Command reference

Run esx <command> --help for the options of a command. Run esx help-topic for the built-in guides.

archive

Command	Description
esx archive info	Show format, version, compression, sizes and game compatibility warnings
esx archive list	List entries, including byte offsets and texture mip chunks. Supports JSON Lines
esx archive check	Read and decompress every selected entry; report corrupt entries with offsets
esx archive extract	Extract selected entries into a directory. DX10 entries become complete DDS files
esx archive pack	Pack a directory of assets. Output is published after all assets pack successfully

behavior

Command	Description
esx behavior check	Validate a .bhv source and its resolved assets and generated plugin without publishing files
esx behavior plan	Resolve .bhv selectors and show hash-pinned edits, bindings and build inputs without publishing files
esx behavior expand	Print the graph-level source that the compiler makes from a mod source
esx behavior clips	List, for each view, the folder that supplies each animation name and the names that no folder has
esx behavior explain	Show the graphs, states and clips that a vanilla action uses for a template keyword
esx behavior contexts	List archived contexts and their animation folders for a Meshes-relative base graph path
esx behavior build	Compile a .bhv source into a Data-style directory: graph copies, animation metadata and the plugin with its attachment
esx behavior verify	Check that each artifact of a behavior build is in the given archives or Data folder with the same bytes
esx behavior clip-info	Inspect a supported animation clip’s duration and annotations without decompressing bone tracks
esx behavior context-data	Generate native AnimationFileData and AnimationOffsets for one animation folder
esx behavior clip-data	Generate a native V4 ClipGeneratorData file, including referenced graph clips

See Weapon animations.

batch

Command	Description
esx batch	Run many changes on one plugin from a JSON document and save once (all or nothing)

debug

Command	Description
esx debug roundtrip	Decode and re-encode every record in memory; report byte changes without writing a plugin
esx debug explain	Decode a record with a full trace: byte offsets, sizes, hex, union and array decisions, unexpected subrecords and unused data. Start here when a value looks wrong
esx debug subrecords	List the raw subrecords of a record (signature, offset, size, hex) without definitions
esx debug hexdump	Hex dump of a record (header + decompressed data)
esx debug scan	Decode every record of a plugin and report decoding problems (unknown records, unexpected subrecords, unused data, short values)

defs

Command	Description
esx defs list	List all record types of the game
esx defs show	Show the definition tree of a record type (subrecords, fields, types, enums, flags)

game

Command	Description
esx game list	List the games that esx knows and which of them have record definitions
esx game detect	Detect install, Data, INI, saves and activation-list paths, including Steam/Proton

loadorder

Command	Description
esx loadorder show	Show installed plugins, activation, dependencies and assigned slots
esx loadorder check	Validate active plugins, master dependencies and full/light/medium slot limits
esx loadorder write	Export a normalized plugins.txt with active dependencies included. This does not change plugin timestamps in games that order by modification time
esx loadorder merged-patch	Create a merged patch (xEdit: Create Merged Patch): merges leveled lists, container items, faction relations, keywords and other lists of all given plugins into a new plugin
esx loadorder check-leveled-lists	Find circular leveled lists in the winning overrides (xEdit: Check for Circular Leveled Lists)

nif

Command	Description
esx nif show	List FO4 stream-130 blocks, editable fields and array entry schemas
esx nif set	Edit one or more supported fields, preserving geometry and unrelated block bytes
esx nif set-paths	Replace text in the path fields of a mesh by rule, and report each changed field
esx nif insert	Insert a JSON entry into an existing connect-point or furniture-marker array
esx nif remove	Remove one entry from an existing connect-point or furniture-marker array
esx nif connect-points	List a node’s attached connect points, or copy them from another FO4 mesh
esx nif furniture-markers	List a node’s attached furniture markers, or copy them from a template mesh

See Archives.

papyrus

Command	Description
esx papyrus inspect	Inspect compiled Fallout 4 PEX 3.9 object, property and function metadata

Two other commands work with Papyrus scripts. esx plugin check-scripts compares the script bindings of a plugin with the compiled scripts. esx ck compile compiles Papyrus source with the installed Creation Kit compiler.

