Install the pinned toolchain

This procedure establishes one reproducible Windows authoring environment. At the end, WolvenKit can browse your installed game and the framework logs can prove which runtime components loaded.

Version note: the version selection and file layouts below are supported by the linked upstream releases and project documentation. The Lab 1 resources are Structurally validated; installing the prerequisites does not make Lab 1 Runtime-proven.

The repository-wide baseline is recorded in Tested versions. ArchiveXL’s upstream documentation also lists redscript 0.5.31+ as a requirement, so this guide fixes the first compatible stable version, 0.5.31, rather than leaving a clean-install reader with a hidden dependency.

Start from a known game installation

You need:

• 64-bit Windows 10 or 11;
• a legally owned Windows copy of Cyberpunk 2077 and the store or launcher account that owns it;
• enough writable storage for WolvenKit, its asset cache, and projects outside the game directory;
• permission to copy the framework and built mod files into the game directory.

No GitHub account is needed to download public release assets. No Nexus Mods, WolvenKit, Discord, or other service account is required for this book.

Launch the unmodded game once and confirm the version shown by the game is the expected build. Then exit completely. If the installation may be damaged, use your storefront’s verification function; CD Projekt RED documents Verify/Repair for GOG and equivalent Steam/Epic checks.

Store verification repairs official files but may leave extra mod files in place. An installation is a controlled baseline only when you also know what is present under locations such as archive\pc\mod, red4ext, and r6\scripts. Preserve an inventory or use a dedicated test installation. Never delete the whole game directory as a troubleshooting shortcut.

This release was checked against the exact GOG suffix 2.31a. The public patch name and the labels shown by other storefronts may be 2.31; treat those as a separate environment until the example is repeated there.

Install WolvenKit 8.19.0

1. Install Microsoft’s .NET 8 runtime. The WolvenKit 8.19.0 release names .NET 8 as its prerequisite.

2. From that release, download WolvenKit-8.19.0.zip or WolvenKitSetup-8.19.0.exe. Do not download GitHub’s automatically generated “Source code” archives.

3. If you chose the ZIP, extract it into a dedicated, user-writable tools directory. WolvenKit’s project documentation treats the ZIP build as a portable application; it does not belong inside the Cyberpunk directory.

4. Start WolvenKit.exe. On first launch, set Game Executable Path to the actual Cyberpunk2077.exe:

   <Cyberpunk 2077>\bin\x64\Cyberpunk2077.exe
   

5. Set Depot Path to a writable cache directory outside both the game and your projects, for example C:\CyberpunkModding\WolvenKitDepot.

6. Confirm the status bar reports 8.19.0, then close WolvenKit before installing the runtime frameworks.

The upstream download and setup guide and settings reference explain these two paths. The setting called Depot Path is WolvenKit’s local asset cache. It is not a resource’s virtual depot path; that distinction is covered in Project and resource structure.

The separate WolvenKit Console download is not a reader prerequisite for these chapters.

Install the runtime dependencies

All release archives in this section are laid out relative to the Cyberpunk 2077 directory. Extract each archive so that its bin, red4ext, or r6 directory merges with the directory of the same name in the game installation. Do not create an extra wrapper such as Cyberpunk 2077\red4ext-1.30.0\red4ext.

1. Install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 x64 Redistributable required by RED4ext.
2. Download red4ext-1.30.0.zip from the RED4ext 1.30.0 release and extract it into the Cyberpunk 2077 directory. Do not use the separate symbols archive.
3. Download redscript-v0.5.31-windows.zip from the redscript 0.5.31 release and extract it into the same directory.
4. Download ArchiveXL-1.27.0.zip from the ArchiveXL 1.27.0 release and extract it into the same directory.

The RED4ext installation guide and ArchiveXL repository are the authoritative upstream installation references.

At minimum, the merge should leave these files at these relative locations:

bin\x64\winmm.dll
red4ext\RED4ext.dll
red4ext\plugins\ArchiveXL\ArchiveXL.dll

ArchiveXL also supplies files below r6\config and its plugin directory. Their presence is expected; do not cherry-pick only the DLL.

Prove the frameworks start

Launch the game once, reach the main menu, and exit. Check for:

<Cyberpunk 2077>\red4ext\logs\red4ext.log
<Cyberpunk 2077>\red4ext\logs\game.log
<Cyberpunk 2077>\red4ext\plugins\ArchiveXL\ArchiveXL.log
<Cyberpunk 2077>\r6\logs\redscript_rCURRENT.log

The RED4ext documentation identifies red4ext.log and game.log as the loader/plugin checks, while the redscript repository identifies its r6\logs output. ArchiveXL writes its own plugin log after it loads.

Record the version banners and resolve errors before creating a quest. A file existing on disk proves only that it was copied; a clean framework log proves only that the loader reached that component. Neither proves a quest resource was registered or executed.

Setup checkpoint

Before continuing, you should be able to answer yes to all of these:

• Does the unmodded game reach the main menu on the target build?
• Does WolvenKit 8.19.0 point to the real game executable?
• Is the WolvenKit cache outside the game and project directories?
• Do RED4ext, redscript, and ArchiveXL create their expected logs without an unresolved dependency or compilation error?
• Have you recorded any unrelated mods still present in the test installation?

If not, stop here. Quest edits cannot repair a broken authoring or runtime baseline.