A visual manager for Steam Proton/Wine prefixes on Linux.
Steam names your prefix folders after AppIDs — so instead of "Starfield" you get "1091500". PrefixHQ turns that pile of numbers into a proper library with cover art, game names, and a clear indication of which prefixes are still attached to an installed game and which are just taking up space
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Visual library — cover art fetched from Steam and cached locally, so subsequent launches are instant
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Multi-library support — parses
libraryfolders.vdfto find all your Steam libraries automatically, including secondary drives and external SSDs. Cross-library matching works even when game files and prefix live in different locations -
Orphan detection — green means the game is installed, red means the prefix is stale and can be cleaned up
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Works with native Steam, Flatpak, and Snap out of the box
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Safe deletion — confirmation dialogs before anything gets removed. Deleting a prefix is permanent (saves, configs, mods — all gone), so PrefixHQ makes sure you mean it
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Right-click menu to copy the prefix ID, load custom cover art (from file, URL, or SteamGridDB), or manually override the install status
- Linux
- Python 3.8+ (If you run directly the .py file)
PyQt6 >= 6.4.0,requests >= 2.28.0,Markdown>=3.3.0
Binary (recommended): grab the latest release from the Releases page
From source:
git clone https://github.com/Nastas95/PrefixHQ
cd PrefixHQ
pip install -r requirements.txt
python PrefixHQ.pyOn launch, PrefixHQ scans your Steam installations and reads libraryfolders.vdf to find every library. It then looks through steamapps/compatdata/ and matches each AppID folder to a game name — first via local .acf manifest files, then via the Steam API as a fallback
The result is a card grid where each prefix shows the game name, cover art, and whether the game is currently installed
Everything lives in ~/.config/PrefixHQ/:
prefix_db.json— custom names, manual status overrides, API cachecache/— downloaded cover art
Warning: deleting a prefix removes everything inside that Proton container — saves, configs, mods. Make sure it's actually orphaned before you delete it. When in doubt, back it up first
Bug reports and feature requests go in Issues
Developed with ❤️ and a little AI assistance for the Steam Deck and PC gaming community
GNU General Public License v3.0 — see LICENSE
