AutoSwitcher

Automatically set your Twitch category and stream title from the game you're playing.
Built for multiworld and multi-game streams. Fully self-contained: one app, nothing else to install or set up.

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Contents

• Features
• Download & install
• Getting started
• Multiworlds
• Stream titles
• Manual mode
• Emulators & window-title matching (including RetroArch)
• Detection modes
• Notifications
• Updates
• Privacy & data
• Performance
• Building from source
• Troubleshooting
• Changelog

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Features

🎮 Automatic category switching	Map Twitch categories to one or more game executables. Launch or focus a game and your category updates.
🌍 Multiworlds	Save sets of games and activate one to switch between only those games.
📝 Stream title templates	Write your title once with Game Name, Game Executable Name and Custom Name pills. They're filled in on every switch.
🕹️ Emulator support	Match by window title as well as by exe, so one emulator can map to many games. Wildcards are supported.
🔍 Category search with box art	Search Twitch categories directly. Box art is shown everywhere and cached locally.
✋ Manual mode	Set a category and title by hand, which pauses auto-switching until you resume it.
🕘 Recent titles	Your current Twitch title and titles you've used before, one click away.
📡 Live status	A Live / Offline indicator and a persistent On Stream panel showing what's on Twitch, with box art.
⬆️ Auto-updates	Checks GitHub for new versions, downloads in the background while you're offline, and installs in one click.
🔔 Silent toast notifications	Native Windows notifications with box art when your category or title changes. They never chime on stream.
🔐 One-click Twitch login	Secure device-code sign-in that stays connected. There's no client secret and no password stored.
🪶 Lightweight	Event-driven detection, tray mode and tiny network usage, so it won't affect game performance.

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Download & install

1. Go to Releases and download AutoSwitcher-vX.Y.Z.zip (recommended) or the .exe.
2. Unzip it anywhere and run AutoSwitcher.exe. There's no installer.

File	Size	Notes
AutoSwitcher-vX.Y.Z.zip	~70 MB	Standalone app, zipped. The easiest to share.
AutoSwitcher-vX.Y.Z.exe	~180 MB	Standalone app. Runs on any Windows 10/11 x64 PC.
AutoSwitcher-vX.Y.Z-small-needs-dotnet10.exe	~26 MB	Requires the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime.

"Windows protected your PC"? The app isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn on first launch. Click More info → Run anyway. Some chat apps (e.g. Discord) also block unsigned .exe files, so share the .zip or the release link instead.

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Getting started

1. Connect Twitch: open Settings and click Connect with Twitch. Approve the short code at twitch.tv/activate. That's it, and you stay signed in.
2. Add your games: on Mappings, click Add category:
   • Search for the Twitch category (box art included).
   • Add one or more executables with Browse for .exe… or Pick running.
   • Optionally set a Custom Name for each executable, e.g. Zelda OoT SoH.
   • Use the toggle on each category to pause it. It stays in your list but is ignored until you turn it back on.
   • Sort the list by date added, name, or turned-on first, and use All games off / All games on to pause or resume everything at once.
3. Choose how to detect: on Behaviour, pick A game launches or A game window is focused.
4. Set your title (optional): on Stream Titles, write a template and insert name pills.

The On Stream panel

The On Stream panel in the sidebar always shows the category currently set on Twitch. When a mapped game is detected that isn't on stream, it appears underneath: Switching in Ns (with a timer bar) during the focus delay, or Mapped game detected while auto-switch is off. If several mapped games are running, use the ‹ › arrows to flip between them.

Switch now works in two ways:

• On a game that's counting down, it skips the timer. Auto-switch stays on.
• On any other game, it switches to it and pauses auto-switch, so you stay on that category while you jump between windows. Click the amber AUTO OFF tag (or the Auto-switch toggle) to resume.

