🧩 Proton-Autogen — Run Windows EXE Files on Linux with Proton or Wine

Proton-autogen automatically creates and configures Proton environments for Windows games and applications, applying optimized settings for the best compatibility.

Proton-autogen is a lightweight Proton/Wine orchestration layer that allows Linux users to run Windows applications from .exe files without manually managing Steam shortcuts or Wine prefixes.

Run Windows executables through Proton with zero Steam configuration.

✨ Why Proton-Autogen?

Run Windows applications on Linux with less setup and fewer manual steps.

• 🚀 One-Click Launching — Launch Windows .exe files directly from your file manager.
• 🖱️ Drag-and-Drop Support — Drop .exe files directly into the graphical interface to start the launch workflow.
• 🔍 Automatic Runtime Detection — Automatically detect available Proton installations and simplify runtime selection.
• 🎮 Proton & Wine Support — Launch Windows applications using Proton or Wine, depending on your configuration.
• 🖥️ Desktop Integration — Seamlessly integrate with Nemo, Nautilus, and Dolphin for a smoother Linux desktop experience.
• ⚙️ Custom Launch Profiles — Configure and manage application-specific launch settings.
• 📥 Game & Configuration Import — Import supported games and configurations through the command line, graphical interface (UX), or Console UI, including supported sources such as Lutris
• 💾 Game Save Management — Manage and preserve game saves and related data as part of your gaming workflow.
• 🎨 Improved User Experience — Benefit from interface refinements, consistent theming, and improved keyboard accessibility.
• 🛠️ Built-in Diagnostics — Generate diagnostic reports to help troubleshoot launch issues.
• 🪄 Less Manual Configuration — Automate repetitive setup tasks and spend less time configuring your environment.
• 🐧 Linux-Native Experience — Bring Windows application launching into your existing Linux workflow.

🚀 Overview

Proton-Autogen automatically detects available Proton installations, configures the required runtime environment, and launches Windows applications using Proton with Wine fallback support.

No manual Steam shortcut creation or prefix configuration is required.

Simply:

• Right-click a .exe
• Select Open with Proton-Autogen
• Launch the application

✨ Features

See an example of generated profiles here: Profile Output Example See more info: Features

Integration - Nautilus, Nemo, Dolphin

Open with Proton-Autogen

🧪 Usage

Terminal

proton-autogen game.exe

Graphical interface:

proton-autogen --ux

🛠️ Troubleshooting

If an application does not launch, generate a diagnostic report:

proton-autogen --diag

Example Output:

📦 Downloads

Latest releases are available on GitHub:

• Debian / Ubuntu: .deb package
• Source installation: install.sh
• Arch Linux / CachyOS: AUR

📦 Installation & Updates

📦 Arch Linux / CachyOS users: Proton-Autogen is now available on the AUR.

Install it with:

paru -S proton-autogen

Ubuntu / Linux Mint / Pop!_OS (Recommended)

The recommended installation method is the official Proton-Autogen PPA.

Recommended installation (Ubuntu / Linux Mint / Pop!_OS)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:n3oray/proton-autogen
sudo apt update
sudo apt install proton-autogen

Debian / Ubuntu-based distributions (.deb package)

Download the latest .deb release from GitHub:

sudo apt install ./proton-autogen_*.deb

Build Debian package manually

git clone https://github.com/N3oRay/proton-autogen.git
cd proton-autogen
dpkg-buildpackage -b -us -uc
sudo apt install ../proton-autogen_*.deb

See the manual :

Installation guide:

Review the installer before running it

less install.sh

Uninstallation guide:

Install manual (Arch,Endeavouros,Cachyos,Garuda,Manjaro,Arcolinux,Rebornos,Debian,Ubuntu,Linuxmint,Pop,Elementary,Zorin,Fedora,Nobara)

git clone https://github.com/N3oRay/proton-autogen.git
cd proton-autogen
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

• /usr/bin/proton-autogen
• Integrated with Nemo (Cinnamon), Nautilus (GNOME), and Dolphin (KDE Plasma).

Flatpak

Proton-Autogen is also available as a Flatpak.

For installation from source, see:

Flatpak installation guide

Config

cat ~/.config/proton-autogen/proton-autogen.conf
ls ~/.config/proton-autogen/games

⚠️ Requirements

Required

• Python 3.x
• A working Proton installation

~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d
~/.steam/debian-installation/compatibilitytools.d
~/.local/share/Steam/compatibilitytools.d

Optional

• GameMode - MangoHud - GameScope
• Proton-CachyOS / GE-Proton
• ProtonUp-Qt

sudo apt install gamemode mangohud

🧠 How It Works

1. Detect available Proton installations
2. Prefer GE-Proton when available
3. Launch executable through Proton
4. Fall back to Wine if Proton runtime tools are unavailable
5. Optionally enable GameMode

🚧 Known Limitations

• Not every Windows application works under Proton
• Some launchers require additional configuration
• Proton compatibility depends on the selected Proton version
• Certain applications may still require Wine tweaks

🛣️ Roadmap

🤝 Contributing

Bug reports, feature requests, and contributions are welcome.

Please use GitHub Issues for discussions and reports.

👤 Author

N3oray

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

📈 Project Activity

Activity info

❤️ Support Proton-Autogen

Proton-Autogen is free and open source. Your support helps me continue development, improve compatibility, and maintain the project.

☕ Support me on Ko-fi

Thank you! ❤️