This document provides examples of how to use the Provenance URL scheme to open games using various methods.
The basic format of the Provenance URL scheme is:
provenance://open?parameter=value
To open a game by its MD5 hash:
provenance://open?md5=1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i0j
Replace 1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i0j
with the actual MD5 hash of the game.
To open a game by its name using fuzzy search:
provenance://open?title=Super%20Mario%20Bros
Provenance will search for games with names that match or contain "Super Mario Bros" and open the best match.
To open a game by both its name and system for more precise matching:
provenance://open?title=Super%20Mario%20Bros&system=NES
Provenance will search for games with names that match or contain "Super Mario Bros" on systems that match or contain "NES".
Remember to properly URL-encode any parameters that contain spaces or special characters. For example:
- "Super Mario Bros" becomes "Super%20Mario%20Bros"
- "Pokémon Red" becomes "Pok%C3%A9mon%20Red"
You can use these URLs in the Shortcuts app by adding a "Open URL" action with one of the URLs above.
You can create links in other apps that open Provenance with specific games:
<a href="provenance://open?title=Sonic%20the%20Hedgehog&system=Genesis">Play Sonic the Hedgehog</a>
You can test the URL scheme from Terminal using the open
command:
open "provenance://open?title=Super%20Mario%20Bros&system=NES"
If a game cannot be found with the exact parameters provided:
- When using both name and system, if no match is found, it will fall back to searching by name only.
- When using fuzzy search by name, it will first try an exact match, then fall back to a contains match.
- If no match is found at all, the URL scheme will return false and no game will be opened.
The following legacy parameters are also supported for backward compatibility:
provenance://open?PVGameMD5Key=1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i0j
provenance://open?title=Super%20Mario%20Bros&system=com.provenance.nes
Where system
in this case is the system identifier rather than the system name.