plugin

Command	Description
esx plugin next-formid	Find the next free object ID, respecting full, light and medium plugin limits
esx plugin info	Show the file header, masters, flags and record counts of a plugin
esx plugin records	List the records of a plugin, with optional filters
esx plugin clean	Clean a plugin like xEdit’s Quick Auto Clean: remove “Identical to Master” records (ITM), undelete and disable deleted references (UDR), and report deleted navmeshes
esx plugin check	Check every record for errors (xEdit: Check for Errors): unresolved FormIDs, wrong reference types, unknown enum values, decoding errors
esx plugin conflicts	List the records of a plugin that override other plugins, with their conflict state
esx plugin create	Create a new empty plugin
esx plugin esl-check	Check whether a plugin can be a light plugin (ESL flag) and what compacting would do
esx plugin compact-esl	Renumber new records outside the light plugin range into it (xEdit: Compact FormIDs for ESL). Plugins loaded with –with that use this plugin are updated too
esx plugin renumber	Renumber all new records of a plugin to consecutive FormIDs (xEdit: Renumber FormIDs from)
esx plugin refs	Build the reference index of the loaded plugins and report counts (xEdit: Build Reference Info)
esx plugin seq	Write the SEQ file of a plugin (start game enabled quests) to Data/Seq/.seq (xEdit: Create SEQ File)
esx plugin diff	Compare two plugins (usually two versions of one plugin): added, removed and changed records with the changed fields (xEdit: Compare To)
esx plugin injected	List injected records: records whose FormID belongs to a master that does not contain them (xEdit shows them with the “injected” filter)
esx plugin masters list	List the masters and which of them are used by FormIDs
esx plugin masters add	Add masters (they must exist in the Data folder). FormIDs are rewritten as needed
esx plugin masters clean	Remove masters that no FormID uses (xEdit: Clean Masters)
esx plugin masters sort	Sort the masters by load order (xEdit: Sort Masters)
esx plugin groups	Show the group (GRUP) structure of a plugin
esx plugin resave	Write the plugin to a new file without changes (tests that the engine writes it back exactly)

probe

Command	Description
esx probe doctor	Check the game runtime, F4SE, the Address Library file, the probe DLL, Proton and the display. Read-only
esx probe install	Install F4SE, the Address Library file and the probe DLL into the test folder
esx probe uninstall	Remove each file of the install manifest whose hash is unchanged
esx probe status	Show the install, the live session and leftover mod files
esx probe start	Build the test profile, start the game with the probe and wait until it is ready
esx probe call	Send one request to the probe of a session
esx probe run	Run a test plan: start a session, run each step, stop the session, report
esx probe stop	Quit the game of a session, stop its processes and remove its mod files from the test folder
esx probe clean	End each session whose game is dead
esx probe ops	List the ops of the probe with their arguments and availability
esx probe log	Print the end of a log of a session: probe, f4se, f4se-loader, papyrus, game or crash

See Game tests.

record

Command	Description
esx record create	Create a record with definition defaults; set its remaining fields before using it in-game
esx record set-deleted	Delete a record body, or restore it from a complete master with VALUE=false
esx record set-partial	Keep only a record’s editor ID, or restore its complete body with VALUE=false
esx record show	Show a record as an element tree
esx record get	Read the value of one element, or of each element that a [*] selector selects
esx record set	Change the value of the elements that a path selects and save the plugin
esx record conflicts	Compare all versions of a record (master and overrides) like xEdit’s conflict view: overall conflict state, state per plugin, and every field that differs
esx record copy	Copy a record into a plugin, as an override (default) or as a new record. Missing masters are added; parent records (CELL/WRLD of a reference, DIAL of an INFO) are copied as overrides too
esx record remove	Remove a record from a plugin (the record itself, not a deleted flag)
esx record refs	List the records that reference a record (xEdit: Referenced By)
esx record change-formid	Change the FormID of a record (and its overrides and all references in the loaded plugins)
esx record retarget	Make every record in the plugin that references RECORD reference NEW instead (xEdit: Change Referencing Records)
esx record overrides	Show all versions of a record in the loaded plugins (master first)

release

Command	Description
esx release check	Run every release check on a plugin and its archives, and give one report

See Archives.

resource

Command	Description
esx resource list	List distinct loose/archive paths. Supports case-insensitive prefixes and globs
esx resource where	Show all copies of an asset, in priority order. Set –data and/or repeat –archive
esx resource extract	Write the winning copy of an asset to a file

rhai

Command	Description
esx rhai run	Run globals and Initialize/Process/Finalize hooks. Preview by default; –apply saves
esx rhai api	List the xEdit-style functions that a Rhai file can call. Pascal source requires translation

See Bulk edits.

search

Command	Description
esx search	Find records by signature, editor ID, name, element values or references

strings

Command	Description
esx strings dump	List every localized string field of a plugin: record, path, table, ID and text
esx strings localize	Move the inline strings of a plugin into .STRINGS files and set the localized flag
esx strings delocalize	Put the strings of a localized plugin back into the plugin and clear the localized flag
esx strings set	Change one entry of a strings table of a localized plugin