Flashback identifies which game you are playing so it can tag every clip with the correct title and fetch the right artwork. Detection happens in real time by inspecting the foreground window — whatever is in focus is treated as the active game. Three complementary strategies are combined: Discord’s community-maintained detectable games list, Steam’s local library manifests, and a set of Minecraft-specific heuristics that cover the many Java-based launchers that do not appear in the Discord list.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/CaramelHQ/Flashback/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
How detection works
Every time Flashback needs to know the current game it follows a strict priority order against the foreground process.Windows tells Flashback which process owns the currently focused window (
GetForegroundWindow → GetWindowThreadProcessId). That process ID is the starting point for all further checks.If the foreground process’s executable path contains a
steamapps/common/ segment, Flashback reads the matching appmanifest_*.acf file directly from that Steam library folder. This yields both the canonical game name and the exact Steam App ID — no network request required, no ambiguity between remasters or sequels that share a name.If the process is not inside a Steam library, Flashback looks up the executable’s basename (e.g.
cyberpunk2077.exe) in Discord’s detectable games list. The lookup is an exact, case-insensitive match. Executables shared by more than one game (engine helpers, anti-cheat processes, and so on) are excluded from the map at build time so they can never produce a false match.Java-based Minecraft clients run through
javaw.exe or java.exe — both excluded from the Discord list because they host thousands of unrelated programs. When the foreground process is one of those generic runtimes, Flashback checks three additional signals in order:minecraft, lunarclient, badlion, feather, labymod, tlauncher, prismlauncher, multimc, modrinth, salwyrr, pojav).glfw30 and the window title contains the word minecraft.Discord detectable games list
The list lives athttps://discord.com/api/v9/applications/detectable and is fetched once, then cached locally at:
The list is built into a hash map at startup: only executables that unambiguously identify a single game are kept. If the same
.exe name appears for multiple games (common with shared engine binaries), it is excluded entirely.Steam game detection
For Steam games Flashback reads the ACF manifest directly from disk — no Steam API, no network call.| ACF field | What Flashback uses it for |
|---|---|
appid | Identifies the exact Steam release for artwork lookups |
name | Display name shown in the library and embedded in the clip |
installdir | Matched against the process path to find the right manifest |
appid is stored alongside the game name in every clip and in the seen-games list. This means remasters and sequels that happen to share a title (such as different entries in the same series) are always told apart.
Minecraft detection
Minecraft and its client ecosystem run on top of the Java runtime, so none of the launchers appear in Discord’s list. Flashback recognises the following clients automatically:| Client / launcher | Detection method |
|---|---|
Vanilla (minecraft in path) | Process path hint |
| Lunar Client | Process path hint (lunarclient) |
| Badlion Client | Process path hint (badlion) |
| Feather Client | Process path hint (feather) |
| LabyMod | Process path hint (labymod) |
| TLauncher | Process path hint (tlauncher) |
| Prism Launcher | Process path hint (prismlauncher) |
| MultiMC | Process path hint (multimc) |
| Modrinth App | Process path hint (modrinth) |
| Salwyrr | Process path hint (salwyrr) |
| PojavLauncher | Process path hint (pojav) |
| Unknown GLFW client | Window class glfw30 + title contains minecraft |
Clip metadata
When a clip is saved, the detected game name is embedded as source metadata inside the MP4 container. This is what the library reads to show the game label on each clip card and to group clips by title — no external database or sidecar file is needed.Seen games and disabling detection
Flashback records every game it has successfully detected in aseen_games list persisted in its settings file (%APPDATA%\com.flashback.app\settings.json). The list is sorted by most recently seen and is used to populate the game filter in the clip library.
You can disable detection for a specific game if you do not want Flashback to tag clips with it. Disabled games are stored in disabled_games inside the same settings file and can be toggled from the application settings.
What to do if your game is not detected
Game is not in Discord's list
Game is not in Discord's list
Some games — especially indie titles, early-access releases, and non-Steam PC ports — may not appear in Discord’s detectable games list yet. Clips will still be recorded; they simply will not carry an automatic game label. You can rename a clip manually from the clip editor.
Steam game shows the wrong name
Steam game shows the wrong name
The name comes from the
name field in the appmanifest_*.acf file inside your Steam library. If Steam has an outdated manifest (for example after a rename or a regional variant), verifying the game’s files in Steam will refresh the manifest.Minecraft is not detected
Minecraft is not detected
Make sure the launcher or its installation folder contains one of the supported path hints (see the table above). Vanilla installations launched directly through the official Minecraft launcher usually resolve via the
minecraft hint. If you use a custom Java path that bypasses the standard install directory, detection will not work.A non-game application is being detected as a game
A non-game application is being detected as a game
Executables shared by multiple programs are excluded from the map automatically. If a specific executable is still causing false matches, please open an issue — the disambiguation logic may need to be updated.
Related pages
Artwork Setup
Configure hero images and icons for detected games.
Clip Library
Browse and filter clips by game name.
Capture Settings
Adjust FPS, resolution, and encoder for recording.
Troubleshooting
Fix common detection and recording problems.