marcoallegretti/a-la-karte
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a-la-karte/README.md
Marco Allegretti 7858f76c7a Docs: Update build instructions 
Document SDL3 as a required dependency and describe how to build the
project with kde-builder.

Also consolidate the repo-local config as kde-builder.yaml (without the
leading dot) so it is recognized consistently.
2026-01-24 13:56:51 +01:00

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A-La-Karte

KDE Frameworks 6 Qt 6 License: GPL v3

A unified game launcher for KDE Plasma 6, inspired by KDE Apps Initiative issue#26.

Features

  • Import games from Steam, Lutris, Heroic, Bottles, itch.io, Legendary, RetroArch playlists, Flatpak applications, and desktop entries
  • Manual game entries with editable metadata (name, developer/publisher, executable, working directory)
  • Grid and list views
  • Search by name/developer/publisher and filter by source
  • Favorites and hidden games views
  • Last-played timestamp
  • Optional SteamGridDB cover fetching (requires API key)
  • Optional KRunner integration (if KF6Runner is available at build time)
  • Gamepad navigation (via SDL3)

Requirements

Build Dependencies

  • CMake >= 3.20
  • Qt >= 6.6
  • KDE Frameworks >= 6.0
    • Kirigami
    • KI18n
    • KCoreAddons
    • KConfig
  • Extra CMake Modules (ECM)
  • SDL3

Runtime Dependencies

  • Qt 6 (Core, Quick, QuickControls2, Gui, Network, Concurrent)
  • Kirigami 6
  • KDE Frameworks 6

Optional

  • Steam (for Steam game import)
  • Lutris (for Lutris game import)
  • Heroic Games Launcher (for Epic/GOG/Amazon game import)
  • Bottles (for Windows apps via Wine)
  • itch.io app (for itch.io games)
  • Legendary CLI (for Epic Games)
  • RetroArch (for retro games via playlists)

Building

Using kde-builder (Recommended)

This project is not currently part of KDE's repo-metadata, so you need to add it as a custom project in your ~/.config/kde-builder.yaml.

  1. Set up kde-builder:
  2. Install distro build dependencies:
kde-builder --install-distro-packages
  1. Add a project entry to ~/.config/kde-builder.yaml:
project alakarte:
  repository: https://invent.kde.org/marcoa/a-la-karte.git
  cmake-options: -DALAKARTE_SDL3_SOURCE_DIR=/path/to/SDL
  1. Build:
kde-builder alakarte

To run the built app:

kde-builder --run alakarte

Manual Build

cmake -B build -S . -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr
cmake --build build
cmake --install build

Development Build

cmake -B build -S . -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build
./build/bin/alakarte

Usage

  1. Launch A-La-Karte from your application menu or run alakarte
  2. If your library is empty, the import dialog opens automatically
  3. Import games from your supported platforms
  4. Your games will appear in the library grid
  5. Select a game to see details, double-click or press Play to launch

Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Ctrl+F: Focus search field
  • Ctrl+N: Add new game
  • Ctrl+I: Open import dialog
  • Ctrl+,: Open settings
  • Ctrl+H: Toggle hidden games view
  • Ctrl+D: Show game details
  • F5: Refresh/import all games
  • Escape: Close dialog/sheet or clear search
  • Enter/Space: Select/launch game in grid

Gamepad Controls

  • D-pad / Left Stick: Navigate grid
  • A Button: Select/launch game
  • B Button: Back/close dialog
  • Start: Open settings
  • Y Button: Focus search

Supported Platforms

Steam

A-La-Karte automatically detects Steam installations at:

  • ~/.steam/steam
  • ~/.local/share/Steam
  • Flatpak: ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam

All library folders are scanned for installed games.

Lutris

Games are imported from:

  • ~/.local/share/lutris
  • Flatpak: ~/.var/app/net.lutris.Lutris/data/lutris

Uses the Lutris CLI when available for best results.

Heroic Games Launcher

Supports Epic Games, GOG, and Amazon Games via Heroic:

  • ~/.config/heroic
  • Flatpak: ~/.var/app/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl/config/heroic

Bottles

Windows applications via Wine:

  • ~/.local/share/bottles
  • Flatpak: ~/.var/app/com.usebottles.bottles/data/bottles

itch.io

Games installed via the itch.io app:

  • ~/.config/itch/db/butler.db
  • Flatpak: ~/.var/app/io.itch.itch/config/itch/db/butler.db

Legendary

Epic Games via Legendary CLI:

  • ~/.config/legendary

RetroArch

Retro games from RetroArch playlists:

  • ~/.config/retroarch/playlists
  • Flatpak: ~/.var/app/org.libretro.RetroArch/config/retroarch/playlists

Desktop Entries

Games from XDG .desktop files in standard application directories.

Flatpak Games

Games installed as Flatpak applications (detected by category).

Configuration

Settings are stored in ~/.config/alakarterc and include:

  • View mode (Grid/List)
  • Grid size
  • Platform badge visibility
  • Auto-import on startup
  • Enabled import sources

Game library is stored in ~/.local/share/alakarte/library.json.

Code Overview

  • Application entry point: src/main.cpp
  • Core singleton: src/app.* exposes models/services to QML (game model, launcher, config, SteamGridDB)
  • Data model:
    • src/game.* stores per-game metadata
    • src/gamemodel.* and src/gamesortfiltermodel.* provide sorting/filtering for the UI
  • Importers: src/*importer.* (Steam/Lutris/Heroic/etc.)
  • Launcher: src/gamelauncher.* launches processes/URLs and records last-played on launch
  • UI: src/qml/ (Kirigami + Qt Quick)

Local Smoke Testing (Repeatable)

If you want to test without affecting your real configuration/library, run with isolated XDG directories:

export XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$(mktemp -d)"
export XDG_DATA_HOME="$(mktemp -d)"
./build/bin/alakarte

Suggested quick checks:

  1. Add a manual entry with a harmless command (e.g. true or sleep 2) and launch it.
  2. Confirm Last played updates after launch.
  3. Toggle favorite/hidden and confirm filtering works.
  4. Open the import sheet and run an import; confirm it completes and does not crash even if sources are missing.
  5. (Optional) Create a temporary .desktop file under $XDG_DATA_HOME/applications/ and verify the Desktop Entries importer detects it.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see the KDE development guidelines.

Getting Started

  1. Set up your development environment: https://develop.kde.org/docs/getting-started/building/kde-builder-setup/
  2. Clone the repository
  3. Build and test your changes
  4. Submit a merge request

Code Style

This project follows KDE coding conventions:

License

A-La-Karte is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.

See LICENSES/GPL-3.0-or-later.txt for the full license text.

Links