FSE Tool

FSE Tool enters and exits XBOX mode directly without sending keyboard shortcuts. Useful in HTPCs or as pre-launch command for Sunshine/Apollo when setting up game streaming

It also provides a bypass for the "Restart for better performance" confirmation dialog.

Prerequisites

Enable Xbox mode in Windows Settings > Gaming > XBOX mode, and select a supported home app such as XBOX under Choose home app.

Use tools like XboxFullScreenExperienceTool to enable Xbox fullscreen experience on your system.

Installation

PowerShell:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lmrisdal/fse-tool/main/install.ps1 | iex

Run fse-tool update to update to the latest release.

To uninstall:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lmrisdal/fse-tool/main/uninstall.ps1 | iex

You can also download fse-tool.exe from the latest release and place it in a folder of your choice.

Commands

General

Command	Description
help	Lists all commands. Also --help, -h, or no command at all.
update	Downloads the latest release over the running exe if it is newer, and refreshes the home app if one is installed.
version	Prints the version the exe was built from, such as 0.2.0. Also --version and -v.

Xbox mode

Command	Description
start	Enters Xbox mode. Does nothing if already active.
start --app <target> [args...]	Enters Xbox mode and opens <target>: a URI, shell:AppsFolder\<AUMID>, or an exe path. If Xbox mode is already active, it just opens the target. See Sunshine / Apollo.
stop	Returns to the desktop. Does nothing if already on the desktop.
toggle	Switches between Xbox mode and the desktop.
status	Prints Desktop or Xbox.

Confirmation bypass

Command	Description
bypass enable	Skips the "Restart for better performance" dialog for the current user.
bypass disable	Removes the bypass and restores the dialog.
bypass status	Prints Enabled or Disabled.

Home app

Command	Description
home install	Registers fse-tool as an Xbox mode home app. update reruns it for you; run it again yourself after updating fse-tool another way.
home uninstall	Removes the home app. Refuses while fse-tool is the selected home app.
home status	Prints NotInstalled, Installed, or Selected (installed and chosen as the home app).
home set	Lists the home apps under Choose home app and marks the selected one.
home set <name or AUMID>	Selects a home app, for example home set XBOX, home set "FSE Tool", or home set None.
home default	Prints what fse-tool opens when Xbox mode starts. The default is steam://open/bigpicture.
home default <target> [args...]	Changes what fse-tool opens when Xbox mode starts.

Home app

fse-tool can be the app Xbox mode opens when it starts, in place of the Xbox app. By default it opens Steam Big Picture.

1. Turn on Developer Mode in Settings > System > Advanced. Windows only accepts the home-app capability from unsigned packages in Developer Mode.
2. Run fse-tool home install. This writes a small package to %LOCALAPPDATA%\fse-tool\home and registers it for the current user.
3. Select FSE Tool in Settings > Gaming > XBOX mode > Choose home app.

To open something other than Steam Big Picture:

fse-tool home default "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Playnite\Playnite.FullscreenApp.exe"
fse-tool home default steam://open/bigpicture

The home app writes its last launch to %LOCALAPPDATA%\fse-tool\home.log.

Warning

Choose a different home app before running fse-tool home uninstall. Removing the selected home app can break Task View on some Windows builds.

Sunshine / Apollo

Add one application per launcher, with fse-tool start --app as the prep command and fse-tool stop as the undo command:

Application	Do command	Undo command
Steam	fse-tool start --app steam://open/bigpicture	fse-tool stop
Xbox	fse-tool start --app shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.GamingApp_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.Xbox.App	fse-tool stop
Playnite	fse-tool start --app "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Playnite\Playnite.FullscreenApp.exe"	fse-tool stop

If fse-tool is the selected home app, Xbox mode opens the requested target in place of the default. Otherwise fse-tool opens the target after Xbox mode is active, on top of whichever home app is selected.

Bypass confirmation dialog

The bypass is a single registry value for the current user. fse-tool bypass enable creates a DWORD (32-bit) Value named EnterGamingPostureConfirmation_Config, set to 2, under:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GamingConfiguration\SystemDialogResults

Windows reads this value as a saved answer to the "Restart for better performance" confirmation dialog, so it skips the dialog when entering Xbox mode. The value is absent by default, and fse-tool bypass disable deletes it, which brings the dialog back.

Compatibility

Verified on Windows 26H2. This tool uses an undocumented internal Windows controller interface, which may change in future Windows updates. The matching source is included in src/.

Building and releasing

Run just build (or ./build.ps1) to compile build/fse-tool.exe. The version comes from git describe, such as 0.1.1-6-gd8449d1-dirty for an untagged build. Release builds use the pushed tag.

just build

OR

./build.ps1
./build.ps1 -Version v0.2.0 -Output ./fse-tool.exe

Compiling src/*.cs directly with Add-Type also works, but fse-tool version then reports dev.

To publish a version:

just bump 0.2.0-beta.1
# or, for a stable release:
just bump 0.2.0

License

fse-tool is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0-only). See LICENSE.