Proton-Cli is a tool that helps you run proton outside of steam. It can manage everything you need to run windows software on linux: Proton, Steam Runtime, Wine prefixes. Then it wraps everything up and runs your software with a lot of features i can't list here!

Note: This project has been vibecoded (meaning the code was written by AI) but every other thing (debugging, testing, distrubuting, commiting) is maintained by me. This is a passion/hobby project and i do not gain anything from your usage of this tool.

Install .deb file through the Releases page and open it. (If you don't have a graphical installer run this command)

sudo dpkg -i proton-cli.deb # Change the .deb file's name to the version you downloaded

Install .rpm file through the Releases page and open it. (If you don't have a graphical installer run this command)

sudo dnf install ./proton-cli.rpm # Change the .rpm file's name to the version you downloaded

For example for Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S python-pipx

Download source code through Releases page and run this command inside source folder:

pipx install .

If you already have Proton installed via steam, heroic or lutris, run:

proton-cli check

This command will scan specific directories for proton installations and steam runtime installations to save it for later use. If you installed proton in another specific directory there will be an option to manually enter it. If multiple Proton versions are found, you’ll be prompted to choose one. If you don't have steam runtime installed, applications will run with system libraries(This means some performance problems/bugs can happen. Steam runtime is recommended but optional)

If you don’t have Proton installed, simply run:

proton-cli pull-proton

This command automatically downloads the latest GE-Proton release

If you don’t have Proton installed, simply run:

proton-cli pull-runtime

This command automatically downloads the latest Steam runtime sniper release.

To run a .exe file:

proton-cli run /path/to/file.exe

This will create a new prefix automatically if one doesn’t exist and ask for environment variables if you would like one. If you want a shortcut (.desktop file) you may add one or update an already existing one.

For full command reference:

proton-cli help

One of the reason i made proton-cli was because i wanted make a lightweight tool unlike some heavy one (like bottles). That's why instead of a GUI app i made it cli (it is still easy to use though). I would like to make GUI but i still think there are more stuff that needs to be added to the tool.

Proton-cli is an all in one tool meaning it does everything from managing prefixes, managing protons, running applications and a lot more. Also this tool was made with end-user in mind.

Right now proton-cli has native installations for debian and fedora. There will be more install methods for distros. (AUR, void linux, gentoo etc.)