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Mirage

Data Directories

Mirage scans wallpapers from several sources and keeps downloads, caches, and settings in separate locations. Knowing these paths helps with backing up, cleaning up, and troubleshooting.

Wallpaper Source Directories

Section titled “Wallpaper Source Directories”

Mirage’s wallpaper library scans all of the following sources at once (you can view the real paths and “Show in Finder” in the “Wallpaper library” section of General Settings):

Source Description
Steam Workshop directory The system Steam’s default Workshop content directory (App ID 431960)
Custom Workshop directory A Wallpaper Engine content directory you specify manually (once set, the system default directory is demoted to a compatibility fallback)
Mirage download directory Where SteamCMD currently downloads and updates wallpapers (marked “current download location”)
Mirage legacy download directory Only used for compatibility with wallpapers downloaded by older versions
Import directory Local wallpapers imported manually or created from videos

Only subdirectories whose root contains project.json are recognized as wallpapers.

SteamCMD Directory

Section titled “SteamCMD Directory”

The SteamCMD that Mirage manages uses a dedicated directory under the application support directory:

~/Library/Application Support/Mirage/steamcmd/
├── .mirage-ready                       # installation-complete marker
├── home/                               # isolated HOME
│   └── Library/Application Support/Steam/
│       ├── config/config.vdf           # SteamCMD session
│       └── steamapps/workshop/content/431960/   # current download directory
└── steamapps/workshop/content/431960/  # legacy download directory (compatibility)

This directory is accessible only to the current user (0700). See SteamCMD and Steam Login for details.

Cache

Section titled “Cache”

Thumbnails and data from Workshop browsing are cached in the cache directory:

~/Library/Caches/Mirage/WorkshopCache/

Clearing the cache does not affect downloaded wallpapers; it only makes the next browse re-fetch the data.

Screen Saver Component

Section titled “Screen Saver Component”

The live screen saver is installed into the current user’s screen saver directory:

~/Library/Screen Savers/MirageScreenSaver.saver
~/Library/Application Support/Mirage/screensaver.json   # screen saver configuration

See Live Screen Saver.

Settings and Runtime State

Section titled “Settings and Runtime State”
  • Global settings, trusted web wallpapers, the SteamCMD username, and the like are stored in the app’s UserDefaults (preferences).
  • Per-wallpaper runtime state (volume, speed, fill, custom properties, etc.) is stored in UserDefaults under keys of the form Runtime_<id>.

Custom Directories

Section titled “Custom Directories”

In General Settings, you can set custom locations for the “Steam Workshop directory” and the “Import directory”, and you can “Restore Defaults” at any time.