RetroAchievementsSharp

A native C# port of the RAHasher hashing engine (rcheevos 40d916d → 12.4.0) that produces 100% identical hashes to the original for every supported console — the same hashes the RetroAchievements website and its clients use to identify ROMs and disc images.

• Library — RetroAchievementsSharp (NuGet), targets net8.0, net9.0, and net10.0; GPL-2.0-or-later.
• CLI — RetroAchievementsSharp.Cli.exe, byte-identical in behavior to RAHasher 1.8.3, plus convenience subcommands (scan, identify, consoles, checkkeys, fetch-db).
• Verified — 415/415 fast tests + 172/172 slow (parity, real-ROM, RVZ, published-DB) green on each supported TFM, including a parity harness against source-built C oracles, RVZ-vs-ISO equality on real GameCube/Wii discs, and spot checks against the published RetroAchievements game database.

Installation

dotnet add package RetroAchievementsSharp

Works with the .NET 8, 9, and 10 SDKs/runtimes on Windows, Linux, macOS, x64 and arm64.

Using the library

Requires .NET 8, 9, or 10 (older runtimes are not supported). Add the package:

dotnet add package RetroAchievementsSharp

All API entry points live in the RetroAchievementsSharp namespace; every hash is a 32-character lowercase hex string that matches the hash published on retroachievements.org for the same file.

Hash a ROM file

using RetroAchievementsSharp;

if (RcHash.GenerateFromFile(out string hash, ConsoleIds.RcConsoleNintendo, "game.nes"))
    Console.WriteLine(hash); // e.g. "a3f5c0f8e1b2d9a4c7d6e5f4a3b2c1d0"

GenerateFromFile returns true when the file hashed successfully. The ConsoleIds constants cover every supported console (RcConsoleGameboy, RcConsoleMegaDrive, RcConsolePlaystation, …).

Hash in-memory data

byte[] data = File.ReadAllBytes("rom.bin");
if (RcHash.GenerateFromBuffer(out string hash, ConsoleIds.RcConsoleGameboy, data, data.Length))
    Console.WriteLine(hash);

Auto-detect the console (? mode)

When you don't know the console, use the iterator API — it tries every console's handler in the engine's exact table order and returns the first match:

var iterator = new RcHashIterator();
HashIterator.InitializeIterator(iterator, "Super Mario (USA).sfc", null, 0);
while (HashIterator.Iterate(out string hash, iterator) != 0)
    Console.WriteLine(hash); // the first hash that matched a console
HashIterator.DestroyIterator(iterator);

A single file can produce several hashes (e.g. a multi-disc .m3u), which is why Iterate is a loop.

Disc images (.cue, .iso, .gdi, .chd, .rvz, .wia)

Discs hash directly — no conversion needed. CHD is read via CHDSharp; GameCube/Wii RVZ/WIA images are decoded live via RVZSharp:

if (RcHash.GenerateFromFile(out string hash, ConsoleIds.RcConsolePlaystation, "disc.cue"))
    Console.WriteLine(hash);

if (RcHash.GenerateFromFile(out hash, ConsoleIds.RcConsoleGamecube, "game.rvz"))
    Console.WriteLine(hash);

if (RcHash.GenerateFromFile(out hash, ConsoleIds.RcConsoleWii, "game.chd"))
    Console.WriteLine(hash);

3DS .cia / .3ds (key files required)

Call Hash3Ds.InitHash3Ds(systemDir) once with a directory containing aes_keys.txt (and optionally seeddb.bin for seed-encrypted titles):

Hash3Ds.InitHash3Ds(@"C:\RetroArch\system");
if (RcHash.GenerateFromFile(out string hash, ConsoleIds.RcConsoleNintendo3Ds, "game.cia"))
    Console.WriteLine(hash);

Error handling

• GenerateFromFile / GenerateFromBuffer return false (never throw) on unsupported files, missing 3DS keys, or hashing failures.
• The engine reports errors through the message callbacks (see RcHash.InitErrorMessageCallback) — the CLI wires these to Serilog.
• HashIterator.Iterate returns 0 when no console accepted the file.

Notes

• Global configuration is process-wide — Hash3Ds.InitHash3Ds and the custom filereader/cdreader registrations (RcHash.InitCustomFilereader, RcHash.InitCustomCdreader) are global state, matching the C engine. Initialize once at startup; concurrent hashing from multiple threads is not supported.
• Full API reference: https://purelogiccode.github.io/RetroAchievementsSharp/reference/public-api/. For exact engine behavior (64 MiB cap, header-stripping rules, track selection, verbose messages), see the documentation and known quirks.

