manual tests

Simple Launcher — Manual Test Plan (areas not covered by unit tests)

Scope: This document lists only functionality not covered by the automated tests in SimpleLauncher.Tests (150 test files). The unit suite covers the core logic layer (settings, system manager, favorites, play history, game scanner, file finder, search orchestrator, launch strategies, mount-strategy matching, config-injection services, models, path/URL/pagination helpers, RetroAchievements manager/matcher/hasher, Steam VDF parser, update-check logic, API connectivity, converters' strategy classes, parameter resolver API service, system.xml writer, emulator XML helpers, game file watcher, loading overlay / UI reset / status bar / menu check-mark services, credential protector, etc.) — none of that is repeated here.

Everything below must be verified by hand in the running application. Items marked [Integration] require real external components (emulators, store clients, API endpoints, network) and cannot be fully verified otherwise.

Method note: coverage was determined by scanning all production types in SimpleLauncher + SimpleLauncher.Core (462 types) against references in SimpleLauncher.Tests; 259 types have no test reference. Windows, Views, ViewModels, and dispatcher-dependent WPF services are inherently untested and are the bulk of this list.

Suggested workflow: one full pass through Easy Mode → Edit System → Emulator Settings → launch a game per emulator → RetroAchievements → a download → a store-game scan covers most of this checklist.

Recorded platform verification: SimpleLauncher.Avalonia 5.8.0 (linux-x64, current HEAD 1142d050, packaged with scripts/package-release-linux.ps1) was smoke-tested on Debian 13 (trixie) x64 in a VMware Workstation VM — GNOME Wayland session, app rendered through Xwayland. unzip restored the executable bits from the ZIP; the first-run "Welcome" dialog and the main window rendered correctly and the app produced no stdout/stderr errors (2026-09-24).

On Linux Mint 22.3 (X11) in the Hyper-V LinuxMint VM the Easy Mode download path was verified end-to-end on 2026-09-26: PPSSPP (AppImage) and Redream (tar.gz, after fixing BUG-03) were downloaded and installed through Easy Mode, real PSP/Dreamcast ROMs launched with the downloaded emulators and play history was recorded; the PSP image pack (601 covers) rendered in the grid. A follow-up sweep exercised every distinct emulator download and the shared RetroArch core in the Linux manifest (15/15 emulators + 1/1 core install correctly, after fixing BUG-04 zip execute bits, BUG-05 .tar.xz support and BUG-06 solid-7z extraction performance). Details in ManualTests.md → "Easy Mode real-install session" and "Easy Mode emulator/core install sweep".

The automated AT-SPI/vision suite (scripts\gui-test-harness\) also ran the full Linux checklist on this VM: 33/33 scenarios PASS in a single run (2026-09-27, reports\run-20260927-232933.md) on the payload built from HEAD 9f684574 (including the BUG-07..BUG-15 fixes); the same session live-verified BUG-14 (a failing .bat exits at Information, no error_user*.log entry) and BUG-15 (DOSBox picker items now expose real file names). The 2026-09-26 run (31/31, reports\run-20260926-143336.md) and the Easy Mode edge-case session that surfaced BUG-07/BUG-08 are documented in ManualTests.md §6 and §8; the WPF suite passed 2122/2122 and the Avalonia suite 696/696 on the current tree (2026-09-28). That day fixed four user-reported Avalonia issues: BUG-16 (message dialogs now owned by the active window), BUG-17 (card overlay buttons follow the Options menu settings), BUG-18 (card-size slider/menu/zoom sync on the 50-px options) and BUG-19 (sound playback moved off the UI thread after a rapid-click freeze). A fresh full 33-scenario pass is pending on the rebuilt payload (the 33/33 report predates these fixes); see ManualTests.md → "Resume checklist (next session)".

