LightyLauncher

⚠️ ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT - API may change between versions. Use with caution in production.

A modern, async Minecraft launcher library for Rust supporting multiple mod loaders with an optimized architecture based on an intelligent caching system.

Features

• Multi-Loader Support: Vanilla, Fabric, Quilt, NeoForge, Forge, OptiFine
• Async/Await Architecture: Built on Tokio for maximum performance
• Automatic Java Management: Download and manage JRE distributions (Temurin, GraalVM)
• Smart Caching System: Dual cache (raw + query) with configurable TTL and automatic cleanup
• Tauri Integration: Pre-configured commands for desktop applications
• Cross-Platform: Windows, Linux, and macOS support
• Type-Safe: Strongly typed API with comprehensive error handling via thiserror
• Performance Optimized:
  • Parallel downloads with concurrency limits
  • SHA1 verification for file integrity
  • Async archive extraction
  • Intelligent cache reuse

Installation

Add to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]

lighty-launcher = { version = "0.1", features = ["all-loaders"] }

tokio = { version = "1.48", features = ["full"] }

directories = "6.0"

once_cell = "1.21"

tracing-subscriber = "0.3"

Quick Start

Basic Example - Vanilla

use lighty_launcher::{JavaDistribution, Launch, Loader, Version};
use directories::ProjectDirs;
use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
use tracing::{info, error};

static LAUNCHER_DIRECTORY: Lazy<ProjectDirs> = Lazy::new(|| {
    ProjectDirs::from("com", "MyLauncher", "")
        .expect("Failed to create project directories")
});

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    tracing_subscriber::fmt::init();

    let username = "PlayerName";
    let uuid = "37fefc81-1e26-4d31-a988-74196affc99b";

    let mut version = Version::new(
        "vanilla-1.21",
        Loader::Vanilla,
        "",
        "1.21",
        &LAUNCHER_DIRECTORY
    );

    match version.launch(username, uuid, JavaDistribution::Temurin).await {
        Ok(()) => info!("✅ Launch successful!"),
        Err(e) => error!("❌ Launch failed: {:?}", e),
    }
}

Fabric Example

let mut fabric = Version::new(
    "fabric-1.21",
    Loader::Fabric,
    "0.16.9",      // Fabric loader version
    "1.21",        // Minecraft version
    &LAUNCHER_DIRECTORY
);

fabric.launch("Player", "uuid", JavaDistribution::Temurin).await?;

Supported Loaders

Examples by Loader

let mut vanilla = Version::new("vanilla-1.21", Loader::Vanilla, "", "1.21", &LAUNCHER_DIRECTORY);
vanilla.launch(username, uuid, JavaDistribution::Temurin).await?;

let mut fabric = Version::new("fabric-1.21", Loader::Fabric, "0.16.9", "1.21", &LAUNCHER_DIRECTORY);
fabric.launch(username, uuid, JavaDistribution::Temurin).await?;

let mut quilt = Version::new("quilt-1.21", Loader::Quilt, "0.27.1", "1.21", &LAUNCHER_DIRECTORY);
quilt.launch(username, uuid, JavaDistribution::Temurin).await?;

let mut neoforge = Version::new("neoforge-1.21", Loader::NeoForge, "21.1.80", "1.21", &LAUNCHER_DIRECTORY);
neoforge.launch(username, uuid, JavaDistribution::GraalVM).await?;

let mut forge = Version::new("forge-1.21", Loader::Forge, "51.0.38", "1.21", &LAUNCHER_DIRECTORY);
forge.launch(username, uuid, JavaDistribution::Temurin).await?;

let mut optifine = Version::new("optifine-1.21", Loader::Optifine, "HD_U_I9", "1.21", &LAUNCHER_DIRECTORY);
optifine.launch(username, uuid, JavaDistribution::Temurin).await?;

Java Distributions

LightyLauncher automatically manages Java runtime download and installation:

// Temurin (recommended, supports Java 8-21)
JavaDistribution::Temurin

// GraalVM (high performance, Java 17+ only)
JavaDistribution::GraalVM

The library automatically:

• Detects the required Java version for each Minecraft version
• Downloads the JRE if not present
• Verifies SHA1 checksums
• Extracts and configures the runtime

Tauri Integration

LightyLauncher provides ready-to-use Tauri commands for desktop applications.