Supported formats

Raw ROMs (all cartridge consoles), .zip (pre-loaded ROM, Arduboy FX, DOSZ/Zip64/DOSC), .m3u playlists, discs (.cue/.bin/.iso/.gdi/.chd, GameCube/Wii .rvz/.wia), 3DS .cia/.3ds/.3dsx (keys via -s / Hash3Ds.InitHash3Ds), and Neo Geo .neo carts. Console list: NES/Famicom, SNES/SFC, N64, GB/GBC/GBA, Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Gear, 32X, SG-1000, PCE/TG-16, PCE-CD, Saturn, Sega CD, Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, PSP, 3DO, PC-FX, Jaguar(+CD), Neo Geo Pocket(+Color), Neo Geo CD, NDS/DSi/3DS — the full rcheevos console table (~59 consoles), including classic microcomputers.

CLI usage

Identical to RAHasher 1.8.3:

RetroAchievementsSharp [-v] [-s systempath] system filepath...

• -v — verbose messages for debugging
• -s systempath — directory with aes_keys.txt / seeddb.bin (3DS)
• system — console key (case-insensitive) or numeric id; ? auto-detects by trying every console
• filepath — file(s) to hash; may contain wildcards in the filename; multiple files hash each in turn

Examples:

RetroAchievementsSharp NES game.nes
RetroAchievementsSharp PS1 disc.cue
RetroAchievementsSharp -s C:\RetroArch\system 3DS game.cia

Supported input formats: raw ROMs, .zip (pre-loaded ROM / Arduboy FX / DOSZ), .m3u playlists, .cue/.bin/.iso/.gdi discs, .chd discs, 3DS .cia/.3ds/.3dsx (keys required via -s), and .neo Neo Geo carts (Geolith format, hashed by ROM content). Exit codes: 0 success, 1 any failure.

Quirk faithfully reproduced from the original: console keys are only accepted for consoles with a non-empty RA group; NULL-group consoles (Oric, TI83, TIC-80, ESCV, DOS, 3DS, …) must be addressed by numeric id — e.g. RetroAchievementsSharp 62 game.cia. (The C's find_console_id falls back to atoi, so the key 3DS would silently resolve to console 3!)

RetroAchievementsSharp scan — hash a whole ROM library

(not present in RAHasher 1.8.3 — the legacy positional interface above is unchanged) hashes each file with per-file console auto-detection and emits one manifest row per file:

RetroAchievementsSharp scan [options] <path>...
  -f, --format <text|csv|json>  output format (default: text)
  -s <systempath>               supplementary files directory (3DS keys)
      --match <db.json>         RetroAchievements database snapshot
      --move <dir>              move matched files into <dir>/<console-key>/
      --dry-run                 preview --move without moving anything
      --no-recursive            do not descend into subdirectories
  -h, --help                    show help

Each file is auto-detected the same way the ? system key works for a single file; matched rows append => <Title> (ID <id>). The manifest goes to stdout, the summary (Scanned N file(s): X hashed, Y failed) to stderr; exit code 0 when every file hashed, 1 when any failed.

Other subcommands

• RetroAchievementsSharp consoles [--format text|csv|json] — dump the console table.
• RetroAchievementsSharp checkkeys [-s <systempath>] — validate 3DS key files.
• RetroAchievementsSharp identify <system> <file> [--db <RetroAchievements.json> | --user <u> --api-key <k>] — hash one file and resolve it to a game with achievements (local snapshot or live API).
• RetroAchievementsSharp fetch-db <url-or-path> [--out <file>] — download a database snapshot, validate it, save atomically.

Full details for every subcommand: docs/getting-started/usage.md.

Building

dotnet build RetroAchievementsSharp.sln -c Release

Requires any .NET 8+ SDK. All three projects multi-target net8.0;net9.0;net10.0 (CHDSharp, VideoGameFileSystemParser 1.2.0 and Serilog 4.4.0 all ship portable libs for these TFMs). Build a single target with -f net8.0 (faster).

Publishing the CLI

Self-contained single-file executables (no runtime needed on the target):

dotnet publish RetroAchievementsSharp.Cli -c Release -r win-x64    --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true -o artifacts/win-x64
dotnet publish RetroAchievementsSharp.Cli -c Release -r linux-x64  --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true -o artifacts/linux-x64

Produces RetroAchievementsSharp.Cli.exe (Windows) / RetroAchievementsSharp (Linux) in artifacts\<rid>\. (The parity suite's oracle is a Windows PE, so Tier-2 parity runs on Windows; on Linux the parity cases skip and the ported vectors still run.)