1. Startup & app lifecycle

First-run flow (StartupInitializationService) — with an empty config, the app auto-scans the machine for installed games (Steam, Epic, GOG, Microsoft Store, etc.) and creates the "Microsoft Windows" system; the Easy Mode welcome prompt appears only if that scan finds no games; with an existing config it loads straight into the main window.
Closing behavior (MainWindow.CloseWindowEvents) — close the app then immediately check the settings file: close is deferred until settings are saved. Close while a CHD mount or scan is active → child processes killed, no crash.
Minimize to tray — minimize hides the window from the taskbar, tray icon remains; tray menu has Open / Minimize to Tray / Debug Window / Exit; double-click the tray icon restores the window; Exit fully quits (icon disappears).
Quit (QuitSimpleLauncher) — menu quit exits;
Reinstall / Updater (ReinstallSimpleLauncher) — with and without a local Updater.exe, with and without network, and with access denied (error 5): correct message box in each case; app closes after the updater launches; no zombie processes.
Update flow (ShutdownForUpdateAsync) — with GitHub reachable, a fresh Updater.exe is downloaded and launched with the current PID, app exits; with GitHub unreachable, graceful failure.
System information display (DisplaySystemInformation) — select a system with a bad ROM folder → red "System Folder" line + "path is not valid" dialog; bad emulator exe → red emulator line; all valid → no dialog; the error list shows every problem.
System config load (SystemConfigurationService) — edit system.xml adding a valid system → it appears after restart; malformed XML → error dialog + logs, app continues.

2. Main window UI

Theme menu (ThemeMenuService) — pick Light/Dark/Adaptive/HighContrast/Midnight → UI restyles instantly; accent colors apply; checkmark tracks selection; restart → theme persisted.
Language menu (LanguageMenuService) — switch language → notification sound, status "Changing language...", app restarts into that language; checkmark shows current language.
View/Display menu options — change thumbnail size, games-per-page, show-games, aspect ratio, filename display, font sizes, view mode → the grid re-renders accordingly; restart → checkmarks restored from settings. (Verified 2026-09-26 on Linux Mint 22.3: Set Button Size 300->500 px, Aspect Ratio Square->Taller, Games Per Page and Show Games updated the checkmarks and settings.dat, and survived a restart; "Display Clean Up Filenames" stripped annotations (vision). The font-size submenus were not changed. 2026-09-28: the card-size slider was wired to the same path as the menu - it now snaps to the 50-px Button Size options, persists, and keeps the menu check mark and slider handle in sync (BUG-18); the nav zoom buttons/Ctrl+wheel do the same. Unit-tested; manual re-check pending.)
Menu actions (MenuActionHandlerService) — every menu item opens the right window / performs the right action with status-bar feedback: Easy/Expert mode, Download Image Pack, Scan for store games, Edit links, Gamepad toggle, Dead zone, fuzzy matching toggle/threshold, annotation stripping, Support, Donate. Rapid clicking → no double handling.
Platform-specific menus & data (Avalonia) — on Windows the Tools menu (11 bundled tools), Options → Inject Emulator Config (21 emulators) and Edit System → "Scan for Microsoft Windows games" are present; on Linux/macOS all three are hidden (Windows executables / registry-based features) and the first-run flow skips the "Scanning for Windows games..." overlay. About → Open AppData Path opens the folder that actually holds settings.dat: %LocalAppData%\SimpleLauncher on Windows, ~/.local/share/SimpleLauncher (XDG) on Linux/macOS, where settings.dat (+ -wal/-shm), logs, window bounds and legacy .bak files live.
Filter bar (FilterMenu) — A–Z / # / All letters filter the game list with button highlight; "All" resets; keyboard arrows/Home/End navigate the letter buttons; notification sound on click.
Status bar — actions (sorting, launching, saving) show status text that auto-clears after the timeout.
Gamepad navigation — see section 10.

