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legendary install is the primary command for downloading and installing games from your Epic Games account. It handles everything from a fresh install to incremental updates using delta patching, DLC management, selective downloading, and repair of corrupted files. The command is also available as legendary download, legendary update, and legendary repair — all four aliases share the same flags and behavior.

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Usage

legendary install <App Name> [options]
Aliases: download, update, repair The <App Name> argument accepts the exact app name (e.g. Anemone), a partial title match, or an abbreviation. For multi-word names, use quotes (e.g. "world of goo").

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Flags

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Installation paths

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--base-path <path>
string
Root directory under which game folders are created. Defaults to ~/Games. All games without an explicit --game-folder will be installed as subdirectories here.
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--game-folder <path>
string
Override the specific folder name (or full path) for this game’s installation. Defaults to the folder name specified in the game’s metadata.

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Download behavior

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--max-shared-memory <size>
integer
Maximum amount of shared memory to allocate for the download manager, in MiB. Default is 1 GiB (1024 MiB). Increase this on systems with ample RAM to speed up large installs.
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--max-workers <num>
integer
Maximum number of parallel download worker processes. Defaults to min(2 × CPU count, 16). Reduce this if the download saturates your network or CPU.
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--force
flag
Download and overwrite all files, ignoring any that already exist on disk. Useful for forcing a clean reinstall.
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--disable-patching
flag
Do not attempt to patch existing files; download entire changed files instead. This increases the download size but avoids potential issues with delta patching.
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--download-only / --no-install
flag
Download all files but do not install the game and do not run any prerequisite installers. Useful for staging downloads ahead of time.
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--update-only
flag
Only perform an update; do nothing if the specified app is not already installed.
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--dl-timeout <sec>
integer
Per-connection timeout for the downloader, in seconds. Default is 10 seconds.
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--ignore-free-space
flag
Do not abort the installation if there is insufficient free disk space. Use with caution.
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--disable-delta-manifests
flag
Do not use delta manifests when updating. This may significantly increase the download size for updates, but can be used to work around delta-related issues.
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--preferred-cdn <hostname>
string
Set the hostname of the preferred CDN to use when available (e.g. epicgames-download1.akamaized.net). Useful for improving download speeds from a specific region.
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--no-https
flag
Download game files over plaintext HTTP instead of HTTPS. Intended for use with a local LAN cache server.
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--dlm-debug
flag
Set the download manager and all worker processes to debug log level. Produces very verbose output — useful when diagnosing download failures.

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Advanced manifest / CDN options

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--manifest <uri>
string
Manifest URL or local file path to use instead of fetching from Epic’s CDN. Useful for installing a specific game version (e.g. downgrading).
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--old-manifest <uri>
string
Manifest to treat as the “old” version for delta patch testing.
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--delta-manifest <uri>
string
Delta manifest URL or path to use for testing.
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--base-url <url>
string
Override the base URL that files are downloaded from. Useful for testing or switching to an alternative CDN.

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Platform

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--platform <Platform>
string
Platform to install the game for. Defaults to the already-installed platform if updating, otherwise Windows.

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Selective downloading (SDL)

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--prefix <prefix>
string
Only download files whose path starts with the given prefix (case-insensitive). Useful for fetching a specific language pack or game component.
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--exclude <prefix>
string
Exclude files whose path starts with the given prefix (case-insensitive).
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--install-tag <tag>
string
Only download files that carry the specified install tag. Tags are defined in the game’s manifest.
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--enable-reordering
flag
Enable a chunk reordering optimization that reduces peak RAM usage during downloads. May produce adverse results for some titles — use only if RAM is a constraint.
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--reset-sdl
flag
Reset all selective downloading (SDL) choices for this title. After resetting, Legendary will prompt you again on the next install/update. A repair run is required to actually download newly selected components.
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--skip-sdl
flag
Skip the SDL prompt entirely and continue with default components only (required game data). No optional language packs or add-ons will be selected.
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--disable-sdl
flag
Disable selective downloading for this title and reset any existing SDL configuration, causing all files to be downloaded.

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DLC

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--with-dlcs
flag
Automatically install all DLCs alongside the base game without prompting.
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--skip-dlcs
flag
Do not ask about installing DLCs; install the base game only.

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Save game path

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--save-path <path>
string
Set the save game path to be used by legendary sync-saves for this title.

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Repair

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--repair
flag
Repair an installed game by verifying all files and redownloading any that are corrupted or missing.
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--repair-and-update
flag
Update the game to the latest version while repairing. Combines an update check with the repair process.

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Examples

# Install a game by app name
legendary install Anemone

# Install using a partial title or abbreviation
legendary install "world of goo"
legendary install wog

# Install to a custom base directory
legendary install Anemone --base-path /mnt/games

# Install with all DLCs, no prompts
legendary install Anemone --with-dlcs

# Update an already-installed game (all four commands are equivalent)
legendary update Anemone
legendary download Anemone
legendary repair Anemone
legendary install Anemone

# Only update if already installed; do nothing otherwise
legendary install Anemone --update-only

# Repair a corrupted install
legendary install Anemone --repair

# Update to the latest version while repairing
legendary install Anemone --repair-and-update

# Download files without installing (stage for later)
legendary install Anemone --download-only

# Install for macOS platform
legendary install Anemone --platform Mac

# Install with increased worker count and shared memory
legendary install Anemone --max-workers 8 --max-shared-memory 2048

# Use a LAN cache (HTTP, no HTTPS)
legendary install Anemone --no-https --preferred-cdn 192.168.1.10

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Notes

The app name passed to legendary install is the one shown by legendary list, not necessarily the display title. However, since version 0.20.12, partial title matches and abbreviations are also accepted.
To see all available app names and their titles, run legendary list first.
Using --force will re-download and overwrite every file regardless of its local state. This is rarely needed — use --repair instead if you suspect file corruption.
Default values for max_memory, max_workers, install_dir, and preferred_cdn can be set permanently in ~/.config/legendary/config.ini, so you don’t need to pass them on every invocation.

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