contribute

Add a recipe

Git is the database and the moderation queue. A recipe is one TOML file; contributing is a pull request — which keeps the book free to host, trivially mirrorable, and reviewed before anything lands. You don't need to know git, though:

The honest rule

status is mandatory and starts at unverified. A recipe is only working once you've run it on a real Deck and recorded the SteamOS build in verified_on. Never upgrade a status you haven't personally confirmed — the book's only value is that its statuses are trustworthy.

The flow

1. Copy recipes/_template.toml to recipes/<slug>.toml — the slug is the filename, lowercase with hyphens.
2. Fill in [game], [launch], and — for Windows titles — [proton].
3. Set an honest status, and add caveats — the one thing the next person needs to know.
4. Open a pull request. CI validates the recipe; a failing recipe blocks the build.

What a finished recipe looks like

One TOML file — that's the whole thing. The two highlighted lines are the rules that make the book worth trusting.

[game]
title       = "Mighty Fight Forever"        # shown in Game Mode
slug        = "mighty-fight-forever"        # = the filename
aliases     = ["MFF"]                       # extra search terms
type        = "proton"                      # proton | native
engine      = "other"
steam_appid = ""
sgdb_id     = "10045"                       # SteamGridDB art id

[launch]
binary         = "MightyFight.exe"          # the file Steam runs
launch_options = "%command%"
requires_files = []

[proton]
version    = "GE-Proton"                     # which build — see /proton-packs
winetricks = ["vcrun2022"]
notes      = "Force fullscreen in the options menu."

[art]
cover = "auto"                              # hero/logo/icon too — art is fetched by name

[meta]
status        = "needs-test"   # never "working" unless YOU ran it on a Deck
verified_on   = ""
contributor   = "you"
protondb_tier = "gold"          # community hint, kept separate from status
caveats       = "Bring your own copy — config only, never a download link."

Links, not files — and ProtonDB tiers

A recipe can carry outbound links so the site never has to host anything: a SteamGridDB page where users pick their own artwork, a ProtonDB report, and any number of community guides (Reddit threads, blog posts, videos). For Steam games you can record the cached ProtonDB medal — a community rating shown separately from this recipe's own status:

Two hard lines