🖥️ Manager App

The Asher manager is an Electron application (Asher.Electron) backed by Asher.Host, a headless .NET service that exposes install, uninstall, mod management, and settings over a JSONL protocol on stdin/stdout.

The manager stays in Distribution — it is not deployed into the game folder.

Application flow

Electron main spawns Asher.Host.exe --jsonl and waits for a ready event
Renderer lands on setup, install wizard, or home based on getApplicationMode / settings
IPC forwards method calls (getSettings, install, uninstall, getMods, launchGame, markInstalled, …) to the host
Progress streams back for long operations (install/uninstall)

Modes & screens

Mode	Screens
Install wizard	Welcome → Setup (detect/validate game folder) → Installing → Complete (optional launch + minimize)
Manager	Home hub, Patch Manager, Settings

Uninstall lives under Settings → Removal, not in the sidebar:

Removal mode	Behavior
Safe uninstallation	In-app Host uninstall — restores backup, removes runtime files, returns to wizard
Total exclusion	Launches game-folder `Uninstall-Asher.cmd`, then quits the app so locks clear

Features

Patch Manager — enable/disable mods by moving DLLs between Mods/ and Mods/disabled/ (rejects unknown mods)
Game launch — starts the game from the configured folder (Windows: DustAET.exe launcher wrapper; Linux: native DustAET with the LD_PRELOAD bootstrap environment)
Localization — en-US, pt-BR, es
Theme — Light / Dark
Toasts — top-right action banners
Settings auto-save — preference-only reset (keeps path / installed state)
Always-on install backup — BackupEnabled forced true; not a user toggle
Updates — packaged Distribution builds can check/apply GitHub Release zips (Settings → Check for updates); Windows only
Logging — manager diagnostics in {GameFolder}/Asher/AsherLogs/manager_*.log (with runtime_* and launcher_fatal_*)

Platform support

The manager is platform-aware through the host contract:

getPlatformInfo — OS capability model (usesLauncherSwap, supportsRecoveryHelper, executable/library names)
getInstallState — authoritative install status (state, canUninstall, canRestore, marker); the renderer derives uninstall/restore from it instead of backup presence
Windows: launcher swap, emergency Uninstall-Asher.cmd, GitHub Releases updates
Linux: native LD_PRELOAD bootstrap launch, no launcher swap; "Total exclusion" and the in-app updater are hidden (unsupported)

Linux packaging: npm run dist:linux (AppImage + tar.gz); Linux dependencies are listed in docs/Cross-Platform-Architecture.md.

Development

cd Asher.Electron
npm install
npm run build:host:debug   # or build:host for Release/dist
npm start

Smoke tests: npm run smoke, npm run smoke:install, npm run smoke:uninstall, etc.

< Back

O gerenciador Asher é uma aplicação Electron (Asher.Electron) apoiada pelo Asher.Host, um serviço .NET headless que expõe instalação, desinstalação, gerenciamento de mods e configurações via protocolo JSONL em stdin/stdout.

O gerenciador permanece em Distribution — não é implantado na pasta do jogo.

Fluxo da aplicação

Electron main inicia Asher.Host.exe --jsonl e aguarda o evento ready
Renderer abre setup, assistente de instalação ou home conforme getApplicationMode / settings
IPC encaminha chamadas (getSettings, install, uninstall, getMods, launchGame, markInstalled, …) ao host
Progresso é transmitido em operações longas (instalar/desinstalar)

Modos e telas

Modo	Telas
Assistente de instalação	Welcome → Setup (detectar/validar pasta) → Installing → Complete (launch opcional + minimizar)
Gerenciador	Home hub, Patch Manager, Settings

A desinstalação fica em Settings → Removal, não na barra lateral:

Modo de remoção	Comportamento
Desinstalação segura	Uninstall in-app via Host — restaura backup, remove runtime, volta ao wizard
Exclusão total	Executa `Uninstall-Asher.cmd` na pasta do jogo e encerra o app para liberar locks

Recursos

Patch Manager — ativa/desativa mods movendo DLLs entre Mods/ e Mods/disabled/ (rejeita mods inexistentes)
Inicialização do jogo — inicia o jogo da pasta configurada (Windows: wrapper DustAET.exe; Linux: DustAET nativo com o ambiente LD_PRELOAD)
Localização — en-US, pt-BR, es
Tema — Light / Dark
Toasts — banners no canto superior direito
Auto-save de settings — reset só de preferências (mantém caminho / instalado)
Backup sempre ativo na instalação — BackupEnabled forçado; não é toggle
Atualizações — builds empacotadas em Distribution podem checar/aplicar zips do GitHub Releases; somente Windows
Logs — diagnósticos em {GameFolder}/Asher/AsherLogs/manager_*.log (com runtime_* e launcher_fatal_*)

Suporte de plataforma

O gerenciador é ciente da plataforma através do contrato do host:

getPlatformInfo — modelo de capacidades do SO (usesLauncherSwap, supportsRecoveryHelper, nomes de executáveis/bibliotecas)
getInstallState — status de instalação autoritativo (state, canUninstall, canRestore, marker); o renderer deriva desinstalação/restauração dele em vez da presença de backup
Windows: troca de launcher, Uninstall-Asher.cmd de emergência, updates via GitHub Releases
Linux: lançamento nativo via bootstrap LD_PRELOAD, sem troca de launcher; "Exclusão total" e o updater in-app ficam ocultos (não suportados)

Empacotamento Linux: npm run dist:linux (AppImage + tar.gz); dependências Linux em docs/Cross-Platform-Architecture.md.

Desenvolvimento

cd Asher.Electron
npm install
npm run build:host:debug
npm start

Testes de fumaça: npm run smoke, npm run smoke:install, npm run smoke:uninstall, etc.

< Voltar