3. Game list, search & pages

Grid rendering (GameItemRenderService, GameButtonFactory) — grid shows cover (or placeholder), favorite star reflects state, video/info/RA shortcut buttons work; page through 1000+ games — UI stays responsive; switch system mid-render → no stale items. (2026-09-28: the Avalonia overlay buttons were implemented for real - they were missing/ignoring the Options menu settings, BUG-17; toggling each of RetroAchievements/Video/Info now shows/hides the matching button on every card in place, clicks open the same actions as the context menu without launching the game, and the favorite heart moved to the WPF star position (top-left) to make room. Verified by unit tests + on the VM cards (scripts\gui-test-harness\shots\after-storm.png); the AT-SPI harness can now see them as View Achievements/View Video/View Info push buttons - a suite scenario is still to be authored.)
List rendering (GameListFactory) — list rows show MAME machine description, times-played and play-time matching play history. (Verified 2026-09-27 on Linux Mint 22.3 with real MAME ROMs: the Arcade list view shows real mame.dat descriptions - "Pac-Man (Midway)", "Galaga (Namco rev. B)", "Donkey Kong (US set 1)", "Ms. Pac-Man", "Neo-Geo MV-6F", "3DO BIOS", "Amiga 1200 Keyboard Rev B" - plus Folder Path, Times Played and PlayTime; scenario MAME-01. The MAME sort-az toolbar button re-orders by description and back, status "Sorted by machine description"/"Sorted by file name".)
Loading / no-files states (GameListUIService) — search with no matches → localized "no games matched" text in both views; loading a system scrolls to top and clears preview; during launch all buttons disable then re-enable; two concurrent loads keep the overlay until both finish; the emergency return button releases a stuck overlay and re-enables the UI.
Images (BitmapImageConverter) — every cover/preview in grid, list, Favorites, Search, History renders; a corrupt image file → placeholder/blank, no crash; streams disposed (covers deletable right after browsing). (Verified 2026-09-26: overwriting a cover PNG with garbage showed the placeholder for that card, no crash, other covers unaffected (vision); deleting a cover via the context menu works and the list refreshes.)
System image resolution (SystemImageResolverService) — exact name match shown; with fuzzy matching ON (threshold 0.7–0.95) a slightly renamed image is found; with annotation stripping ON, Game (USA) matches Game.png; a too-low threshold can produce a wrong match (acceptable).
Favorites page (FavoritesPage + FavoritesViewModel) — favorites load with cover preview on selection; launch via button/double-click/Enter; Delete key removes selected rows with trash sound; right-click works; missing file → "delete favorite?" prompt; empty selection → guidance box. (Verified 2026-09-26 on Linux Mint 22.3: launch via double-click, the "Launch the selected favorite game" button and Enter all worked and recorded play history; Delete removed the row; a favorite whose ROM was deleted showed the "Game Not Available" prompt and Yes removed it. No guidance box exists in this build for an empty selection.)
Global search (GlobalSearchPage + GlobalSearchViewModel) — search across systems with system filter and filename/description/folder-name/recursive options; Enter triggers search; overlay "Searching..."; results sorted by relevance; AND (term1 term2), OR, quoted phrases work; leaving the page cancels an in-flight search without crash or stale results; rows for systems without an emulator show localized "No Default Emulator". (Verified 2026-09-26 on Linux Mint 22.3: default AND / explicit AND / OR / quoted phrases / empty term / operators-only / recursive on-off / Folder Name / system filter all behaved; "No Default Emulator" row and its launch-error path verified; Launch Selected Game launched the dummy emulator. Leaving the page mid-search did not cancel on this build - BUG-11, fixed and re-verified the same day. The "Searching..." overlay was too fast to observe.)
Play history page (PlayHistoryPage + PlayHistoryViewModel) — rows show date/time/play-count/play-time; sorting by date / total time / times played keeps selection; launching a game refreshes its row (+1 play) and restores selection; Delete and Remove All ask confirmation. (Verified 2026-09-26 on Linux Mint 22.3: the three sort buttons did not change the data; launching via Enter refreshed the row (+1 play) and kept the page open; Delete removed the selected row; "Remove all from history" showed the confirmation and No kept / Yes cleared. Note: Delete itself does not ask for confirmation in this build; Remove All does.)
Right-click context menu (ContextMenuService, ContextMenuFunctions) — right-click a game in grid, list, Favorites, Global Search and Play History → correct items for that context; right-click empty area → no menu. Verify: add/remove favorite updates the star instantly and persists across restart; video/info links open the configured URL templates; ROM History opens the history window; delete game asks confirmation and updates the list; delete cover removes it and re-finds another; missing game file → offer to remove favorite/history entry. (Verified 2026-09-26 on Linux Mint 22.3: add/remove favorite, Open ROM History (no-history message), Delete Game (confirmation -> ROM removed, count dropped), Delete Cover Image (confirmation -> PNG deleted, "Deleted" box, list refreshed to the placeholder) and the missing-file prompt all worked. Video/info link opening was not exercised - it depends on the desktop's default browser.)

