Desktop client for openmods.net — discover, install, update, and remove game mods without leaving your couch.
OpenMods Manager pairs with the OpenMods catalog and your local game install. You sign in with an API key from your OpenMods account, link each game's folder once, and from then on installing a mod is a one-click button on the website. The manager handles the download, the unzip, the right install path per game, and keeps track of what it put where so it can also cleanly remove it later.
Source-available, not open source. See LICENSE.
- Browse your linked games library — every game you have access to on openmods.net shows up; link each one to its local install folder.
- One-click install via deep links — clicking "Install" on a mod page opens the manager (
openmodsmanager://…), confirms the version, downloads it, and unpacks it into the right path inside the game folder. - Multi-game support — Subnautica, Subnautica: Below Zero, Minecraft, Stardew Valley, Satisfactory, and others as the catalog grows.
- Multi-asset awareness — for mods that ship a separate zip per game (e.g.
*.SN.zipvs*.BZ.zip), the right one is picked automatically based on the game you're installing into. - Update detection — the Mods page checks the catalog for newer releases of every installed mod and shows a "v2.0.4 Available" badge plus an Update button next to it.
- Clean uninstall — only the files the manager installed are removed; shared folders that other mods are still using are left alone.
- Download history — every successful install is logged with the version, size, time, and a shortcut back to the install folder or the mod's web page.
- Generate an API key on openmods.net → API Management.
- Paste the key into OpenMods Manager → it verifies against
openmods.net/api/gamesand caches your library locally. - Link each game's folder via the in-app folder picker (e.g.
D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Subnautica). - On the OpenMods website, click Install on a mod release. Your browser hands the URL off to the manager.
- The manager confirms what's about to be installed, downloads the zip from the mod's GitHub release, unzips it into the path declared by the mod's
install.jsonmanifest, and records every file/folder it created. - Same flow for Update. Remove walks the recorded files in reverse and deletes them, only removing folders that are now empty.
The website is the catalog; this app is the local installer. No background services, no auto-launching anything, no telemetry.
Honest read of the threat model:
- What's stored locally: your API key, the list of games you've linked + their local paths, the list of installed mods + their tracked file paths, and your download history. Everything sits in
storage.datnext to the executable. - At-rest encryption: AES-256 with a key + IV generated freshly on first launch (no shared/built-in secret in the source). The key is held in a sibling
key.datfile. On Windows, that file is wrapped with DPAPI bound to the current user account — even an admin on the same machine can't decrypt it without your session. On Linux / macOS the key file ischmod 600(owner-only). - In-transit: all calls to openmods.net and to GitHub release URLs go over HTTPS. The API key is sent in an
X-API-Keyheader. - Local files installed by mods: the manager only writes inside the game folder you linked, into the path each mod's
install.jsondeclares (typicallyBepInEx/plugins/<ModName>for Subnautica). Nothing else on disk is touched. - Process isolation: the manager is a single-instance Photino + Blazor app. It does not run a server, does not open ports, does not register a service.
- What it does not protect against: malware already running as you, anyone with your unlocked Windows session and physical access, or anyone who can read your API key from the website itself. Treat the API key like a password — if you suspect leak, revoke it on openmods.net.
Privacy: the manager talks to openmods.net only. No third-party analytics, no crash telemetry, no usage reporting. Your game library and install paths never leave your machine.
Download the latest release from the Releases page and run the binary for your platform. No installer, no admin elevation needed.
| Platform | File | Runtime requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Windows (x64) | OpenModsManager-{version}-win-x64.zip |
None — WebView2 ships with Win 10 21H2+ and Win 11. |
| Linux (x64) | OpenModsManager-{version}-linux-x64.zip |
libwebkit2gtk-4.1 (Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0). |
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | OpenModsManager-{version}-osx-arm64.zip |
The binary runs, but openmodsmanager:// deep links require a .app bundle — not yet packaged. |
| macOS (Intel) | OpenModsManager-{version}-osx-x64.zip |
Same caveat as above. |
Each zip is a single self-contained executable plus its wwwroot/ folder. No .NET runtime install required on the target machine.
OpenMods Manager is released under the PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0.
This is a source-available license, not open source. You may read the code; you may not fork, modify, redistribute, build, run for any commercial purpose, or include it in a derivative work. If you'd like to do any of those things, reach out to discuss licensing.
The code is published primarily for transparency and security review.
- Website & catalog: openmods.net
- Issues / bug reports: GitHub Issues
- Releases: GitHub Releases