Files and Folders

Rostrum keeps everything in your home folder and never needs root. This page lists every file it writes, so you can back up, inspect or remove them.

The paths below use the default locations. If you set XDG_CONFIG_HOME or XDG_STATE_HOME, Rostrum uses those folders instead of ~/.config and ~/.local/state.

Settings and scenes

Path	What it is
~/.config/rostrum/settings.toml	General and mixer options, ducking, the default scene and scene order, your saved headphones and mic (with Mono headphones and the unplugged-mic choice), shortcuts, OBS options and your OBS scene mapping, window size, Compact View and last page.
~/.config/rostrum/scenes/*.toml	One file per scene, for example live.toml.
~/.config/rostrum/trash/	Deleted scenes, shown in Scenes → Recently Deleted. Each is removed for good after 30 days.
~/.config/rostrum/backups/	A copy of your setup from just before each Restore…, named before-restore-<time>.toml.

All files are plain TOML. Settings → Advanced → Open config folder opens this folder. Loading is forgiving: an unreadable scene file is skipped, and missing fields take their defaults.

Back up and restore

Settings → Advanced → Back Up Settings… saves your settings, hotkeys, devices and every scene to one .toml file. The save dialog suggests rostrum-backup-<date>.toml in your Documents folder. The backup leaves out your crash report and update choices, the window size and Compact View, and when apps were last seen.

Settings → Advanced → Restore… reads such a file and asks first:

• Settings, hotkeys and devices are replaced, and take effect at once.
• Scenes with the same name are overwritten. The old versions go to Recently Deleted.
• Other scenes stay, including ones you made after the backup.
• Your current setup is saved to ~/.config/rostrum/backups/ first, and a message names the file.
• Launch at login follows the backup.

A scene export or any other file is not a backup: restoring it changes nothing, and Rostrum says so. To copy scenes only, use Export… and Import… on the Scenes page; see Scenes and Presets.

Logs and crash data

Path	What it is
~/.local/state/rostrum/rostrum.log	The log. A crash appends a backtrace.
~/.local/state/rostrum/obs-undo.json	What Undo OBS Changes needs to put OBS back.
~/.local/state/rostrum/crashes/	Crash reports waiting to be sent or discarded (official builds only). At most 10, none older than 30 days.
~/.local/state/rostrum/sentry/	The crash reporter's own working folder (official builds only).

See Privacy and Crash Reports for what a crash report contains.

Outside Rostrum's own folders

Rostrum writes only these files elsewhere:

Path	When
~/.config/pipewire/pipewire-pulse.conf.d/50-rostrum.conf	When your default scene has app rules. Read by PipeWire's PulseAudio service at login.
~/.config/pipewire/client.conf.d/50-rostrum.conf	When your default scene has app rules. Read by native PipeWire apps when they start.
~/.config/autostart/dev.getrostrum.Rostrum.desktop	While Launch at login is on. When Rostrum runs from an AppImage, the entry starts that AppImage.
The file you choose	When you use Back Up Settings… or scene Export….
OBS's scene collection	Only when you press Set Up OBS… or Undo OBS Changes while OBS is closed. Setup first writes a backup next to it, named <collection file>.rostrum-<date>-<time>.bak.

The two rule files set only which bus each app should start on. They are removed when there are no rules. Rostrum writes nothing to ~/.config/wireplumber/ and does not install WirePlumber scripts. See Apps and Routing.

The autostart file is the source of truth for Launch at login: removing it in System Settings → Autostart turns the switch off.

Virtual devices

Rostrum's buses are devices inside PipeWire, not files. They stay in PipeWire after Rostrum quits, which is why your audio keeps playing. They are named, for example, Rostrum Game, Rostrum Stream Mix and Rostrum Mic; Devices → Advanced nodes lists them all. The links between them stay too, so with Mono headphones on, your headphones stay mono after Rostrum quits.

To remove them, quit Rostrum and run:

systemctl --user restart pipewire pipewire-pulse wireplumber

Removing everything

1. Quit Rostrum.
2. Delete the files and folders on this page. Deleting ~/.config/rostrum/ also removes Recently Deleted scenes and restore backups.
3. Run the systemctl command above.
4. If you installed Rostrum with cmake --install, delete the installed program files too. See Installation.

The full list of files, with technical detail, is in docs/audio.md, Files.