RetroAchievements ROM Scanner (ra-scan)

A command-line tool that scans your ROM library and matches each file with its corresponding RetroAchievements entry using the RetroAchievements API.

It calculates ROM hashes and compares them against the official RetroAchievements database to identify which games in your collection support achievements on RetroAchievements.

Useful for verifying large ROM collections and quickly identifying which games support RetroAchievements.

Supports ROM libraries for NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, PlayStation, and many other retro systems.

Contents

• Quick Start
• RetroAchievements API Key
• Download
• Usage
• Features
• Supported Systems
• Output
• Folder Structure
• Cache Structure
• Getting Started

Quick Start

Run the scanner without installing anything:

npx ra-scan -k YOUR_API_KEY ./ROMs/

RetroAchievements API Key

An API key is required to query the RetroAchievements database.

1. Create an account at https://retroachievements.org
2. Open your user settings
3. Generate an API key
4. Pass it to the scanner:

ra-scan -k YOUR_API_KEY ./ROMs/

Download

If you prefer to run the tool without Node.js, download a precompiled binary from Releases.

If you want to run it using Node.js, see the Getting Started section below.

We also provide an NPM package.

• Windows
• Linux

Usage

Usage: ra-scan [options] <roms>

Arguments:
  roms                 ROM folder to scan

Options:
  -V, --version        output the version number
  -k, --api-key <key>  RetroAchievements API key
  -C, --clear-cache    clear API and scan cache before scanning
  -H, --clear-history  clear stored ROM hash history
  -h, --help           display help for command

Examples:

Scan a folder:

ra-scan -k YOUR_API_KEY ./ROMs/

Clear cache + history and rescan:

ra-scan -k YOUR_API_KEY -C -H ./ROMs/

Windows:

.\ra-scan.exe -k YOUR_API_KEY ./ROMs/

Features

• Scans a ROM library and detects games that support RetroAchievements
• Uses the official RetroAchievements hash database
• Supports compressed disc formats such as .chd and .rvz
• Automatically detects console from folder name or file extension
• Caches RetroAchievements console and game data
• Caches previously calculated ROM hashes for faster rescans
• Generates lists of supported and unsupported games
• Detects duplicate games

Supported Systems

System	Formats
NES	.nes
SNES	.sfc, .smc
Nintendo 64	.n64, .z64, .v64
Game Boy / Color	.gb, .gbc
Game Boy Advance	.gba
Nintendo DS / DSi	.nds
Nintendo GameCube	.iso, .rvz
Nintendo Wii	.iso, .rvz
PlayStation	.bin, .cue, .chd
PlayStation 2	.iso, .chd
PlayStation Portable	.iso, .cso
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive	.gen, .md, .bin
Sega Master System	.sms

And more systems supported by RetroAchievements.

Output

The script will:

• Scan all ROM files inside the ROMs directory
• Detect the console for each ROM
• Calculate the RetroAchievements hash
• Compare the hash against the official database
• Cache API responses locally
• Cache calculated ROM hashes
• Output supported and unsupported games
• Duplicate ROMs are automatically detected and reported
• Display total supported games
• Save results to text files

Example output:

ra-scan -k YOUR_API_KEY ./ROMs/

✅ NES      Super Mario Bros. (World).nes -> Super Mario Bros.
🔄 SNES     Chrono Trigger (USA).sfc -> Hashing...
❌ SNES     Super Mario World (Europe).sfc -> Not supported

Scan complete

Supported games: 200
Unsupported games: 10

Folder Structure

ROMs/
 ├─ NES/
 │   └─ Super Mario Bros. (World).nes
 ├─ SNES/
 │   └─ Chrono Trigger (USA).sfc
 ├─ NDS/
 │   └─ New Super Mario Bros. (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It).nds
 ├─ GC/
 │   └─ Animal Crossing (USA, Canada).rvz
 └─ PSX/
     └─ Final Fantasy VII (USA) (Disc 1).chd

Cache Structure

~/.cache/ra-scan-nodejs/
 ├─ api/      RetroAchievements API data
 ├─ scan/     scan results
 └─ history/  previously calculated ROM hashes

Location may vary depending on your operating system.

Getting Started

Install with Node.js

Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/TheDragonary/RetroAchievements-ROM-Scanner.git

Install dependencies

npm install

Run the script

npm run start -- -k YOUR_API_KEY ./ROMs/