Loadstone

Your next playthrough, ready.

A Windows developer preview of a curated Bethesda modlist installer, built with Svelte 5, TypeScript, and Electron. A carved copper mark, charcoal panels and original illustrative artwork carry Loadstone's visual identity.

The screenshot records an earlier preview. Current source uses the refined shared brand mark.

Picking up development later? Read HANDOFF.md for the verified checkpoint, remaining implementation work and manual human-testing checklist.

Windows preview

Build the current 0.4.0 native installation preview with pnpm package, then run release/Loadstone-0.4.0-Windows.exe. The portable executable needs no Node.js, pnpm or installation wizard to run. It is unsigned and has not been published as a new hosted release. The existing private v0.1.0 release is the older demo-only build. See private preview packaging for isolated output folders, exact source archives and verification.

Run locally

Requires Node.js 22+ and pnpm 11+.

pnpm install
pnpm start

pnpm check     # Svelte and TypeScript diagnostics
pnpm test      # State-engine tests and real Electron end-to-end tests
pnpm package   # Portable Windows x64 executable in release/

To test the actual packaged application and portable wrapper:

$env:LOADSTONE_TEST_EXE = "$PWD\release\win-unpacked\Loadstone.exe"
node --test tests/electron.test.mjs
Remove-Item Env:\LOADSTONE_TEST_EXE
node scripts/verify-portable.mjs

See the review checklist and verification notes.

Handbook

Run pnpm handbook:dev and open http://127.0.0.1:4174 for the local Svelte handbook. It includes player setup and recovery guides, creator workflows, the native format, architecture, release status and contribution guidance, with local search and mobile navigation. pnpm handbook:build creates a static site in handbook/dist/; pnpm handbook:preview serves it locally. These commands do not publish it.

The site reads canonical Markdown directly. Start with the handbook, the repository agent guide, or the complete generated agent edition. After documentation changes, run pnpm handbook:sync, then pnpm handbook:check and pnpm handbook:test. See handbook maintenance.

Review the MVP

1. Browse Discover; filter by game or search for a setup.
2. Open setup details, then Install setup. Choose an installation plan and start the demo.
3. Pause, resume, cancel, or retry in Downloads. A complete demo takes approximately 20 seconds.
4. Open My library to launch a demo session, verify the simulated profile, or remove it.
5. On first run, choose Set up real installations, then Open .loadstone in Discover. The guide requests the package’s games, source archives and prepared files; local-only packages need no Wabbajack engine or Nexus connection. Wabbajack setups use the separate manifest import and engine in Settings. Choose Explore the demo for the fictional catalog. Switch modes later with Use dummy data in Settings. Your choice, reduced motion, shortcut preferences, and folder selection persist.
6. Export a privacy-conscious diagnostic summary or reset the demo workspace from Settings. Raw installation output remains local in Downloads.

The demo catalog, requirements, installation sizes, profile validation, launch, and shortcut creation are simulated. Demo mode does not download mods, launch game processes, change game files, or modify Steam. Turning demo mode off prevents demo mutations in the main process as well as hiding sample data in the renderer.

Current source also supports a separate live manifest catalog, Steam game discovery, manual game selection, SHA-256 compatibility checks, destination/storage preflight, and a Wabbajack installation runner with saved jobs, cancellation and retry. See manifest requirements and installation behavior and limits. Controlled process tests pass; a full real modlist installation has not yet been verified. Live library launch, profile checks, and desktop/Steam shortcut creation and repair are implemented. Steam integration still needs actual-client acceptance testing. The existing v0.1.0 release predates these features.

Settings now prepares a pinned official Wabbajack runtime, with download/cancel/repair controls, archive and full runtime integrity checks, and a real CLI capability check. See runtime integration notes. Preparing the engine does not install a modlist.

Settings also validates a Nexus personal API key for private testing, stores it with Windows encryption, and displays account membership and the last verification time. Account integration notes describe credential handling and installation requirements. This is not yet a registered public Nexus application.

Creator tooling can inventory an installed MO2 setup and compare original archives without changing it and compile or inspect the documented native .loadstone package format. Settings → Native package preview checks a selected package and shows its required games, sources, profile and save guidance. Reconstruct a local candidate reviews private local inputs, optionally acquires declared original archives, and builds copy and ZIP/7z/RAR-extract recipes into a new folder with final-file hashing, cancellation and durable history. Recipes can generate MO2 configuration for that destination without importing account data. Native reconstruction remains experimental: real provider/account acceptance, complete profile/tool configuration, real repair/launch acceptance is unfinished. Verified candidates can be explicitly reviewed and registered through My library → Add native candidate, with recipe verification, isolated-profile launch and Desktop/Steam shortcut controls. Native removal preserves saves, configuration, modified files and untracked content in a recovery folder and supports retry. Interrupted builds can be reviewed and resumed, reusing matching files and retaining conflicting files before reconstruction. Native updates can build a separate version, retaining the original playthrough. Actual install-to-play and version-to-version gameplay acceptance remain unfinished. The featured lists are not publication-ready.

