linux-vortex

An unofficial, distro-agnostic AppImage of Nexus Mods' native Linux build of Vortex — for Linux users who want a no-compile binary. See docs/UNOFFICIAL-NOTICE.md.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Nexus Mods. GPL-3.0. Beta quality (built from an upstream development branch).

Download & run

Grab the latest linux-vortex-*-x86_64.AppImage from the Releases page, then:

chmod +x linux-vortex-*-x86_64.AppImage
./linux-vortex-*-x86_64.AppImage

If it won't start with failed to load libfuse.so.2, either install FUSE 2 (libfuse2 / fuse2) or run it without FUSE:

./linux-vortex-*-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run

Requirements

• 64-bit desktop Linux with the usual GUI libraries (GTK3, NSS, libgbm, …) — present on any normal desktop install. Nothing to set up.
• FUSE to self-mount the AppImage — or use --appimage-extract-and-run (above).
• Self-contained otherwise: Electron and the .NET 9 runtime are bundled. No system .NET, Node, or Electron needed.
• Wine is NOT required to run Vortex or to download/deploy mods. It's only needed for game-specific Windows modding tools (e.g. Fluffy Mod Manager for RE Engine games) — exactly as a Windows user would still install those tools.

What works / what doesn't

The packaging is solid; the upstream Linux port is still a dev build:

• ✅ Runs natively, Nexus login, download mods, deploy mods (hardlink), nxm:// one-click, FOMOD installers, Steam game detection.
• ⚠️ Many non-Steam / Windows-only-detection games aren't auto-detected yet (upstream), and Bethesda plugin load-order (LOOT/libloot) isn't available on Linux yet (upstream).

Build from source

ENGINE=docker ./build-all.sh   # build image -> build Vortex -> assemble AppImage -> smoke

Requires Docker (or Podman via ENGINE=podman). Details and design notes: docs/AS-BUILT.md.

Releases

Pushing a version tag builds and publishes the AppImage automatically (.github/workflows/release.yml):

git tag v0.1.0 && git push origin v0.1.0