A cross platform (Windows/Linux) desktop application for viewing and editing EmulationStation gamelist XML files, with scrapers for metadata and artwork, built on Avalonia UI and targeting Windows and Linux.
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Dark theme scraper showing:
Light theme media preview showing:
Gamelist Manager works with any system running EmulationStation that stores its data in the standard gamelist.xml format. The following systems have built-in templates, but require further testing.
| System | Notes |
|---|---|
| Batocera | Full support, default credentials pre-filled |
| Knulli | Full support |
| Recalbox | Full support |
| RetroPie | Full support |
| JELOS | Full support |
| ArkOS | Full support |
| RetroBat | Windows-local, no remote connection needed |
Any other EmulationStation-based system should work fine with a manual connection setup.
Profiles are the main way to manage multiple devices or configurations. Each profile is a separate settings file that stores its own connection details, ROM paths, media folder locations, and scraper preferences independently. You can switch between profiles from the navigation panel without restarting.
What a profile stores:
- Remote hostname, username, and password
- ROMs root folder path
- MAME executable path
- All media subfolder paths and filename suffixes
- Scraper service selection and credentials
- Behavioral settings (save reminder, bulk change confirmation, etc.)
Profile management:
- Create a blank profile or copy from the current active one
- Create from a system template to pre-fill connection settings automatically
- Rename or delete profiles at any time (the active profile and the last remaining profile cannot be deleted)
- Switch profiles instantly from the navigation flyout
Templates are stored in Ini/templates.ini and can be edited to add custom systems or pre-fill different defaults.
- Load, save, and reload
gamelist.xmlfiles - Sortable, resizable DataGrid with toggleable columns
- Edit any metadata field directly in the grid
- Undo/redo with a configurable history depth (WIP)
- Bulk operations on selected rows
- Genre and custom column filters (Needs more testing)
- Show All / Visible Only / Hidden Only display modes
- Stats bar showing total, filtered, visible, hidden, and favorite counts
- Duplicate ROM path detection when loading (WIP)
- Automatic backup created before each save
- Save reminder when closing with unsaved changes
Three scrapers are available. Each is configured separately per profile.
ArcadeDB - Free, no account required, arcade-focused. Supports batch scraping to process large lists quickly.
EmuMovies - Account required. Strong media library. Video downloads may require subscription.
ScreenScraper - Account required. Comprehensive multi-system database with language and region selection.
Scraper options per run:
- Scrape all games or selected rows only
- Overwrite existing name, metadata, and/or media independently
- Skip games not in cache, or scrape from cache only
- Configurable log verbosity (Minimal, Normal, Verbose) with optional timestamps
- 17 configurable media types: image, titleshot, marquee, wheel, thumbnail, cartridge, video, music, map, bezel, manual, fanart, boxart, boxback, magazine, mix
- Each type has its own subfolder path and optional filename suffix, all configurable per profile
- Inline media preview panel for images and video
- Right-click context menu on media paths: open, open with, open file location, copy path, clear, delete
- Optional image verification after download to catch corrupt files arcade ROM filenames to their proper full titles. This is used during scraping to improve match accuracy.
- Light and Dark themes with 11 accent color choices
- Adjustable global UI font size and DataGrid font size independently
- Layout scales proportionally with font size, including the nav panel, window dimensions, and icon buttons
- Alternating row colors and grid line visibility options for the DataGrid
- Column visibility and auto-fit state can optionally be remembered between sessions
| Platform | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Windows | None - self-contained single executable, no install needed |
| Linux | LibVLC required for video preview (see LINUX.md) |
