Cyberpunk 2077 Vortex extension for Linux (Proton / SteamTinkerLaunch)

A Vortex game extension for Cyberpunk 2077 that works when Vortex itself runs inside a Wine/Proton prefix, e.g. launched through SteamTinkerLaunch on Linux Mint.

Why the community extension crashes here

The official/community extension discovers the game with Vortex's GameStoreHelper.findByAppId(...). Inside a Proton prefix that helper reads the Windows Steam client's config:

ENOENT: no such file or directory, open 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\libraryfolders.vdf'

SteamTinkerLaunch puts steamclient.dll and friends into C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam inside the prefix, but never writes config\libraryfolders.vdf — the real Steam libraries are native Linux directories such as /home/<user>/.steam/steam and /mnt/<disk>/SteamLibrary. The read throws, nothing catches it, and Vortex reports it as unrecoverable error in the renderer, taking the whole UI down.

This extension fixes both halves of that:

1. Own discovery. It never calls GameStoreHelper. It reads the real Linux Steam configuration through Wine's Z: drive (which maps /), parses libraryfolders.vdf and appmanifest_1091500.acf, and verifies bin/x64/Cyberpunk2077.exe before reporting a game path.
2. Prefix repair. It recreates the missing C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\libraryfolders.vdf inside the prefix, pointing at the real libraries as Z:\... paths. That stops Vortex core's own Steam scan from crashing, which also unbreaks other extensions. An existing file is never overwritten unless you ask for it.

Requirements

• Vortex running in a Wine/Proton prefix (tested with the SteamTinkerLaunch Vortex prefix at ~/.config/steamtinkerlaunch/vortex/compatdata/pfx)
• Node.js 22+ on the Linux side, to build and install
• Cyberpunk 2077 installed through Steam

Install

npm install
tools/install-extension.sh

The script builds dist/, copies it to <prefix>/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Roaming/Vortex/plugins/game-cyberpunk2077-linux/, and repairs the prefix's libraryfolders.vdf. Restart Vortex afterwards and manage Cyberpunk 2077 (Linux/Proton).

Options:

Flag	Effect
--prefix <path>	Use a different Wine prefix (default: the SteamTinkerLaunch Vortex prefix)
--force-shim	Rewrite libraryfolders.vdf even if one already exists
--disable-bundled	Rename Vortex's bundled game-cyberpunk2077 stub to .disabled, so only this extension offers Cyberpunk

Repairing the prefix alone, without installing the extension:

node scripts/repair-prefix.mjs --dry-run   # show what would be written
node scripts/repair-prefix.mjs             # write it

Run the repair before starting Vortex if Vortex currently dies on launch.

Uninstall

rm -rf "$HOME/.config/steamtinkerlaunch/vortex/compatdata/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Roaming/Vortex/plugins/game-cyberpunk2077-linux"

The libraryfolders.vdf shim can stay — Vortex core needs it. Delete it with:

rm "$HOME/.config/steamtinkerlaunch/vortex/compatdata/pfx/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Steam/config/libraryfolders.vdf"

Configuration

Set CYBERPUNK2077_PATH to a Linux path to skip Steam discovery entirely, for example a GOG copy:

CYBERPUNK2077_PATH=/mnt/games/GOG/Cyberpunk 2077

The variable has to be visible to the Vortex process inside the prefix, so set it in the SteamTinkerLaunch launch options for Vortex, not just in your shell.

Game id and Nexus downloads

The extension registers the game id cyberpunk2077linux, deliberately different from the bundled cyberpunk2077 stub so the two can coexist. nexusPageId is still cyberpunk2077, so mod pages and nxm:// downloads from the Cyberpunk Nexus section resolve normally.

Mod layouts handled

The installer routes archive contents to the right place and strips wrapper folders such as Cool Mod v1.2/:

Archive contains	Installed to
a game-root tree (archive/, bin/, r6/, red4ext/, mods/, engine/)	the game directory, wrapper folder stripped
loose .archive / .archive.xl files	archive\pc\mod\
init.lua plus its folder	bin\x64\plugins\cyber_engine_tweaks\mods\<folder>\
loose .reds files	r6\scripts\<mod name>\
info.json plus archives/ (REDmod)	mods\<folder>\
a bare .dll	red4ext\plugins\<mod name>\
anything else	copied verbatim, so nothing is silently dropped

Files that sit beside a detected game-root tree (readmes, screenshots) are left out of the deployment.

Launching the game

Start Cyberpunk 2077 from Steam as usual. Vortex runs in its own prefix, so its "launch game" button would start the executable in the wrong prefix; the extension registers the executable for detection only.

Development

npm test          # unit tests (vitest)
npm run typecheck # tsc --noEmit
npm run build     # bundle to dist/
node scripts/smoke-load.cjs   # load the built bundle with a stubbed vortex-api

The logic is split so it can be tested without Vortex or Wine:

File	Responsibility
src/vdf.ts	Valve KeyValues parser/serialiser
src/winePath.ts	Linux ⇄ Z: path translation, separator-aware joins
src/discovery.ts	Steam roots, library folders, app install dir, game verification
src/steamShim.ts	Builds and writes the libraryfolders.vdf shim
src/installer.ts	Maps a mod archive's file list to install instructions
src/gameart.ts	Generates the tile artwork and encodes it as a PNG
src/index.ts	Vortex registration glue (the only file that touches vortex-api)

Regenerating the artwork after editing src/gameart.ts:

npm run gameart   # rewrites assets/gameart.png

npm run build renders the same image straight into dist/, so the two never drift; the render is deterministic, so rebuilds produce byte-identical output.

Licence and trademarks

Public domain, released under the Unlicense - see LICENSE. Copy it, change it, ship it, sell it, no attribution needed.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a trademark of CD PROJEKT S.A.; this is an unofficial modding tool with no affiliation to CD PROJEKT S.A. or Nexus Mods. No game or Nexus assets are redistributed here - the tile artwork is generated by src/gameart.ts and is covered by the same public domain dedication.