The TUI

Run rommate without arguments to open the TUI. It is built to be used with a controller from the couch, and works just as well with a keyboard.

Tabs

Library

Every platform on your server with a downloaded/total count. Open a platform to see its games: ✓ means the game is on this device, ↓ that it is downloading and • that it is queued. The details pane shows the size, the file name and where the game will be stored.

Downloads

The queue: the running download with speed and time left, queued games in order, failed downloads with their error, and what finished recently. Cancelled downloads keep their partial file and resume next time.

Saves

Every downloaded game with the state of its save: ✓ when it has one, ! when it changed on this device and on RomM since the last sync (a conflict), · when there is no save yet, and ? when no supported emulator is installed for it. Press Y to sync now, or A on a conflict to choose which version to keep. See Save sync.

Settings

Change rommate’s options with the controller: footer hints, asking before quitting, automatic save sync, cover art and direct controller input. Changes are saved to config.toml right away, keeping your comments. Below the options you see the server, ROM and media folders, the config file and the version.

While something downloads, a bar at the bottom shows its progress on every tab, like Steam does.

Search

Press / to search (keyboard only).

• On the platform list, / searches games on every platform through RomM. Results show their platform, and you download them as usual.
• Inside a platform, / filters its games as you type. Every word must match the game name or file name, in any order: zelda link finds A Link Between Worlds.

Enter keeps the results and moves to the list; Esc clears the search. With a search active, Y downloads all missing games that match.

Shortcuts

Press ? or Select to see these in the app. The footer always shows the actions that fit the selected item.

Controller setup

On Linux, rommate reads controllers directly, so no extra setup is needed: started from Steam with the default gamepad layout (for example with the Decky plugin’s Open rommate button), the D-pad, A/B/X/Y, L1/R1, Select and Start just work. Holding a direction on the D-pad repeats it. Your user needs read access to /dev/input/event*, which it has on SteamOS-style systems through the input group. Run rommate gamepad to see which controllers rommate finds and how it reads each button.

If you prefer a Steam Input keyboard layout instead (or on macOS and Windows), map the buttons to these keys. rommate notices when a key arrives right after the same controller press and ignores the duplicate. To switch direct controller input off, set gamepad = "off".

Keyboard or controller hints

The footer shows either keyboard keys or controller buttons. With hints = "auto" (the default), rommate shows controller buttons when Steam started it or as soon as you press a controller button, and keyboard keys otherwise. Set hints = "keyboard" or hints = "controller" in the configuration to force one.