4. Screenshot & hotkeys

F8 hotkey (GlobalHotkeyService) — with another app foreground, F8 saves a screenshot of that window to .\screenshot; launching a second app instance → F8 conflict logged, no crash; after exit the hotkey is released (F8 behaves normally elsewhere).
Screenshot flow (ActiveWindowScreenshotService, WindowSelectionDialogWindow + VM, WindowManager, FlashOverlayWindow + VM) — right-click a game → screenshot flow: the window-selection dialog lists all titled top-level windows (not hidden launcher windows); selecting one closes the dialog and captures it; shutter sound + single full-screen white flash (~0.6 s); minimized target → "cannot screenshot a minimized window" message; capture of a normal window saves a PNG and refreshes the game button image; Cancel aborts silently.
[Integration] Window edge cases (WindowManager) — UWP/minimized-to-tray windows are excluded from the list; no crash when enumerating unusual windows.

5. Easy Mode & Edit System

Easy Mode wizard (`EasyModeWindow`)

With zero systems configured → welcome prompt opens Easy Mode; system dropdown sorted, only systems with download links listed.
Selecting a system enables emulator/core/image-pack buttons only when a download link exists; "Add System" stays disabled until the required emulator/core is downloaded or already on disk.
Start each download → progress bar + status text; Stop mid-download → "Download canceled", button re-enables; closing the window during a download cancels cleanly (no crash, temp cleanup). (Verified 2026-09-26 on Linux Mint 22.3: Stop mid-download showed Download of Image Pack 1 was canceled., the Stop button disabled and the pack button re-enabled; the cancel left the partial archive in /tmp/SimpleLauncher - BUG-07 in ManualTests.md §8. Closing the window during a download was not exercised.)
Custom ROM folder picker works; blank → defaults to %BASEFOLDER%\roms\<System>; Add System → loading overlay, success message, system appears after reload, folders created on disk. (Verified 2026-09-26 with the default folder: Easy Mode installed PPSSPP and Redream, created roms/<System> and images/<System> and the DB rows. The custom picker was verified end-to-end the same day: choosing /home/vm/custom-roms in the GTK folder dialog for Sony PSP produced SystemFolders: ["/home/vm/custom-roms"] in the DB and created images/Sony PSP. 2026-09-28: a user-reported "Add System stuck on the loading overlay" was BUG-16 - the success dialog was owned by MainWindow while Easy Mode is a modal child of it, so X11 could stack the dialog behind Easy Mode; dialogs now use the active window as owner. Verified with WM_TRANSIENT_FOR and a full 6->7 system add.)
Kill the network mid-download → per-component error dialog, button resets to Failed; emergency return button releases a stuck overlay.
[Integration] Download manager (DownloadManager) — progress %/size updates; start a download with <5 GB free → "Insufficient disk space" error; drop the network mid-download → "Download error. Retrying (1/3)…" then success or failure; cancel → partial file removed, clean state. (Partially verified 2026-09-26: progress %/size updates work and a connection failure at download start showed Download error. Retrying (1/3)... followed by success after connectivity returned. Cancel left the partial file in the temp folder (BUG-07) and a mid-body network drop stalled with no retry or timeout (BUG-08) - both in ManualTests.md §8. The <5 GB disk-space error and the final failure after all retries were not exercised.)

Edit System save/validation (`EditSystemWindow.SaveSystem`)

Invalid characters in system name → rejected with message + red highlight.
Relative paths (roms, .\roms, ../x) are rewritten to %BASEFOLDER%\... and round-trip after reload; absolute paths untouched; surrounding quotes are trimmed.
Empty system image folder or invalid emulator path → field highlighted, save blocked; duplicate emulator names rejected; emulators 2–5 with location/parameters but no name → "name required".
GroupByFolder with a non-MAME/DOSBox emulator → warning prompt; "No" aborts the save; with MAME/DOSBox → no warning. (Verified 2026-09-27 on Linux Mint 22.3: Second System with the Dummy Emulator + Group By Folder = true + Save showed the "Configuration Warning" Yes/No box with the expected text; No aborted the save - the DB still had GroupByFolder=false. The "with MAME/DOSBox → no warning" half was not re-tested; the Arcade system's MAME emulator is the configured case.)
Renaming an existing system replaces the old config entry (no duplicate) and creates folders for the new name; save failure (read-only SimpleLauncher.xml) → friendly error, window stays open.
AI parameter suggestion — in Edit System, click the suggest button: suggested parameter + explanation dialog appears; applying saves it to the config; wrong API key / offline → graceful message; loading overlay shown during the call.
AI fix after failed launch (AskAiToFixParameters) — force an emulator launch failure, accept AI help → suggestion dialog; apply → parameters updated in config, system list reloads, relaunch uses the new params; decline → nothing saved; offline/API error → graceful message.

