libretro / libretro/RetroArch

Display active configuration / override files when loading content

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feature request
Dominant language
C
Stars
14.1k
Forks
2.2k
Avg merge
7h 35m
Merged PRs (30d)
51

Description

Currently RetroArch loads global configuration files, core overrides, directory overrides and game overrides silently.
While this is technically correct, it makes troubleshooting input and configuration issues unnecessarily difficult.

Proposed feature:
Display a short overlay on-screen notification when content is loaded, indicating which configuration files are active.
Example:

Loaded configuration:

  • retroarch.cfg
  • puae-core.cfg
  • lotus_esprit_turbo_challenge.cfg

This could be shown briefly as an overlay (similar to controller connection messages) or logged clearly in the frontend log.

Use case:
This would significantly improve usability when dealing with:
multiple controllers
identical controller models
core-specific input behavior
unexpected overrides
Users could immediately identify whether an issue originates from global settings, a core override or a game-specific configuration.

Benefit:
Better transparency
Faster troubleshooting
No functional change to existing behavior
Especially helpful for advanced users and debugging scenarios

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Trace the content-loading path where global configuration, core overrides, directory overrides, and game overrides are applied. Compare the existing controller connection overlay notifications with frontend logging, then define whether the active filenames appear briefly on screen or clearly in the log; done means the loaded configuration list is visible for each content load without changing behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
frontend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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