Modsmith
Release status

Features · development preview

The manager, in full.

A tour of the manager we’re preparing for release: install, order, deploy and maintain a modded setup. Screens show development builds, and features depend on the game integration. The final release notes will identify what is available.

Library

Keep the library separate from the game.

Mods live in a library folder you choose. Deployment places the enabled files in the game folder using hardlinks, or copies when needed.

Install from an archive or folder
Add .7z, .zip and .rar archives, an extracted folder, or files dropped onto the window. Extraction uses a separate worker with size and entry limits to reduce the impact of malformed archives.
Mod root detection
The mod's root is found by what the game actually reads. When an archive nests it three folders deep, you are asked once where the root is instead of getting a mod that installs into nothing.
Hardlink deploy
Deploy links every enabled file into the game folder. Hardlinks take no extra space and no administrator rights. When the library and the game sit on different drives, files are copied instead, and the app tells you so.
Backup and journal
Original files that deployment replaces are backed up. A journal records the plan and progress, so recovery can detect an interrupted deployment and work through it on the next start.
Rollback
Rollback uses the journal to remove deployed files and restore backed-up originals. Unexpected changes are reported for review. Keep independent backups of saves and important files.
Downloads folder
Every archive you fetched stays in a downloads folder with its origin recorded. Reinstall, open the mod page, or clean up from one window.
The main window with the mod list, the inspector showing a conflict for the selected mod, and the load-order panel.

Load order

Order by hand, sort on request, see who wins.

Mod order decides which file wins a conflict; plugin order decides what the game loads. Both are yours to set, and the app shows the consequence of every move.

Drag to order
Reorder mods by dragging rows. Group captions split a long list into sections that survive restarts and import from Mod Organizer 2 separators.
Sort as a suggestion
Sort load order runs a stable topological sort over the LOOT masterlist, keeps your order as the tie-break, and can be undone in one click or reset to follow the mod order again.
Slot counters
For supported Bethesda games, the plugin view shows regular and light plugin usage, missing masters and masterlist notes. The limits and available checks depend on the game and runtime.
Light plugins
For supported formats, check whether a plugin is eligible for a light flag and back it up before changing the header. Form-ID compacting is not offered because it can invalidate dependent files.
plugins.txt merged, not overwritten
Plugins you installed by hand and Creation Club content keep their state. Every write keeps a versioned backup you can restore from inside the app.
#01Lantern Roads 2.1
#02Northern Bridges 1.4
#03Weathered Signs 3.0
#04Quiet Taverns 1.0
#05Cobble Retexture 4K 1.2

Who overrides whom

    Lower in the list wins. Drag a row, or use the arrows, and watch the winners change. This is how Modsmith resolves file overlaps: by order, shown in the inspector, never silently.

    Profiles

    One game, several builds, separate saves.

    A profile stores a mod selection, its order and a launch target. Save isolation is available where the game integration supports it.

    Separate save folders
    The supported integration sets a profile-specific save path and backs up the original setting. Check the active profile before playing; this does not make a save compatible with a different mod list.
    Save checks
    For supported save formats, compare the saved plugin list with the current build and flag missing plugins before you load. This check cannot guarantee that a save will work.
    Duplicate, rename, delete
    Copy a profile to try a change, rename it when it sticks, delete it when it does not. The library is shared; only the selection is per profile.
    The Plugins view: a load order with hexadecimal indices, plugin kinds and the mod each plugin comes from.

    Nexus Mods

    Your account, your downloads, within the rules.

    Modsmith talks to Nexus Mods with your own personal API key and only on your behalf. It never automates what Nexus asks you to click yourself.

    Mod Manager Download
    Click the button on the Nexus site and the nxm link opens in the app: you see the mod, the file and the size, confirm, and the download starts. Resumable, size-checked, identified by Nexus mod and file ids.
    Free and Premium
    Free accounts click through the mod page as Nexus requires; Premium accounts get direct links and can fetch a whole collection in one go.
    Key stays home
    The key is encrypted with Windows DPAPI for your user account and is sent only to Nexus. It never reaches us, and it is never written to a log.
    Rate limits shown
    Remaining daily and hourly requests are displayed. A rate limit is reported to you instead of being retried behind your back.
    The Collections window: a checklist of mods in a collection with what is already installed and a button to open each mod page.

    Installers and tools

    FOMOD wizards and the tools you already use.

    The pieces a serious build cannot do without: option-driven installers, and the external tools that generate patches, animations and LOD.