Other dialogs

6. Emulator launch & config injection [Integration]

Launch-time handlers (21 emulators — `Services\GameLauncher\Handlers\`)

Common flow for each emulator:

Add a real ROM + point the launcher at a real emulator install; launch with "Show settings before launch" off → the emulator's own config file is rewritten with SimpleLauncher's settings and the game boots.
Launch with "Show settings before launch" on → the injection dialog appears; "Run" launches, "Cancel" does not launch.
Wrong/missing emulator path → the game still attempts launch without crashing; check the Debug log for injection errors.
Linux/macOS (Avalonia) — the handlers are not registered and the "Inject emulator config" menu is hidden: launching any game writes no Windows-style config and opens no injection dialog (LB-08); check that no files appear under ~/Documents or next to the emulator binary. (Verified 2026-09-26: launched real PSP/PPSSPP and Dreamcast/Redream games; no injection dialog, no Windows-style config next to the emulator binaries. Re-confirmed 2026-09-27 across DuckStation/PCSX2/RPCS3/Redream/Ymir/Azahar/Cemu/xemu/PPSSPP/DOSBox/Supermodel launches — the app only passes the ROM path/parameters; every emulator's config was the one prepared by hand for its Linux data dir.)

Per-emulator specifics:

Emulator settings windows (21 dialogs — `InjectConfigWindows\` + VMs)

Shared flow per emulator (sample 3–4 in depth, then spot-check the rest):

Menu → Emulator settings with the emulator not yet configured → path picker appears; Cancel closes silently; a wrong exe → generic "injection failed" message.
Each field loads from saved settings; Save → success; reopen → values persisted; restart app → still persisted.
Verify the written config file (path in table below): UTF-8 without BOM, other pre-existing keys/comments preserved, values match the UI.
Delete the config file → next save recreates it from samples\<Emulator>\<file>; if the sample is missing → graceful failure message.
Set the config file read-only → Save shows a failure box, window closes, no crash. Azahar/PCSX2 show their dedicated permission messages.
Launch a game with "Show settings before launch" on → Run injects then launches; Save injects but does NOT launch; Cancel writes nothing.

Emulator	Config file written	Notes / risks
Ares	`settings.bml`	video driver, shader, rewind, run-ahead, auto-save memory
Azahar	`qt-config.ini`	graphics/resolution/fullscreen; file in use → `AzaharPermissionException`
Blastem	`default.cfg`	fullscreen, vsync, scanlines, aspect, audio
Cemu	`settings.xml`	fullscreen, graphics API, async compile, Discord
Daphne	(none — launcher settings only)	fullscreen, bilinear, resX/Y, sound, crosshairs, overlays
Dolphin	`Dolphin.ini` (portable `User\` first, else `Documents\Dolphin Emulator\`)	gfx backend, DSP thread, Wiimote scanning/speaker — test both layouts
DuckStation	`settings.ini`	renderer, res scale, widescreen hack, PGXP, rewind, run-ahead
Flycast	`emu.cfg`	fullscreen, maximized, width/height
MAME	`mame.ini`	also injects system ROM path + secondary folders into `rompath`; temp-file+move write; "Restore from sample" creates `mame.ini.bak`
Mednafen	`mednafen.cfg`	video driver, shader, cheats, rewind
Mesen	`settings.json` (JSON)	corrupt the JSON first → graceful failure
PCSX2	`PCSX2.ini` (portable `portable.ini` → `inis\`; else emu dir; else `Documents\PCSX2\inis\`)	renderer, upscale, widescreen patches, cheevos; test all 3 locations incl. OneDrive-redirected Documents
Raine	`config\raine32_sdl.cfg`	injects current game file + system ROM path; NeoCD BIOS
Redream	`redream.cfg`	renderer, region, language, latency
RetroArch	`retroarch.cfg`	aspect-ratio tags map correctly; cheevos enable/hardcore; menu driver
RPCS3	`config.yml` (YAML)	verify YAML structure preserved
Sega Model 2	`EMULATOR.INI`	widescreen, FSAA, XInput, force feedback
Stella	`stella.sqlite3` (SQLite upserts)	sample DB copied if missing; DB locked while Stella runs → graceful failure
Supermodel	`Config\Supermodel.ini` (`[Global]`)	new 3D engine, quad rendering, PowerPC frequency
Xenia	`xenia-canary.config.toml` + `xenia.config.toml` (else `Documents\Xenia\`)	both TOMLs updated, syntax intact; no config found → warning, no crash
Yumir	`Ymir.toml`	force aspect, latency, auto region, video standard