Players can now use Discover → Open .loadstone for guided native installation: select owned games, prepared prerequisites and original archives without creating an inputs JSON. Downloads shows measured progress, cancellation and resume, then offers explicit review of the completed folder for My library. This uses the same builder and verification rules as the creator tools. Draft selections last until app restart; gameplay and provider/client acceptance remain open.

The real TTW acceptance record now includes direct launch to the main menu and a verified Steam game-recording export after a normal Steam restart. Gameplay, save/reload, controller and clean-machine acceptance remain unfinished. See Steam startup guidance for the observed load error and recovery steps.

Manual Nexus downloads open each declared file page in the default browser and verify the downloaded original before selection, with byte progress and cancellation. Browser mode tracks pending files and requires all Nexus selections before installation review; existing cache files can be explicitly checked too. Automatic Nexus downloads still require fresh Premium access. Real account/website acceptance and public API registration remain open.

Recipes can also reconstruct exact loose files from BSA 104 containers inside original ZIP/7z/RAR downloads. Each archive, container and inner file has an explicit fingerprint; temporary staging, cancellation, resume and repair preserve the existing installation checks. The BSA mapper records exact nested-source chains in private creator ledgers. Generated-content reproduction and complete featured recipes remain unfinished.

Persistence and desktop behavior

My library → Repair native setup now offers same-version native repair. It keeps matching files, restores missing/damaged recipe outputs, retains replaced originals and preserves existing profiles/configuration by default. A separate option restores recipe configuration too. Interrupted repairs require fresh review and keep library launch disabled. Install another version creates a separate setup with fresh recipe settings, preserving the original playthrough. Real gameplay acceptance remains open.

Settings and demo state live in %APPDATA%\Loadstone\state.json in the packaged app. Active demo installs are restored paused after a restart. Disabling demo mode preserves its state and pauses its jobs. Resetting demo data preserves preferences. Unreadable demo state is backed up before recovery. Live jobs are saved separately in live-jobs.json; interrupted live installations require a Windows restart before retry. Native Windows folder/save dialogs, window controls, a single-instance guard, and offline artwork are included.

For isolated automated testing, set LOADSTONE_DATA_DIR to a dedicated directory. Never point it at a directory whose files you need to preserve.

Architecture

• src/: Svelte interface, catalog, styling, and typed desktop bridge.
• electron/main.cjs: native window, validated IPC, dialogs, and state notifications.
• electron/preload.cjs: limited context-isolated bridge; no arbitrary filesystem/process access.
• electron/store.cjs: persistent simulated installation state machine.
• electron/manifest.cjs, game-discovery.cjs, live-catalog.cjs: live setup validation, local game discovery, and filesystem preflight.
• electron/installer.cjs: durable live jobs, engine process control, credential handoff, and structural profile verification.
• tests/electron.test.mjs: real Electron workflows and backend invariants.
• public/worlds.png: original AI-generated triptych for the three fictional setups.
• public/brand/mark.svg: shared editable mark for the app, handbook and generated artwork.
• scripts/create-icon.mjs: desktop SVG/PNG/ICO generator using the locked Electron renderer.
• handbook/: local Svelte documentation site and generated agent edition.

Real install-to-play, Steam-client and save-preservation acceptance remain necessary before a public installer release. The 1.0 acceptance plan tracks the complete release requirements, including open-source documentation, license review and notices.

Distribution

Loadstone's original source code is publicly available under GPL-3.0-or-later: GNU GPL version 3 or, at your option, any later version. See the full license and copyright/scope notice. Public source availability does not certify a supported binary release or grant rights to game files and third-party mods. No Wabbajack or MO2 application source is incorporated in this preview; third-party packages retain their respective licenses. The portable Windows preview is unsigned and is not a Steam release.

See contributor setup, security reporting, privacy and local data, and open-source publication gates. New packages carry Loadstone's license and scope notice under resources/licenses/, alongside generated third-party notices and the dependency inventory. The About screen displays the license offline. The shipped dependency inventory currently has no missing license texts. It covers bundled renderer code, main-process dependencies and Electron; excluded build tools, artwork/branding and distribution rights still require review. Licensing Loadstone does not license third-party mods or game files.

For a separate unpacked Windows Steam depot preview, run pnpm package:steam. See Steam packaging and acceptance for file verification, packaged-executable tests, templates and remaining submission gates. This command does not upload or publish.

See 0.4.0 release notes for implemented creator/live features and outstanding release gates.