On this page, you will learn how to debug and report issues with the runner and the launcher. You might want to read Launchers Lifecycle first.

Getting the logs

Runner and launcher logs are usually the first thing you should be looking into. Here’s the list of where runner and launcher logs can be found.

Watch out, since both runner and launcher logs will get overwritten as soon as you start your game again. If you want to keep them (to send them to support@patchkit.net, for example), you have to make a copy before each run.

Using the debug menu

Starting version 3.17.5.0 of the launcher, all of the log files can be accessed using the Debug Menu.

To open the Debug Menu, focus on the launcher window and press CTRL + SHIFT + D key combination. This combination only works while the main launcher window is focused and won’t work if the Runner is currently open.

From the filesystem

Accessing debug files from the filesystem should be used if you or your user cannot use the Debug Menu.

Runner

Operating System	Location	Notes
Windows	launcher-log.txt	Next to launcher.exe
Windows	%APP_DATA%/Remote/patchkit-launcher/launcher-log.txt	>= 1.5.1 if WORKDIR is restricted
GNU/Linux	launcher-log.txt	Next to launcher binary
Mac OSX	~/Library/Application Support/PatchKit/Apps/launcher-log.txt

Unity-based single-launcher

Operating System	Location
Windows	C:\Users\username\AppData\LocalLow\UpSoft\PatchKit Patcher\output_log.txt
GNU/Linux	~/.config/unity3d/UpSoft/PatchKit Patcher/Player.log
Mac OSX	~/Library/Logs/Unity/Player.log

Note that if you’re using a custom launcher and you change Company Name and Product Name in it’s setting, the path may be different. For more information, please see Unity documentation.

Electron-based single-launcher

Operating System	Location
Windows	C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\patchkit-pathcer\secret\pk_logs\
GNU/Linux	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/patchkit-patcher/secret/pk_logs/	If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set
GNU/Linux	~/.config/patchkit-patcher/secret/pk_logs/
Mac OSX	~/Library/Application Support/patchkit-patcher/secret/pk_logs/

Electron-based multi-launcher

Operating System	Location	Notes
Windows	C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\launcher-name\pk_logs\
GNU/Linux	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/launcher-name/pk_logs/	If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set
GNU/Linux	~/.config/launcher-name/pk_logs/
Mac OSX	~/Library/Application Support/launcher-name/pk_logs/

Finding the installed version

Electron-based launcher

Windows-only

1. If the launcher has a shortcut (e.g. on Desktop), right-click on it and select Open File Location.
2. In next window, right-click on the launcher executable and select Properties.
3. In next window, select Details tab.
4. Search for File Version and find the version number.

Unity-based luncher

1. Search for the launcher log file (output_log.txt or Player.log) and open it.
2. Search for the version number in the first lines of the log file, it should look similar to this:

2022-03-16 11:12:01.154 +01:00 [ DEBUG ] <Patcher::Awake> patchkit-patcher-unity: v3.17.11.0

Command line arguments (unity-based only)

The launcher (formerly patcher) should be run with the following command-line arguments:

" patcher.exe --installdir "dir" --secret "secret" --readable ”

You can try and launch it with your custom installdir and secret. Remember always to pass --readable, because otherwise, the patcher will expect an encoded secret instead of a string.

Environment variables

Launcher behavior can be overridden by setting up those environment variables.

Variable Name	Description
PK_PATCHER_FORCE_SECRET	Set it to application secret to forcefully change what game should be downloaded.
PK_PATCHER_FORCE_VERSION	Change the latest game version to the given one. This is internal version id starting from 1.