7. Extraction, conversion & mounting [Integration]

8. Game file watcher (5.6.0) — end-to-end flow

These checks cover the watcher's behavior through the running app (end to end):

Auto-refresh on external changes (GameFileWatcherService) — with a system selected, add/delete/rename a ROM in its folder → the game list refreshes once ~500 ms after the change (not per file during a batch copy/extract).
Changes in a non-selected system's folder are ignored. (Verified 2026-09-26: adding a ROM to Second System while Test System was open did not change the Test System count.)
Watching starts/stops when switching systems; closing the app unsubscribes all watchers (no exceptions in the debug log). (Verified 2026-09-26: after switching to Second System, deleting a ROM there refreshed its count 2 -> 1; the 31-scenario runs restart/close the app repeatedly with no watcher exceptions in the debug log. The unsubscribe-on-close path is not directly observable.)

9. Platform game scanners [Integration]

Run "Scan for store games" after installing 1–2 real games per store. Verify per platform: shortcut created with correct name/protocol, cover image downloaded, DLC/tools (UE, redistributables) skipped, and re-running the scan is idempotent (no duplicate/corrupted shortcuts when two stores ship the same game name). On Linux/macOS the menu item is hidden and the click handler returns immediately, so no Windows ROM folders are created even if the handler is invoked programmatically (LB-22).

10. Gamepad & audio

Gamepad navigation — Windows (GamePadController) — with Enable GamePad Navigation on: Xbox pad left stick moves the cursor, A = left click, B = right click, right stick scrolls; PS pad (DirectInput) behaves the same; unplug/replug → reconnects within ~5 s; dead-zone sliders filter stick drift; disabling the setting stops input; exiting the app with a pad connected → no crash.
Gamepad navigation — Linux/macOS (SdlGamepadBackend + GamepadNavigationService, Avalonia) — with Gamepad Support on: left stick/D-pad move the keyboard focus ring (held stick repeats after a delay), A activates the focused control, B opens the selected game's context menu or sends Escape, right stick scrolls the focused ScrollViewer; Xbox/PS/Switch pads and unknown joysticks work (SDL GameController mapping with a generic fallback); unplug/replug or a virtual uinput pad → reconnects within ~5 s and no Warning+ log is written; disabling the setting stops input. Verified on Ubuntu 24.04 GNOME Wayland with a uinput virtual Xbox 360 pad (no OS-level input permissions needed).
Sounds (PlaySoundEffects, AudioInputService) — click/notification/shutter/trash sounds play; disabling sounds in settings → silent; custom notification file plays; missing file → logged, no crash; rapid clicks → previous sound stops (no overlap, no leak); on Linux/macOS MP3/WAV play with no extra packages, FLAC/Ogg/Opus need libsndfile1, and a missing library/device or corrupt file is logged at Information level (not Error).