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Multiworlds

Keep every game you own in Mappings, and save the ones you're playing together as a multiworld:

• New multiworld: give it a name and pick its games (it starts with the games that are turned on right now).
• Activate turns that multiworld's games on and pauses every other mapping, so only those games can switch your category. The active one is marked ACTIVE, and Mappings shows a banner while it's on.
• Deactivate turns it off and puts every game back on or off exactly as it was before you activated it.
• Turning a game on or off by hand so the games no longer match deactivates the multiworld automatically (your change is kept).
• Each multiworld shows its games at a glance. Use the icons to edit (rename or change games), duplicate or delete it.
• All games on / All games off turn every mapping on or pause them all (and deactivate any multiworld).
• The active multiworld is remembered when you close and reopen AutoSwitcher.

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Stream titles

Build a title template once and AutoSwitcher fills it in on every switch:

AUS 18+ | Multiworld Day 2 | Now playing: [Custom Name] | !discord

Pill	Example	Source
Game Name	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	The Twitch category
Game Executable Name	Ship of Harkinian	Read from the exe's product info (editable)
Custom Name	Zelda OoT SoH	Your short name per executable (falls back to the executable name)

• Live Title Preview shows exactly what will be sent, with the real names filled in.
• The character counter counts the filled-in title. Anything past Twitch's 140-character limit is highlighted in red.
• Only real changes are sent. Switching between two executables of the same category doesn't touch your title unless its filled-in text actually changes.
• Apply now pushes the title immediately. Recent Titles keeps your current and previous titles one click away.

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Manual mode

Need to set something by hand? Manual lets you pick any Twitch category and write a title directly, with a pill for each mapped game and your recent titles one click away.

• Apply to Twitch sets the category and title. Update title only leaves the category alone.
• Applying anything here pauses auto-switch, so the next game you focus doesn't overwrite your choice. Turn Auto-switch back on in the sidebar when you're ready.

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Emulators & window-title matching

Emulators and launchers often run many games from one executable. Turn on Match window title for an executable and enter the part of the window title that identifies the game:

Window title	Match text	Result
Donkey Kong 64 (USA) - app31564	Donkey Kong 64 (USA)	✅ matches regardless of the changing suffix
Super Mario 64 [60 FPS]	Super Mario 64	✅ FPS counters in the title don't reset the switch
Zelda - OoT - USA	Zelda*USA	✅ * matches anything in between

• Matching ignores upper and lower case, and the text can appear anywhere in the title.
• Use current title copies the live window title so you only need to trim it.
• Map the same emulator to several categories with different title text. The most specific match wins, and a mapping without title matching acts as the fallback.
• Loading a new game inside an already-focused emulator is detected too.
• Closing the game while the emulator stays open counts as the game closing.

RetroArch

RetroArch's window title doesn't include the game, so AutoSwitcher asks RetroArch directly:

1. In RetroArch, turn on Settings → Network → Network Commands (the port is 55355 unless you change it).
2. In AutoSwitcher, add retroarch.exe to a category. RetroArch (match the loaded game) turns on automatically.
3. Load the game in RetroArch and click Use loaded game, or type part of its name (e.g. Super Mario 64). Test connection shows what RetroArch reports.
4. Add retroarch.exe to each game's category the same way, with that game's name.

The same "most specific match wins" rule applies, so Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee can both be mapped.

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Detection modes

Mode	Best for	How it works
A game window is focused	Multiworlds with several games open	Switches when you click into a mapped game. A configurable focus delay (default 8 s) prevents switching while you click back and forth.
A game launches	One game at a time	Switches when a mapped game starts. When it closes, it switches to another running mapped game, or to your fallback category (optional).

Fallback category (Behaviour, optional): when a game closes and no other mapped game takes over, AutoSwitcher switches to this category, after a short wait (30 s by default) so closing one ROM and loading the next doesn't flip to the fallback in between.

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Notifications

When the category or title changes, a native Windows toast shows:

• the category's box art,
• Stream category updated / Stream title updated,
• how it happened: focused window, launched app, fallback, set manually.

Toasts are silent, and a new switch replaces the previous toast. You can turn them off on Behaviour, or in Windows Settings → System → Notifications → AutoSwitcher.

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Updates

AutoSwitcher keeps itself up to date from this repository's Releases:

• It checks for a new version shortly after starting and every 6 hours.
• When one is found, a notification appears in the bottom-right of the app, and Settings shows an amber Update tag.
• Update now downloads the matching version (standalone or small), installs it and relaunches. It takes a few seconds.
• Every download is checked against GitHub's SHA-256 checksum. If it doesn't match, it's discarded and nothing changes.
• Your mappings, titles and Twitch login are stored in AppData, so updates never touch them.

