How to Fish Mod Manager: HTF Manager Guide

HTF Manager is a standalone open-source tool for installing, inspecting, updating, disabling, and uninstalling How to Fish packages for BepInEx 5 and MelonLoader. It also supports profiles, conflict checks, dependency destinations, profile import/export, and Thunderstore packages. However, Nexus currently labels the download “Some suspicious files.” Do not run it until you have read that scan, reviewed the linked source, and accepted the risk. ^[01]

Scan status and supported loaders

The scan label is not proof that the program is malicious, and an open-source claim is not proof that a downloaded binary matches reviewed code. Both points are reasons to inspect evidence, not reasons to declare the file safe or unsafe without analysis. ^[01]

What HTF Manager does

The listing describes package installation, inspection, updating, disabling, and removal. It can check destinations and dependencies, warn about conflicts, create separate profiles, and import or export .htfprofile files. Thunderstore packages are also supported. ^[01]

Those features are useful when several mods need different folders, but a manager cannot prove that two gameplay patches are logically compatible. A conflict detector may identify duplicate files or declared dependencies while missing two plugins that patch the same game method at runtime. ^[01]

Review it before running

1. Open the scan details on the original listing and identify which file or behavior triggered the label.
2. Follow the source-code link from the author page and check that the release corresponds to version 0.3.9.
3. Scan the downloaded archive with current local security tools.
4. Keep the archive quarantined until you decide whether the flagged behavior is expected for a manager.
5. Back up the How to Fish save and game-mod folders.
6. Record the clean folder state before allowing the manager to install anything. ^[01]

If you cannot evaluate the scan or source, use manual installation instead. Convenience is not a reason to bypass an unresolved warning. ^[01]

Use profiles without mixing loaders

Create a clean profile first, then a BepInEx or MelonLoader profile, never a combined profile. Add one package, launch a disposable save, and record the result. Exporting a profile can help reproduce a list, but it does not include a compatibility guarantee or necessarily preserve every file outside the manager’s control. ^[01]

When importing a shared .htfprofile, inspect each package and destination before installation. Do not treat a profile from another player as trusted merely because it opens in the manager. ^[01]

Uninstall and recover

Use the manager’s uninstall function only after checking which files it intends to remove. Then compare the game folder with the clean record made before installation. Shared loader files may be required by other packages, so removing a profile should not silently remove a runtime another profile still needs. ^[01]

To remove the manager itself, close it, disable any automatic launch path, and delete only its own application and configuration files as documented by the author. Verify the game starts directly from Steam without the manager. If the game fails, restore the clean mod-folder copy and test the unmodified build before restoring a save. ^[01]

The original Nexus listing contains the download, current scan, and source link. The warning is intentionally repeated here because readers should see it before leaving this site or running the program. ^[01]