Scripting

EmulationStation supports calling external scripts and executables on certain program events.

1. The scripts directory

First, create a new directory called scripts inside the config directory:

Linux (as user pi): mkdir ~/.emulationstation/scripts

2. Event directories

Inside the scripts folder, create a new directory for the kind of event you want to script:

Name	When	Arguments (max. 2)
quit	on program quit	%quit_mode%
reboot	on system reboot (also calls quit first)
shutdown	on system shutdown (also calls quit first)
config-changed	on the change of any configuration option
controls-changed	on change of the control settings (also calls config first)
settings-changed	on change of the regular (non-control) settings (also calls config first)
theme-changed	on change of theme (also calls settings-changed after)	%new_theme% %old_theme%
game-start	before starting a game	%rom_path% %rom_name%
game-end	after finishing a game
screensaver-start	on screensaver activation
screensaver-stop	on screensaver deactivation
sleep	station is without user input for more than systemSleepTime	see note (*)
wake	station returns from sleep (i.e. user input)

(*) sleep/wake use no arguments. systemSleepTime is usually after screenSaverTime (both editable in Screensaver Menu). A value of 0 disables disables sleep respective screensaver.

3. Script calling

Put your executable scripts or binaries into these new directories. They will be called in alphabetic order when the event happens.