    FOMOD wizard
    Installers with a ModuleConfig open as a step-by-step wizard with groups, conditions, previews and required files. Malformed installers are refused with a reason. Scripted installers are not executed: that would run code from an archive.
    External tools
    Register xEdit, Nemesis, Pandora, BodySlide, DynDOLOD, TexGen, xLODGen, Synthesis, Wrye Bash and any other executable. Known tools get sensible defaults; arguments and working folders are editable.
    Output as a mod
    Tools run against the deployed game folder. After a tool exits, detected new files can be collected into a mod or tracked under Left in game folder. Tools can also change existing files; Modsmith does not sandbox them.
    ENB and ReShade
    Import a preset folder, apply it next to the game executable, remove it later. Files it would overwrite are backed up, and the manifest knows exactly what was placed.
    The FOMOD wizard: an installer step with option groups, a description and a preview image.

    Sharing and moving in

    Bring a build with you. Hand one on.

    A collection is a file that lists mods by their Nexus ids, never the mods themselves. Importing from Mod Organizer 2 reads your instance and leaves it alone.

    Collections
    Export the current build as a collection file with mod, file, size and hash for each entry. Whoever opens it downloads through their own Nexus account; the file contains no keys and no local paths.
    Import checklist
    Compare a collection with the current library, see which files are missing and open their mod pages. Downloads still use your own Nexus account.
    Mod Organizer 2 import
    Read a detected instance and profile, register mods by reference to the existing folders, and import separators as group captions. Import does not copy the library. Keep a backup and avoid managing the same files from two apps at once.
    The Mod Organizer 2 import window: a detected instance, its profiles, and the count of mods that will be registered.

    Health

    Know what runs, know what broke.

    Inspect crash logs, review executable files in mods and check the game runtime. These tools help narrow down a problem; they do not replace testing a build.

    Crash analysis
    Read supported logs from Crash Logger SSE, Trainwreck and .NET Script Framework. Local rules look for known patterns and suggest checks. Cloud-assisted diagnosis is a planned Smith feature.
    Quarantine
    Unrecognised DLL and EXE files are held back for review. Check the source before allowing one; recognising a file or removing it from quarantine does not prove it is safe. This is not an antivirus scan.
    Runtime compatibility
    Names your game runtime, the matching Address Library branch and the mods carrying script-extender plugins, so a downgrade or an upgrade is a decision rather than a guess. The app never patches the game executable.
    Game settings
    Edit the settings that matter, field of view, borderless window, VSync, text language, from a form with a caveat on each. Only what you changed is written, and every write keeps a backup.
    The crash analysis window: a list of crash logs, the parsed exception and faulting module, and a local signature naming the display driver with a recommended action.

    Everyday

    The small things you use every day.

    Command palette

    Ctrl K runs any command or jumps to any mod. Entries for capabilities the current game lacks are simply absent.

    Themes and density

    Dark, Midnight and Light themes; comfortable and compact lists. Panel widths, hidden sidebar rows and window geometry survive restarts.

    Notes and search

    A note on any mod, and a search that matches names, authors, plugin names and notes.

    Updates

    The app checks its own update feed at start and when you ask, downloads in the background and restarts only after you confirm, and never while files are being written.

    Uninstall

    Uninstalling removes the app, restores the save-path setting it changed and leaves a note in the data folder listing anything still deployed and how to undo it.

    Add a game

    Modsmith is being built for multiple games. Integrations add game-specific checks and tools. A custom folder can use basic file deployment, but that alone does not establish compatibility or plugin support.

    Coming from Mod Organizer 2

    The same ideas, a few different words.

    Libraries, profiles and priorities will feel familiar. Modsmith deploys files into the real game folder instead of presenting a virtual file system. External tools see those files directly; changes they make may need their own backups.

    In Mod Organizer 2In ModsmithWhat is different
    InstanceLibrary and gameOne library per game; profiles inside it.
    Virtual file systemDeployHardlinks in the real folder, journaled and reversible. Tools see the real folder without a hook.
    PriorityMod orderLower in the list wins, like MO2. Dragging works the same way.
    Overwrite folderLeft in game folderFiles a tool creates are found after it exits and taken into a mod of their own.
    SeparatorsGroup captionsImported as they are.
    Sort (LOOT)Sort load orderSame masterlist. Here the sort is a suggestion: undo it, or reset the plugins to follow the mod order.
    Profiles with local savesProfiles with isolated savesSame idea; the INI change is backed up and restored on uninstall.
    Nexus download handlernxm linksSame handshake with the Nexus site. The app asks before taking the association from another manager.
    ImportImport a setup from MO2Registers the existing mod folders by reference. Keep a backup before making further changes to shared files.

    Explore what’s being built.

    The public release is still in preparation. Read about the planned assistant or check the release status.

    Release statusMeet Smith