FAQ - bcssov/IronyModManager GitHub Wiki

This page answers common questions about load order, conflict solver behavior, mod metadata, Linux/macOS issues, updates, and troubleshooting.

1. Load Order & Mod Manager Behavior

Q: What load order does Irony use?

Irony uses the same load order as the Paradox Launcher v2.
Changes you make in Irony are applied directly to the game’s mod registry in a launcher-compatible format.

Q: Does drag-and-drop support multiple items?

Not yet. Multi-select drag-and-drop is planned.
You can track the feature request here:
https://github.com/bcssov/IronyModManager/issues/12

Q: I modified the collection — how do I clean up the patch mod?

You don't need to do anything manually.

  • If you rerun the Conflict Solver, Irony will automatically clean outdated patch entries.
  • You can also temporarily disable or delete the patch mod inside the Collection Mods panel.

2. Conflict Solver & Merging

Q: The conflict solver is missing for my game — why?

Only Stellaris has full conflict solver support.

  • HOI4 supports Analysis Only mode
  • All other supported games use merging only

See the Supported Games page for details.

Q: Editing some conflicts is difficult. Any tips?

Some definitions are extremely complex.
You can configure an external merge tool in Options → External Editor (e.g., WinMerge, KDiff, VS Code) and use:

Right-click → External Merge

The external tool will open the virtual definition and allow full editing.

3. Mod Metadata & Invalid Definitions

Q: Irony reports "invalid definitions". Is this a problem?

Invalid definitions are detected using CWTools.
They usually indicate malformed syntax or unsupported structures in a mod.

You can:

  • Inspect errors in the Invalid folder inside Conflict Solver
  • Provide custom overrides via Custom Patches
  • Fix your own mods directly

If you believe Irony incorrectly flagged something, you can report it.

Q: My mod is flagged incorrectly. Can I tell Irony to ignore a file?

Yes. Inside the file, add one of the following comments on a line by itself:

### Dear Irony please fallback to simple parser

or

### Irony this is a placeholder file please ignore it

or specify placeholder IDs:

### Irony these are placeholder objects please ignore them: id1,id2

These prevent the definition from being used in conflict evaluation.

4. Linux, macOS & Technical Environment

Q: Irony does not detect Stellaris (or another game) on Linux.

Some distros do not set XDG_DATA_HOME.
Irony depends on this path to locate Paradox game directories.

Setting this variable or launching the game once usually resolves the problem.

Q: Irony freezes or shows black windows on Linux.

Possible causes:

  • Avalonia UI bugs on certain distros
  • Wayland incompatibility
  • Tooltips causing UI deadlocks

You can fix this by editing appSettings.json:

"Tooltips": { "Disable": true }

Or enable Wayland support:

"LinuxOptions": { "DisplayServer": "wayland" }

Ensure xwayland is installed if using X11 fallback.

Q: Irony fails to launch on macOS Catalina.

See:
https://github.com/bcssov/IronyModManager/issues/119

This is related to Apple’s notarization and quarantine system.

Q: I run out of RAM when exporting/merging on macOS.

macOS has a very low ulimit (256), limiting how many file handles Irony can use.

Workaround:

  1. Copy appSettings.json → appSettings.override.json
  2. Set "UseFileStreams": true under "OSXOptions"
  3. Open Terminal → run:
    ulimit -n 200000
  4. Launch Irony via Terminal:
    ./IronyModManager

You must repeat step 3 for each Terminal session unless you make the limit permanent.

5. Updates & Crashes

Q: Irony crashes unexpectedly or auto-update fails.

Most commonly caused by:

  • Antivirus blocking Irony
  • Incomplete downloads
  • System-level restrictions

Digitally signed binaries would prevent false positives, but code signing is expensive.

Q: Irony is crashing on startup on Windows.

Install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributable:

6. Workshop & Distribution Behavior

Q: Can Irony upload mods to the Steam Workshop?

No. Irony is a mod manager and conflict solver only.
It cannot upload or publish Workshop mods.

Q: How do I "freeze" my game state?

Options:

  1. Merge → Compress
  2. Merge → Basic
  3. Duplicate a collection → Export → Whole Collection → re-import later

This ensures all mods exist locally in their exact state.

7. Wayland / Linux Issues

Q: Irony shows only a black window under Wayland.

Fix options:

  1. Install xwayland
  2. Change "DisplayServer" to "wayland" or "auto" in appSettings.json

Q: Is there a Wayland-ready package in my distro’s repository?

Some distros (e.g., Arch) offer community packages like irony-mod-manager-bin,
but they are not officially maintained.
Report issues to the package maintainers, not Irony.

Summary

The FAQ covers common questions about load order, conflicts, metadata, Linux/macOS issues, updates, and mod management behavior.
If something is not covered here, check GitHub Discussions or open a new issue.