/linux/vns

Textractor on Linux

Created: Jul 13, 2026Last Edited: Jul 13, 2026

Using Textractor, a tool to extract text from Visual Novels to translate, on linux.

Setting up Textractor w/ VNs on Linux

I’ve recently full moved over to linux and one of the things I did not set up from my windows install is Textractor used with VNs for mining cards for my Anki.

Textractor is windows only, so I took a look around for other people’s setups:

I’m currently going through ATRI right now, so running it is extremely simple. Real question is how do I get textractor to run with ATRI?

This is the script I ended up adjusting compared to the one that Mach565 made.

Proton - Experimental is what worked for me.
I used the textractor fork by https://github.com/Chenx221/Textractor
Together with exSTATIC setup described here - https://donkuri.github.io/learn-japanese/mining/#visual-novel-setup

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# This bash script makes it easy to launch Textractor and hook into Steam games
# Two free Japanese Visual Novels are included to provide a sample of the
# format. You will likely need to add your own games here unless the defaults
# work for every game you play and you prefer using the appid.
if [[ -z $1 ]]; then
  echo "No appid or name."
else
  # Set the default Proton and Textractor here. Typically the latest Proton
  # and the 32 bit version Textractor.
  # You can override it for a specific app if needed.
  proton="$HOME/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Proton - Experimental/proton"
  textractor="$HOME/textractor/x86/Textractor.exe"
  # Set the default compat data path here (where all the wine prefixes are).
  # You only need to override this on a per-game basis if you install your
  # games on different drives.
  compat_data_path="$HOME/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata"
  # Default delay so the script can launc the game itself, defined here so it
  # can be manually adjusted if a game takes a while to start
  delay=5 # 20 seconds
  case "$1" in
  # If a different version of Proton/Textractor/Compat data path is needed,
  # make sure to include the appid in the match too,
  # otherwise it'll default to fallback below.
  "Atri" | "1230140")
    appid="1230140"
    ;;
  "Narcissu" | "264380")
    appid="264380"
    # Example of how to override
    proton="$HOME/.steam/debian-installation/steamapps/common/Proton - Experimental"
    textractor="/path/to/other/textractor"

    ;;
  # Use whatever name works for you, no need to type the full name out
  "Higurashi 1")
    appid="310360"
    ;;
  # If no other matches, fall back on using the App ID.
  *)
    appid="$1"
    ;;
  esac
  # compat data
  export STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="$compat_data_path/$appid"
  export WINEPREFIX="$STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH/pfx"
  cmd=("$proton" runinprefix "$textractor")
  steam -applaunch $appid
  sleep $delay
  "${cmd[@]}"
fi