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Leaf Leaf

Building from source

You can build the MLP1 install and recovery ZIPs from public source on a macOS arm64 host. You don’t need a connected device, ScreenScraper credentials, or the private umrk-workspace repo for a development build.

Build the ZIPs

Section titled “Build the ZIPs”

Install Docker and make sure it is running. Clone Leaf into a parent directory, then run these commands from the Leaf checkout:

Terminal window
make bootstrap
docker pull ghcr.io/utility-muffin-research-kitchen/mlp1-toolchain:latest
toolchain_image="$(docker image inspect --format '{{.Id}}' \
  ghcr.io/utility-muffin-research-kitchen/mlp1-toolchain:latest)"
make release-zips DEVICE=mlp1 TOOLCHAIN_IMAGE="$toolchain_image" REBUILD_CORES=1

make bootstrap clones the public sibling repos that Leaf builds. The full sha256: image ID keeps the toolchain selection fixed throughout the build. The first development build may compile missing or stale libretro cores. It also fetches the pinned FFmpeg sources and builds the recording-enabled RetroArch stack. The ZIPs are written under Leaf/build/release/.

After the cores have valid cached outputs for that image ID, leave off REBUILD_CORES=1 on later builds. If a core becomes stale, add the flag again to permit compilation. A build without the flag stops on a missing or stale core before compiling it.

ScreenScraper is disabled in a development build unless you provide your own developer credentials. To enable it, copy Jawaka/.env.example to the ignored Jawaka/.env.local and set SCREENSCRAPER_DEV_ID and SCREENSCRAPER_DEV_PASSWORD, or export both variables in your environment. The ZIP metadata records whether the feature was enabled.

Tagged builds

Section titled “Tagged builds”

Beta and stable ZIPs require ScreenScraper developer credentials and valid cached outputs for all 31 stock-parity cores. They use the same full toolchain image ID for preflight, core report assembly, and packaging. Check the inputs before a tagged build:

Terminal window
make release-preflight DEVICE=mlp1 LEAF_RELEASE_CHANNEL=beta \
  TOOLCHAIN_IMAGE="$toolchain_image" REBUILD_CORES=0 FORCE_REBUILD_CORES=0

Use LEAF_RELEASE_CHANNEL=stable for a stable build. Tagged builds reject REBUILD_CORES=1 and FORCE_REBUILD_CORES=1; prepare any missing core cache entries in a separate development build first. See the Leaf README for the guarded beta-zips and stable-zips commands and release checks.

Stage to a device

Section titled “Stage to a device”

When your MLP1 is connected over ADB, run these commands from Leaf:

Terminal window
make doctor
make stage DEVICE=mlp1 TOOLCHAIN_IMAGE="$toolchain_image"

make doctor checks ADB and the device. You don’t need it for a ZIP build. Leaf also has narrower staging targets for the launcher, RetroArch, and individual apps. See the Repo map for the owning repos.