Launcher ↔ client contract

The launcher and the in-game client talk through two JSON files in the client folder, %USERPROFILE%\WildM\client\ — the folder that holds the framework DLL. The authoritative, shared document is docs/CONTRACT.md (French, maintained by the launcher and client agents, with a change journal); this page is its English summary, checked against the code.

Folders

Path	Role	Written by
grw-mp/build/	Client build, copied recursively into the client folder on install	client build (build_wildm.ps1)
%USERPROFILE%\WildM\client\	Installed client: dinput8.dll, wildm_inject.exe, LICENSE.txt, plugins\<name>\<name>.asi (+ .ini, lang.ini), logs, ini	launcher (copy) + client (logs, ini, status)
%USERPROFILE%\WildM\cache\<host>_<httpPort>\	Resources downloaded from the server	launcher only — the client must not write there

Written by the client inside the client folder (never in the game folder): logs\*.log (including scripthook.log, scripthook_crash.log, wildm_net.log), scripthook.ini (created on first launch), mods\ (only read if it exists), wildm_status.json and its transient wildm_status.json.tmp.

wildm_connect.json — launcher → client

Written by the launcher just before starting the game, after deleting any previous wildm_status.json.

{
  "server": { "name": "WildM LAN", "host": "192.168.2.3", "httpPort": 30120, "gamePort": 30121 },
  "player": { "name": "Joueur", "account": "pseudoWFX" },
  "resourcesDir": "C:\\Users\\…\\WildM\\cache\\192.168.2.3_30120",
  "spawn": { "x": -3112.6, "y": 5535.8, "z": 956.0 },
  "session": "a-new-uuid-for-each-launch"
}

Field	Notes
server.host, server.gamePort	Required by the client; without them it stays idle.
server.name, server.httpPort	Informational.
player.name	Launcher player name, else the account name, else Joueur. Sent in hello.
player.account	WFX.re username, or null when no account is linked.
resourcesDir	The server's resource cache (read-only for the client).
spawn	From /info.spawn if the server exposes it, else from the first */resource.json in the cache with a spawn; null if neither. The current client does not teleport the player.
session	crypto.randomUUID() per launch. Everything in wildm_status.json with another session is ignored.
token (optional, root level)	Not written by the launcher today. If present, wildm_net forwards it in hello.

Without this file the client does nothing — wildm_net checks every 5 s, writes nothing, and the game behaves exactly as without WildM.

wildm_status.json — client → launcher

Written by wildm_net about once a second ([status] interval_ms, minimum 250), atomically (temp file + MoveFileEx).

{
  "session": "same uuid as wildm_connect.json",
  "updatedAt": 1763112345678,
  "phase": "ingame",
  "gameState": "Playing",
  "server": { "connected": true, "playerId": 3, "players": 5 },
  "pos": { "x": -3110.2, "y": 5531.0, "z": 957.4 },
  "heading": 1.57,
  "hasPos": true,
  "playMode": "campaign",
  "client": { "framework": "1.0-beta7-wildm1", "pid": 12345 },
  "error": ""
}

Field	Meaning
updatedAt	Milliseconds since 1970.
phase	booting (game state machine not read yet), menu (menu or lobby), loading (loading / reloading, or in the world without a readable position for less than 10 s), ingame (world loaded and position read, or world loaded for 10 s), error (Ghost War / Mercenaries: WildM pauses and disconnects).
gameState	The framework's game state name.
server.connected	TCP established and welcome received.
server.playerId	Id from welcome (0 = none).
server.players	Size of the last players list, self included.
pos, heading, hasPos	Player position (metres), yaw in radians, whether the position was really read.
playMode	"campaign", "Ghost War", … or "".
client	Framework version and process id.
error	In phase: "error": the reason. Otherwise it may carry the last network error (informational). A server {"t":"error","msg":…} is copied here.

heading, hasPos, playMode and client were added by the client agent (contract journal, 2026-11-14); no field was removed.

How the launcher reads it

Polled every 500 ms during the Loading the world step:

Situation	Launcher reaction
No file for this session yet	Waiting for the client…; after 3 minutes: warning, the game is left running
phase: "error"	Error, error shown to the player as is
updatedAt older than 30 s	Error: the client stopped reporting (game closed or frozen)
phase: "ingame" and server.connected	Success, the launcher window minimises
phase: "ingame" without connected for 20 s	Warning: in game but not connected
Other phases	Progress message (see The loading screen)
GRW.exe not running (checked every 5 s)	Error: the game closed before reaching the world

Local debug console (not part of the contract)

plugins\test_plugin\test_plugin.asi listens on 127.0.0.1:9999 (command api → state and position; help lists commands). Its log is logs\scripthook_repl.log. It is a development tool only.