself.

Folder picker

Path overrides use a native folder picker. accshift tries:

1. zenity --file-selection --directory
2. kdialog --getexistingdirectory

Install one of them if the picker fails. Most GNOME and KDE sessions ship with at least one. Alternatively, type the path in by hand.

Secrets

Steam Web API key (and any other secret) is stored via the keyring crate, which talks to the Secret Service (GNOME Keyring, KWallet, or any compatible daemon). Entries are grouped under the service id com.accshift.desktop.

If no Secret Service daemon is running on your session, secret operations will fail. Start gnome-keyring-daemon, kwallet, or another implementation, then retry.

Data paths

Data	Path
Runtime config	~/.local/share/com.accshift.desktop/state/
Logs	~/.config/com.accshift.desktop/logs/
User settings	~/.config/com.accshift.desktop/user/
Custom themes	~/.config/com.accshift.desktop/themes/
Platform snapshots	~/.local/share/com.accshift.desktop/platforms/
Migration backups	~/.local/share/com.accshift.desktop/backups/pre-migration/

Paths follow XDG defaults and honour $XDG_CONFIG_HOME / $XDG_DATA_HOME when set.

Known limitations

• Steam only.
• Folder picker requires zenity or kdialog.
• No elevation support; admin-only launch options are silently no-op.
• Flatpak requires the flatpak command; Snap requires its steam wrapper to be on PATH.