Table of Contents

Configuration

Retro Game Cover Downloader is ready to use out of the box. This page covers the optional settings that unlock higher download limits, support restricted networks, and control how ROM files are detected.

Settings storage

All settings are stored in a single encrypted file:

Item Location
Settings %LocalAppData%\RetroGameCoverDownloader\settings.dat
Systems cache %LocalAppData%\RetroGameCoverDownloader\systems_cache.json
Logs %LocalAppData%\RetroGameCoverDownloader\logs\log-<date>.txt
Error log %LocalAppData%\RetroGameCoverDownloader\error.log
Critical log %LocalAppData%\RetroGameCoverDownloader\critical_error.log
Screenshots %LocalAppData%\RetroGameCoverDownloader\Screenshots

The settings file is encrypted with Windows DPAPI (CurrentUser scope): the encryption key is derived from your Windows account and never leaves the machine. The file cannot be decrypted by another Windows user or on another PC — keep this in mind when migrating your profile.

Tip Use File → Open AppData Path in the application to open this folder directly.

If a legacy settings.xml (versions 1.4.0 and earlier) is found next to the executable, it is migrated to the new encrypted format automatically on first load.

GitHub token

A token is optional, but strongly recommended:

Mode Requests per hour
Anonymous 55 (GitHub allows 60 per IP)
With a token 4,900 (GitHub allows 5,000 per token)

To create a token:

  1. Open File → GitHub Token in the application (the dialog also appears automatically on first launch).
  2. In a browser, go to https://github.com/settings/tokens/new.
  3. Give the token a name, set an expiration, and select the public_repo scope. The application only reads public libretro-thumbnails repositories, so no other scopes are needed.
  4. Generate the token, copy it, and paste it into the dialog.

The token is stored inside the encrypted settings.dat file. If GitHub later reports 401 Unauthorized (expired or revoked token), the application prompts for a replacement and reloads the system list automatically.

Proxy settings

Use File → Proxy Settings when your network requires an HTTP proxy:

Field Notes
Enabled Turns proxy usage on or off
Host Host name or URL; http:// and https:// prefixes are accepted and stripped
Port 1–65535
Username / Password Optional; only sent when both are provided

Proxy changes are applied immediately: the application creates a new GitHub service, keeps in-flight operations safe, and logs the change. Proxy credentials are part of the encrypted settings file.

File extensions

File → File Extensions controls which files are treated as ROMs when scanning. Defaults:

.nes .sfc .smc .md .gen .gba .gb .gbc .n64 .z64 .v64 .iso .cue .bin .img .ccd .chd
.zip .7z .rar .rom .smd .gg .pce .lnx .ws .wsc .a78 .a26 .int .col
  • The leading dot is added automatically if you omit it.
  • Matching is case-insensitive.
  • Reset restores the default list.
  • Clearing the list disables extension filtering entirely, so every file in the ROM folder is considered.

Command-line arguments

Argument Description
--rom <path> or /rom <path> Pre-fills the ROM folder
--cover <path> or /cover <path> Pre-fills the cover folder
Two positional paths First path is the ROM folder, second is the cover folder

See Getting Started for examples.

Privacy

Retro Game Cover Downloader collects the minimum amount of data needed to operate and improve the application:

  • Launch telemetry — an anonymous request containing only the application id and version is sent at startup. It contains no personal data, file paths, or game names. If the endpoint is unreachable or the request times out, the failure is logged locally as information and ignored.
  • Error reporting — warnings and errors are written to error.log with environment details (operating system, application version, paths) and sent to the developer's bug report endpoint to help fix problems. Since version 1.5.0, transient network failures, timeouts, rate limits, and canceled operations are logged as informational messages only and are not forwarded to the bug report endpoint.
  • No tracking of your library — ROM names, cover names, and folder paths stay on your machine. Only error diagnostics, which can include such details inside log messages, are reported when an actual error occurs.

Deleting the %LocalAppData%\RetroGameCoverDownloader folder removes all local data (settings, cache, logs, and screenshots). You can also remove an unwanted token at any time from File → GitHub Token.

Next steps