11. RetroAchievements (app layer) [Integration]

Login & API (RetroAchievementsService) — valid credentials → session token; wrong password → silent failure; wrong API key → unauthorized handled as an error dialog; offline → graceful nulls with logged errors; RA windows show correct progress %, points (hardcore vs softcore), badges, rank/score tables; completion-progress pagination works. (Partially verified 2026-09-27 on Linux Mint 22.3: username + password + Web API key saved and the profile page loaded live data - Points 38, True Points 46, Member Since 2025-09-30, User ID 1437505, Currently Playing; the per-game window showed correct points/progress/rarity. Wrong-password/API-key and offline paths were not exercised.)
Credential protection — saved RA/DuckStation credentials are stored encrypted (not plaintext); restart → credentials still load; moving settings to another user/machine → graceful null.
Per-game window (RetroAchievementsForAGameWindow, RaAchievement) — locked vs unlocked badges, 🏆 hardcore icon, "Hardcore/Casual/Not Earned" labels, rarity "X.X% hardcore", "Unknown" author fallback; remote badge URLs render (unreachable → blank, no hang). (Partially verified 2026-09-27: Atari 2600 "Adventure" loaded 12 achievements with remote badge icons, points, true ratio, rarity "55.6% hardcore", "Locked"/"Not Earned", author; cover and Casual/Hardcore progress bars correct. The other tabs (Game Info/Ranking/My Profile/Unlocks/User Progress) and unreachable-URL behavior were not exercised.)
RA settings window (RetroAchievementsSettingsWindow + VM) — save credentials → fields pre-filled on reopen; "Configure Emulator" writes login/token into the emulator config and reports success/failure; wrong password → clear error; restart → credentials retained. (Partially verified 2026-09-27: Options → Retro Achievements Settings opened (nested flyout), username/API key/password saved, reopened pre-filled and survived an app restart (stored in settings.dat); on Linux the password/API key are Base64 (portable fallback - DPAPI is Windows-only). "Configure Emulator" is Windows-only (hidden on Linux) and the wrong-password path was not exercised.)
Emulator configurator (RetroAchievementsEmulatorConfiguratorService, Windows only — the Emulator Integration section and the pre-launch config handlers are hidden/not registered on Linux/macOS) — for each supported emulator (RetroArch, PCSX2, DuckStation + encrypted token, PPSSPP + .dat session file, Dolphin, Flycast, BizHawk JSON): save credentials then verify the keys (username/token/hardcore) in the emulator's config; delete config → restored from samples\; read-only config → false + log, no crash.
Hashing flow (RetroAchievementsHasherTool) — RA icon on: (a) NES ROM → header-strip hash via the bundled RetroAchievementsSharp CLI tool, no dialog; (b) unknown-named system → system picker with pre-selected guess, cancel → "System selection cancelled"; (c) zipped PS1 game → hashed through the CLI (no extraction, no temp files left), temp cleaned; (d) GameCube .rvz → hashed directly (no ISO conversion, no temp ISO); (e) unsupported system (e.g. C64) → no RA icon shown. (Partially verified 2026-09-27: a zipped Atari 2600 ROM was hashed through the bundled Linux CLI from the context menu ("Calculating Game Hash..." → real game data); a missing/unexecutable CLI shows the graceful "'Simple Launcher' could not calculate the hash value..." prompt with the option to open the global RA window; a missing API key shows "You need to add RetroAchievement login information...". The NES header-strip, system-picker, PS1/RVZ and unsupported-system variants were not exercised.)

12. Debug window & logging

Debug window (DebugWindow, DebugWindowSink) — opening it twice focuses the same window (no duplicate); new log lines auto-scroll; clicking X hides it but logging continues; reopen → buffered history flushed, live entries continue; -debug command-line flag opens it alongside the main window; app exit → no leak errors.
Log files — a rolling daily file sink in the local app data folder (7 days retained) is written; trigger an error → error.log contains environment/exception details.
Bug report sink (BugReportApiSink) — with the API reachable, logs are deleted after a successful submit; unreachable → critical_error.log written; a burst of warnings doesn't grow unbounded (100-cap).

