Getting started

Install rommate

The script picks the right binary for your system, checks its SHA-256 checksum and installs it to ~/.local/bin:

curl -fsSL https://arunoruto.github.io/rommate/install.sh | sh

Set ROMMATE_VERSION=v0.1.0 to install a specific release, or ROMMATE_INSTALL_DIR to install somewhere else. The script is in the repository if you want to read it first.

bin by Marcos Nils is a small, excellent manager for binaries from GitHub releases. It picks the right file for your system and can update rommate later:

bin install github.com/arunoruto/rommate
bin update rommate

Download the binary for your device from the latest release:

Device	Asset
Linux ARM64: Armada and other ARM handhelds	`rommate-linux-arm64`
Linux x86-64: Steam Deck, Steam Machine, PCs	`rommate-linux-amd64`
macOS on Apple Silicon	`rommate-darwin-arm64`
Windows x86-64 (untested)	`rommate-windows-amd64.exe`

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
curl -fL -o ~/.local/bin/rommate \
https://github.com/arunoruto/rommate/releases/latest/download/rommate-linux-arm64
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/rommate

On macOS, run xattr -d com.apple.quarantine rommate if Gatekeeper blocks the unsigned binary. Each release has a checksums.txt with SHA-256 sums.

Check it works with rommate --version.

Create a RomM API token

In RomM, open Administration → Client API Tokens and create a token for your device. It starts with rmm_.

rommate only needs to read your library. Give the token the read scopes for ROMs and platforms.

Connect rommate to RomM

rommate init --server https://romm.example.com --token rmm_…

init checks that it can reach your server before it saves anything to ~/.config/rommate/config.toml. It also prints where your games will go. With ES-DE, rommate reads the ROM folder from ES-DE’s own settings, so on most devices there is nothing else to configure. See Configuration for EmuDeck, RetroDECK and custom folders.

Download a game

Start the TUI with rommate, open a platform with A (Enter) and press A again on a game. The download bar at the bottom shows its progress. Press Select (?) at any time for the list of shortcuts.

Prefer the command line?

rommate platforms              # what's on the server
rommate roms 3ds               # games of a platform
rommate pull 42                # download a game by id
rommate pull --platform gba    # everything you don't have yet

Playing in Steam’s Game Mode

Add rommate to Steam as a non-Steam game so you can open it from Game Mode:

In Desktop Mode, open Steam and choose Add a Game → Add a Non-Steam Game.
Browse to a terminal such as Konsole and add it. In its properties, set the launch options to -e rommate.
Give the controller a layout that maps the buttons to keys: see the TUI page.

When Steam starts rommate, the footer automatically shows controller buttons instead of keys.

Last updated on October 12, 2026

The TUI