Options in Settings → Updates:

Option	What it does
Automatically download new versions in the background	Downloads updates for you, but only while you're offline, so it never competes with your stream.
Update automatically on next launch	Installs a downloaded update the next time AutoSwitcher starts, including Start with Windows. Requires the option above.

AutoSwitcher never installs an update or restarts itself without one of these: you click Update now, or you've turned on install on next launch.

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Privacy & data

• Twitch permission: only channel:manage:broadcast, which lets the app change your title and category.
• Sign-in: OAuth Device Code flow with a public client. No password is entered into the app and no client secret ships with it.
• Tokens are encrypted for your Windows user with DPAPI. They refresh automatically, and if the app isn't used for 30 days you sign in again.
• Stored locally:
  • %APPDATA%\AutoSwitcher\config.json: mappings, titles, settings
  • %APPDATA%\AutoSwitcher\tokens.dat: encrypted tokens
  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\AutoSwitcher\art\: cached box art
  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\AutoSwitcher\updates\: downloaded updates (removed after installing)
  • %APPDATA%\AutoSwitcher\logs\: a small detection log (max ~2 MB). Windows that aren't mapped games are logged by exe name only, never by window title. Open it from Settings → Open log folder.
• Nothing is sent anywhere except the Twitch API, plus GitHub when checking for and downloading updates.

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Performance

AutoSwitcher is designed to sit in the tray during a stream without being noticed:

• Focus mode is event-driven: Windows notifies the app of foreground changes, with a cheap once-a-second check of the foreground window so a brief popup can't cancel a switch.
• Running games are tracked by diffing the process list every 2 s, inspecting only new processes.
• Title matching listens only to the focused emulator's window, not to every window on the system.
• Game exits are detected via the process handle, also without polling.
• In the tray, nothing is rendered and memory is trimmed.
• Network use: one small Twitch status call per minute, plus a request only when something actually changes.

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Building from source

Requires the .NET 10 SDK on Windows.

build.cmd          :: small EXE  → dist\AutoSwitcher.exe            (needs .NET 10 Desktop Runtime)
build.cmd full     :: standalone → dist-standalone\AutoSwitcher.exe

Project layout

src/
├─ Core/            Twitch API + auth, game detection, switching rules, config, toasts, native interop
├─ Controls/        Category picker, title template editor, over-limit highlighter, recent titles
├─ Pages/           Mappings, Edit category, Stream Titles, Manual, Behaviour, Settings
├─ Assets/          App icon
├─ Theme.xaml       Colours, typography and control styles
└─ MainWindow.xaml  Sidebar, On Stream panel, update toast, page host

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Troubleshooting

The category doesn't switch

• Make sure Auto-switch is on (sidebar). Manual mode and a manual Switch now pause it. Click AUTO OFF to resume.
• Check the category isn't paused on Mappings (its toggle is off and it shows a PAUSED tag).
• Check that the executable on the mapping matches the game you're running (path or file name).
• In focus mode, the game must stay focused for the focus delay (Behaviour).
• For emulators, check the Match window title text appears in the window's title (use Use current title to copy it).
• If a game runs as administrator, AutoSwitcher may not notice it closing (for the fallback category). Running AutoSwitcher as administrator too fixes that.
• Still stuck? Settings → Open log folder shows what was detected and why it did or didn't switch.

No toast notifications

• Turn on Toast notification on switch on Behaviour.
• Check Settings → System → Notifications → AutoSwitcher is enabled.
• Windows Do Not Disturb (including "when playing a game") hides toasts.
• No toasts over fullscreen games (Behaviour) skips toasts while a fullscreen game is running.

"Connect with Twitch" fails or I keep getting signed out

• Check your internet connection and try again. Each code is valid for 30 minutes; if it expired, click Connect with Twitch for a new one.
• If the app hasn't run for 30+ days, Twitch requires signing in again.

The title was cut off

Twitch titles are limited to 140 characters. The red highlight in the editor shows what will be cut once names are filled in.