Installation

[dependencies]

lighty-launcher = { version = "0.1", features = ["all-loaders", "tauri-commands"] }

Backend Setup

// src-tauri/src/lib.rs
use lighty_launcher::tauri::tauri_commands::*;

#[cfg_attr(mobile, tauri::mobile_entry_point)]
pub fn run() {
  let _app_state = AppState::new(
    "fr".to_string(),
    "Polar".to_string(),
    "".to_string()
  );

  tauri::Builder::default()
          .invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![
            launch,
            get_loaders,
            get_java_distributions,
            get_launcher_path,
            check_version_exists,
        ])
          .run(tauri::generate_context!())
          .expect("error");
}

Frontend Usage (TypeScript)

import { invoke } from '@tauri-apps/api/tauri';

await invoke('launch', {
  versionConfig: {
    name: 'fabric-1.21',
    loader: 'fabric',
    loaderVersion: '0.16.9',
    minecraftVersion: '1.21',
  },
  launchConfig: {
    username: 'Hamadi',
    uuid: '37fefc81-1e26-4d31-a988-74196affc99b',
    javaDistribution: 'temurin',
  },
});

📖 Full documentation: See TAURI_USAGE.md

Cargo Features

Control which loaders are compiled into your binary:

# All loaders

lighty-launcher = { version = "0.1", features = ["all-loaders"] }



# Specific loaders only

lighty-launcher = { version = "0.1", features = ["vanilla", "fabric"] }



# With Tauri integration

lighty-launcher = { version = "0.1", features = ["all-loaders", "tauri-commands"] }

Available features:

• vanilla - Vanilla Minecraft support (base for all loaders)
• fabric - Fabric loader support
• quilt - Quilt loader support
• neoforge - NeoForge loader support
• forge - Forge loader support
• forge_legacy - Forge Legacy support (1.7.10 - 1.12.2)
• all-loaders - Enable all mod loaders
• tauri-commands - Pre-configured Tauri commands

Default features: None (choose your loaders)

Architecture

lightylauncher/
├── java/                   # Java runtime management
│   ├── distribution.rs     # JRE distributions (Temurin, GraalVM)
│   ├── jre_downloader.rs   # Download and installation
│   └── runtime.rs          # Java version detection
│
├── minecraft/
│   ├── auth/               # Authentication (WIP)
│   ├── launch/             # Launch logic
│   │   ├── arguments.rs    # JVM and game arguments
│   │   ├── installer.rs    # Assets/libraries installation
│   │   ├── launch.rs       # Launch trait
│   │   └── errors.rs       # Installer errors
│   │
│   ├── loaders/            # Mod loader implementations
│   │   ├── vanilla/
│   │   ├── fabric/
│   │   ├── quilt/
│   │   ├── neoforge/
│   │   ├── forge/
│   │   └── optifine/
│   │
│   ├── utils/              # Minecraft utilities
│   │   ├── cache.rs        # Smart cache with TTL
│   │   ├── manifest.rs     # Repository with dual cache
│   │   ├── query.rs        # Query trait for loaders
│   │   └── error.rs        # Query errors
│   │
│   └── version/            # Version management
│
├── utils/                  # General utilities
│   ├── download.rs         # Async downloads
│   ├── extract.rs          # Archive extraction
│   ├── system.rs           # OS/Architecture detection
│   └── macros.rs           # Utility macros
│
└── tauri/                  # Tauri integration
    └── tauri_commands.rs   # Ready-to-use commands

Caching System

LightyLauncher uses a dual cache architecture for optimal performance:

1. raw_version_cache: Stores complete JSON manifests
2. query_cache: Stores extracted data by query

Each cache features:

• Configurable TTL per data type (via Query::cache_ttl())
• Automatic cleanup with adaptive sleep
• Thread-safe with Arc<RwLock<HashMap>>

Examples

The examples/ directory contains complete examples for each loader:

cargo run --example vanilla --features vanilla

cargo run --example fabric --features fabric

cargo run --example quilt --features quilt

cargo run --example neoforge --features neoforge

cargo run --example forge --features forge

Requirements

• Rust 1.75+
• Tokio async runtime
• Internet connection for downloading game files and JRE

Platform Support

Performance

LightyLauncher is optimized for performance:

• Async I/O: All filesystem and network operations are async
• Parallel Downloads: Configurable concurrency limits
• Smart Caching: Avoids re-downloads and re-extractions
• SHA1 Verification: Guaranteed integrity without overhead
• Minimal Dependencies: Only essential crates included
• Optimized Build Profiles:
  • dev: Optimizes dependencies (opt-level=2)
  • release: LTO thin, codegen-units=1
  • release-small: Binary size optimized

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. See the LICENSE file for details.

Disclaimer

• Minecraft is a trademark of Mojang Studios
• This project is not affiliated with Mojang Studios or Microsoft
• For educational and personal use
• Please respect the Minecraft EULA

Links

• Documentation: docs.rs/lightylauncher
• Crates.io: crates.io/crates/lightylauncher
• Repository: GitHub
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Tauri Guide: TAURI_USAGE.md

Made with ❤️ by Hamadi

Built with the Rust ecosystem: Tokio, Reqwest, Serde, Thiserror, and more!