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Getting started

Install

cd packaging/arch && makepkg -si     # tagged release
# or the rolling build:  cd packaging/aur && makepkg -si
git clone https://github.com/Bvaughan7/goblin-mode-pro
cd goblin-mode-pro && ./install.sh

Then enable the services:

sudo systemctl enable --now goblin-mode-pro-helper.service   # root helper
systemctl --user  enable --now goblin-mode-pro.service       # per-user daemon

./install.sh --user skips the helper — everything works except CPU speed / power tuning ("limited mode").

First run

The GUI opens a short wizard the first time: it checks your system, offers the safe fixes, lists anything still missing (MangoHud, GameMode, a gaming kernel) with a copy-pasteable install command for your distro, and shows exactly where your launcher's wrapper field is. If you never open the window, the tray icon still shows your readiness score and a "Finish setup" nudge.

The UI is available in English, German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Chinese (Simplified) — it follows your system locale automatically.

The one step you can't skip

Goblin Mode Pro needs a small wrapper on the game's launch command:

Launcher Where Value
Steam Game → Properties → Launch Options goblin-run %command%
Lutris Game → Configure → System options → Command prefix goblin-run
Heroic Settings → Advanced → Wrapper command goblin-run

Without it, env-var injection and the Proton-log capture are skipped.

Dependency package names

You need Python 3, PyGObject, GTK 4, libadwaita and psutil. Minimum versions: Python 3.11, GTK 4.0, libadwaita 1.5 — the GUI checks at startup and tells you rather than crashing. The daemon and goblin-mode-pro-cli have no GTK dependency at all and work on anything older.

Distro Command
Arch / CachyOS pacman -S python-gobject python-psutil gtk4 libadwaita python-pystray wl-clipboard mangohud gamemode gamescope
Debian / Ubuntu apt install python3-gi gir1.2-gtk-4.0 gir1.2-adw-1 python3-psutil wl-clipboard mangohud gamemode gamescope
Fedora / Nobara dnf install python3-gobject python3-psutil gtk4 libadwaita wl-clipboard mangohud gamemode gamescope
openSUSE zypper install python3-gobject python3-psutil gtk4-tools libadwaita wl-clipboard mangohud gamemode gamescope

mangohud, gamemode and gamescope are optional but recommended — the overlay, the frame-rate watchdog and the gamescope integration need them. ryzenadj (AUR / COPR) is needed for AMD-laptop TDP control, and scx-scheds for the per-game sched_ext scheduler.

Requirements

  • systemd and polkit (the helper is inert without polkit)
  • Kernel ≥ 5.16 for WINEFSYNC
  • Unprivileged user namespaces enabled (some hardened Debian/Ubuntu kernels disable them — the System Check catches this)
  • Optional: mangohud, gamemode, gamescope, ryzenadj (AMD TDP + Curve Optimizer undervolt), intel-undervolt, gpu-screen-recorder (auto-clip), python3-cairo (saving a benchmark card as an image)