13. Misc services

Help text (HelpUserService, HelpUserManager) — Edit System help pane for e.g. "SNES", "Mame", "PSX1": text, bold/headings, clickable links; unknown system → "No details available"; delete parameters.md → "file is missing" dialog; empty → "empty" dialog; no ## headers → "no valid systems" dialog.
Config persistence (failure paths) — read-only system.xml → 3 retries then "failed to save" logged; no .tmp file left behind; concurrent saves from two windows don't corrupt the file.
MAME data (MameDataService) — with a valid mame.dat, MAME games show descriptions; deleted mame.dat → startup dialog, app still runs; corrupt/0-byte file → graceful failure. (Verified 2026-09-27 on Linux Mint 22.3: valid -> descriptions in list view, Game Details, Global Search "MAME Description", Favorites and Play History columns; deleted -> "Missing Required Files" startup dialog + Warning in error_user*.log, app ran with all 7 games and empty descriptions; 4 KB of random bytes -> Error + MessagePack exception in the log, then the "'Simple Launcher' could not load the file 'mame.dat' or it is corrupted. Do you want to automatically reinstall 'Simple Launcher' to fix it?" Yes/No dialog once the window is shown (No quits the app); the missing case shows the WPF-parity "The following required file(s) are missing: ... Do you want to reinstall...?" Yes/No, and No -> "Please reinstall manually... will shutdown." -> OK quits. Both fixed as BUG-12 on 2026-09-27; see ManualTests.md §8.)
Dialog services / file pickers / dispatcher (WpfMessageDialogService, WpfFilePickerService, WpfDispatcherService, WpfResourceProvider, WpfWindowContext) — browse-for-folder/exe dialogs populate fields; cancel returns null cleanly; dialogs show correct icon/buttons and Yes/No/OK return values; language switch resolves all strings (missing key → key text, no deadlock); no cross-thread exceptions during downloads.
Image loading fallback (WpfImageLoader) — missing/corrupt cover → images\default.png shown; delete the default → "default image not found" dialog; long paths (>260 chars) load.

Appendix A — Orphaned code (no runtime path, no manual test needed)

ConvertChdToCueBin, ConvertChdToIso, ConvertDiscImageToIso (SimpleLauncher\Services\Converters\) — static duplicates of DiscConverter; nothing in the app calls them. Only a code-cleanup check is needed (compile, remove or redirect).
Point, Rectangle (P/Invoke structs in WindowScreenshot) — exercised via the screenshot flow in section 4.

Appendix B — Coverage summary

Covered by unit tests (do not re-test manually): settings & system manager persistence, favorites, play history, game scanner core, file finder, search orchestrator, launch strategies (default, DOSBox, Commander Genius, CHD/CUE, PBP, XISO, ZIP), mount-strategy matching, Core-side emulator config-injection services, models/DTOs, path/URL/sanitizer/pagination/filter helpers, RetroAchievements manager/matcher/hasher, Steam VDF parser, update-check, API connectivity, converters' strategy classes — plus the recently added: parameter resolver API service, system.xml writer + emulator XML helpers, game file watcher, loading overlay, UI reset, status bar, menu check-marks, credential protector (DPAPI), system-selection ViewModel, search-result model, default-folder/temp/missing-file services.
Not covered and listed above: all WPF windows/Views/ViewModels, UI services, app lifecycle, per-emulator launch handlers, live file operations (extraction, mounting, conversion tools), platform scanners, downloads, RA API layer, gamepad/audio, debug/bug-report pipeline.

manual tests

Simple Launcher — Manual Test Plan (areas not covered by unit tests)

1. Startup & app lifecycle

2. Main window UI

3. Game list, search & pages

4. Screenshot & hotkeys

5. Easy Mode & Edit System

Easy Mode wizard (EasyModeWindow)

Edit System save/validation (EditSystemWindow.SaveSystem)

Other dialogs

6. Emulator launch & config injection [Integration]

Launch-time handlers (21 emulators — Services\GameLauncher\Handlers\)

Emulator settings windows (21 dialogs — InjectConfigWindows\ + VMs)

7. Extraction, conversion & mounting [Integration]

8. Game file watcher (5.6.0) — end-to-end flow

9. Platform game scanners [Integration]

10. Gamepad & audio

11. RetroAchievements (app layer) [Integration]

12. Debug window & logging

13. Misc services

Appendix A — Orphaned code (no runtime path, no manual test needed)

Appendix B — Coverage summary

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Easy Mode wizard (`EasyModeWindow`)

Edit System save/validation (`EditSystemWindow.SaveSystem`)

Launch-time handlers (21 emulators — `Services\GameLauncher\Handlers\`)

Emulator settings windows (21 dialogs — `InjectConfigWindows\` + VMs)