RigReady manual
RigReady is a Windows desktop app for flight and racing sim rigs. Before a session it checks that the rig is ready for the setup you are about to use: the right controllers plugged in, the helper apps running, the monitors arranged, the default audio devices set and the game's files in place. It fixes what it can and launches the game, and afterwards it puts the desk back. Around that it keeps bindings and settings safe with backups, shows what every control does, and has tools for troubleshooting hardware. It is free and open source, for Windows 10 and 11.
The manual is in sections, in the order you are likely to need them: installing and the first setup; the Play screen you use before and after a session; starting a session without the window; setups and how to edit them; monitors and audio; DCS World; the other games; what the buttons do, with the cheat sheets and the trainer, for any game; backups, sharing and safety; the hardware tools; the app and its data folder; AI assistants, which are optional; and troubleshooting.
A few features are not yet verified in the real game or on real hardware: they passed their tests on recorded data from one rig. The changelog lists them under known limitations, and each page concerned says so.
- Getting startedInstall RigReady, see what it finds on your PC on the first run, capture your first setup from the rig, and learn the two modes of the window.
- The Play screenWhat the Play screen shows when you open RigReady: the dial, the status words, the rig drawn as monitors and devices, and the grouped checklist.
- Starting without the windowFive ways to make the rig ready and launch without opening RigReady first: a desktop shortcut, the taskbar, the tray, a hotkey and the command line.
- SetupsWhat a setup is, one per aircraft or car, what it holds, where its file lives in ~/.rigready/profiles, and the Setups page under Configure.
- Monitors and audioThe Monitors page draws your screens to scale as Windows reports them and keeps your saved layouts; the Audio page sets the default devices.
- DCS WorldWhat RigReady does for DCS World, its page under Configure > Games and the tabs, the files it manages under Saved Games, and the rule that DCS must be closed.
- GamesWhich games RigReady knows and how deeply, how a game is found on the PC, what Configure > Games shows for each one, and what a game not on the list gets.
- ControlsWhat the buttons do, for any game whose bindings RigReady reads: the Bindings page and its game picker, cheat sheets, the trainer and the overlay.
- Backups, sharing and safetyHow RigReady keeps copies of your bindings, game settings and setups, and how to get any of them back when something goes wrong.
- HardwareConfigure > Devices and its tools, plus Stream Deck, TrackIR and the virtual controller: what Windows exposes about your gear and what RigReady can know.
- The app and its data folderWhere RigReady keeps its own data and logs, how to move that folder, and the pages about settings, updates, the command palette, diagnostics and privacy.
- AI assistantsThe built-in assistant with a provider you choose, and any assistant on your PC through MCP. Both use the same tools and the same safeguards.
- TroubleshootingHow to read a failing check, what to do about the problems a sim user can run into with RigReady, and how to send a useful problem report.
For contributors
The contributing guide covers setup and the rules. The developer documents live with the code: what the product is, how it is put together, how to add a feature and every requirement with its evidence.