# Relinker usage

## Input and conversion

Use a clean ELF executable. Place its bundled ELF modules in `sce_module/`, `sce_modules/`, or `prx/` beside the input executable. `prx/` can coexist with either `sce_module/` or `sce_modules/`. Both `sce_module/` and `sce_modules/` present, or all three absent, is an error.

```text
source/
    input.elf
    sce_module/
        <bundled ELF modules>
```

```text
relinker [options] <input.elf> <output>
```

Linux output:

```sh
relinker source/input.elf app.elf
```

Windows output:

```sh
relinker --windows source/input.elf app.exe
```

Add `--to-intel` for Intel hosts. The output format defaults to Linux ELF regardless of the filename; `.exe` alone does not select Windows.

## Options

All switches are disabled by default. `unused-filter` defaults to `0`; `--rpath` defaults to `$ORIGIN/libs`.

| Option                        | Effect                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `--windows`                   | Produce a Windows PE executable.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| `--windows-diagnostics`       | Include startup dependency diagnostics. Requires `--windows`.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| `--windows-gui`               | Select the Windows GUI subsystem instead of the console subsystem. Requires `--windows`.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| `--to-intel`                  | Convert supported AMD-only instructions in the executable and bundled modules. Unsupported instructions or unreachable conversion stubs cause an error.                                                                                                                                                                 |
| `unused-filter=0`             | Keep all imported NID references.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| `unused-filter=1`             | Filter unused non-PLT imports using control-flow and GOT access analysis; preserve PLT imports.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| `unused-filter=2`             | Apply strict unused-import analysis and compact the PLT. Unsupported analysis cases cause an error.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| `--registry`                  | Write `<output-stem>.registry.json` beside the output executable.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| `--rpath <path>`              | Set the system library search path. Quote `$ORIGIN` to prevent shell expansion, for example `--rpath '$ORIGIN/libs'` in Bash or PowerShell. Linux guest modules require an absolute path or a path beginning with `$ORIGIN`. Windows requires a nonempty ASCII path and supports `$ORIGIN` as the executable directory. |
| `--autorun`                   | Run the output after conversion, print its exit code, and wait for Enter. Adds executable permissions for Linux output. Requires the target OS and prepared runtime layout.                                                                                                                                             |
| `--skip-sce-module`           | Deprecated. Skip all bundled module processing.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| `--exclude-sce-module <file>` | Deprecated. Exclude a bundled module by exact filename, not path. Repeat for multiple files; a missing filename is an error. Conflicts with `--skip-sce-module`.                                                                                                                                                        |
| `--skip-syscall-check`        | Deprecated. Disable syscall scanning in the executable and bundled modules.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| `--lazy-binding`              | Deprecated. Enable lazy symbol binding instead of eager binding. Incompatible with bundled ELF modules.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |

Specify `unused-filter=0|1|2` without `--`, at most once. Unknown options and extra positional arguments are errors. There is no `--help` flag; invoking `relinker` without arguments prints the usage syntax and exits with an error.

The `--skip-sce-module`, `--exclude-sce-module <file>`, `--skip-syscall-check`, and `--lazy-binding` flags are deprecated. If the application runs with these flags enabled, it will be extremely unstable and unsuitable for general use. These flags are only for debugging.

## Runtime layout

Paths are relative to the output executable:

```text
app.elf (Linux) or app.exe (Windows)
libs/
    *.prx
app0/
    <app resources>
    sce_module/
        <converted modules>
```

Use `sce_modules/` or `prx/` instead of `sce_module/` if that is the input directory name. Relinker preserves each module's directory under `app0/` and prints its exact path. Place app resources in `app0/` separately. Copy the built system libraries from `build/core/libs/libs/*.prx` into `libs/`; use libraries built for the target OS. A custom `--rpath` changes the system library location.

On Windows, direct memory (`sceKernelAllocateDirectMemory`, up to 13824 MiB per title) is committed in full when the title allocates it, not when its pages are first used. The system commit limit (installed memory plus page file size, the second value of Committed in Task Manager) must cover it together with all other committed memory. Otherwise the allocation throws `create direct memory backing of 0x<n> bytes (<m> MiB)` with the Windows error; enlarge the page file or close other applications.

Linux:

```sh
chmod +x app.elf
./app.elf
```

Windows PowerShell:

```powershell
.\app.exe
```

### System fonts

Games that open the console's system font sets (`sceFontOpenFontSet`) need font files in an `anyps5-fonts/` directory beside the output executable; set `ANYPS5_SYSTEM_FONTS` to use another directory. Files dumped from the console are used under their own names (`SST-Roman.otf`, `SST-Bold.otf`, `SSTJpPro-Regular.otf`, ...). Without them, these openly licensed substitutes are used when present: `NotoSans-{Light,Regular,Medium,Bold}.ttf` and `NotoSans-{LightItalic,Italic,MediumItalic,BoldItalic}.ttf` (Latin and Vietnamese), `NotoSansMono-{Light,Regular,Medium,Bold}.ttf` (typewriter), `NotoSansThai-{Light,Regular,Medium,Bold}.ttf` (Thai) and `NotoSansCJK-{Light,Regular,Medium,Bold}.ttc` (Japanese and Chinese). Without either, opening a system font set fails and the game shows no text in those fonts.

## Exit codes

`0`: conversion succeeded. `1`: invalid arguments. `2`: conversion failed; the error is printed to stderr. With `--autorun`, successful conversion returns the launched application's exit code.