Packaging the NuGet library

dotnet pack RetroAchievementsSharp -c Release
# publishes RetroAchievementsSharp.1.0.0.nupkg + .snupkg (default: bin/Release); make artifacts/:
dotnet pack RetroAchievementsSharp -c Release -o artifacts

The package includes the net8/9/10 assemblies, XML docs, the GPL-2.0-or-later license and third-party notices, SourceLink/symbols, and runs NuGet package validation on every pack. Publishing to NuGet.org:

dotnet nuget push artifacts/RetroAchievementsSharp.1.0.0.nupkg --api-key <key> --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json

See publishing.md for details.

Testing

Tests are split into two projects:

dotnet test RetroAchievementsSharp.sln -c Release          # fast suite, all TFMs (net8, net9, net10)
dotnet test RetroAchievementsSharp.sln -f net10.0          # fast suite, one TFM
dotnet test RetroAchievementsSharp.Slow.Tests -c Release   # slow suite (manual — not in the sln)

The fast suite (RetroAchievementsSharp.Tests, in the solution — 415 tests, seconds) runs every ported rcheevos test/rhash vector (cartridge, disc, cdreader, zip, m3u, handler order), synthetic 3DS/CHD fixtures, and CLI/engine unit tests. The slow suite (RetroAchievementsSharp.Slow.Tests, kept out of the solution — 172 tests, minutes) is run manually and covers:

• Tier-2 parity harness vs. a source-built C oracle (rcheevos 12.4.0, falling back to the pinned 1.8.3 build): 90 generated cases + all CLI arg modes; stdout/stderr + exit codes byte-identical.
• RVZ validation — real GameCube/Wii RVZ images hashed live through RVZSharp must equal the DolphinTool-converted ISO hash (6 files; skips when the libraries or DolphinTool are absent).
• Real-ROM parity — first files of 60 user library directories vs. the pinned 1.8.3 binary (skipped-with-note when the libraries or oracle are absent).
• Published-hash spot checks — real ROM samples hashed and looked up in a RetroAchievements game-database snapshot, asserting official matches per library (skips when the snapshot isn't present).

See parity-evidence.md for the coverage table and known-quirks.md for the unsupported-format behavior (ROM encoding not part of rcheevos).

Parity evidence

Current: 415/415 fast + 172/172 slow green on net8.0, net9.0, net10.0 — byte-identical CLI output between RetroAchievementsSharp.Cli.exe and the C oracles, including verbose mode, error paths, and exit codes; RVZ-vs-ISO equality 6/6 (GameCube and Wii); real-ROM parity 61/61; published-hash spot-check 15/15 library/console pairs. The harness has caught and fixed real port bugs (arg-count guard crash, wildcard path construction, usage banner blank line, silent merge_callbacks bug) — parity is never "accepted" as a difference; it's asserted.

Documentation

Full docs — architecture, engine deep-dives, testing, known quirks, and the release-sync playbook for absorbing future rcheevos releases:

• Docs site (GitHub Pages) — https://purelogiccode.github.io/RetroAchievementsSharp/, built from docs with MkDocs Material (left-nav sidebar); every push to docs/ or mkdocs.yml redeploys automatically.
• Wiki — github.com/purelogiccode/RetroAchievementsSharp/wiki, hand-maintained quick-reference mirror of the site.

Credits

• LeXofLeviafan — author of the RALibretro RAHasher CLI this project is behaviorally compatible with. We use his RAHasher binaries as the reference oracle in our parity test suite (byte-identical output vs. the C original is asserted on every run). Thank you!
• RetroAchievements / rcheevos — the hashing engine, ported 1:1 (MIT).

License

GPL-2.0-or-later — see LICENSE and THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md. Copyright (c) 2026 Peterson Fernandes and Pure Logic Code. The rcheevos engine is ported 1:1 (MIT, credited in the notices); RVZ/WIA hashing links RVZSharp which is GPL-2.0-or-later (Dolphin-derived). Program.cs, FileUtil.cs, Hash3DS.cs, and ChdCdReader.cs are new implementations written for behavior parity with the GPL-3.0 RALibretro RAHasher by LeXofLeviafan (used as read-only reference, never copied; the GPL binary and sources live in References\ only and are not shipped).

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.