The Helper on Linux: Paths and Fixes

This is the detailed companion to Installing the Helper. Read that first. Come here when something on Linux doesn't match the short version, or when you want to know where things are.

Installing from a terminal

The file manager route in the install guide works, but if you'd rather use a terminal:

tar -xzf poeoverlord-helper-*.tar.gz
chmod +x poeoverlord-helper
./poeoverlord-helper

Keep the binary somewhere your user owns, such as ~/.local/bin, rather than /usr/local/bin or /opt. The helper updates itself by writing a new copy over the old one, and it can't do that in a root-owned folder.

No tray icon

Some desktops don't show tray icons out of the box. GNOME needs an AppIndicator extension, such as "AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support", before the icon appears. The helper is running fine without it, but you'll have no menu until the extension is installed.

Where the game's files usually are

The helper needs two locations. The Helper page pre-fills both when you pick Linux, but those are the defaults for a Flatpak Steam install. A native Steam install, or a library on another drive, puts them somewhere else.

Client.txt is the game's log. It's always in a logs folder inside the game install, which under Proton is inside your Steam library:

• Native Steam: usually ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Path of Exile 2/logs/Client.txt
• Flatpak Steam: usually ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Path of Exile 2/logs/Client.txt

Put the full path in the config, with ~ replaced by your home directory. The helper takes log_path and build_planner_path exactly as written and doesn't expand ~, so a path starting with a tilde resolves relative to wherever the binary was launched from and finds nothing. The Helper page's pre-filled paths start with ~ too, so fix them there before you copy the config.

If your library lives elsewhere, find the game folder and use the Client.txt in its logs directory. Set this explicitly on Linux: the helper can try to work the path out from the running game process, but under Proton that detection is unreliable. Either fill in the Client.txt path field on the Helper page before copying the config, or set log_path by hand afterwards.

The BuildPlanner folder is where builds you export from the site are written so the in-game Build Planner can load them. It's under the game's Documents folder inside the Proton prefix, not the install folder:

• Native Steam: usually ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/2694490/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/My Games/Path of Exile 2/BuildPlanner
• Flatpak Steam: the same, under ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/ instead

Auto-detection only covers the default Steam library, so for a non-default library set build_planner_path yourself. The game only creates the folder the first time you save a build in the in-game planner, so it may not exist yet. The helper prints the folder it resolved at the top of its log; check there before guessing.

Where the helper keeps its own files

The tray menu's Open config and Open logs items take you straight to these, but for reference:

• Config: ~/.config/poeoverlord/config.toml
• Logs: ~/.local/share/poeoverlord/logs, one file per day

Updating

The helper checks for new releases in the background. When one exists, an Update to vX.Y.Z item appears at the top of the tray menu.

Linux auto-update isn't working right now. The item appears, but the in-place swap is failing on Linux and I'm looking into it. Until it's fixed, update by hand: download the new .tar.gz from the Helper page, quit the helper, extract the new binary over the old one, and launch it again. Your config is stored separately and carries over untouched.

Troubleshooting

The red and amber dot cases are the same on every platform and are covered at the end of the install guide. These are the Linux-specific ones.

Game status takes a while to change to running. Under Proton, process detection can lag a few seconds after launch. If it never flips, check Open logs for what the helper saw.

Connected and the game is running, but nothing shows up on the site. The helper is reading the wrong Client.txt, or one that doesn't exist. Set log_path to the file in your game's logs folder and restart the helper. The helper only reads new lines from the moment it starts, so a zone you entered before starting it won't appear.

Exported builds never appear in the game. Check the BuildPlanner folder printed at the top of the log against the Proton prefix your game uses. If they differ, set build_planner_path explicitly.

Start over. Quit the helper, delete the config file (Open config shows you where it is), and launch it again. It writes a fresh example config.

Advanced

Every setting in the config can also be given as a command-line flag or a POEOVERLORD_* environment variable. Flags override environment variables, which override the config file, which makes a scripted launch or a second install pointed at another account straightforward. poeoverlord-helper --help lists them all.