For power users who run hactool from many locations, set the HACTOOL_KEYS_FILE environment variable.
Windows (Persistent):
Linux/macOS (Temporary):
export HACTOOL_KEYS_FILE=/home/user/keys/prod.keys
Linux/macOS (Permanent – add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc):
echo 'export HACTOOL_KEYS_FILE="$HOME/keys/prod.keys"' >> ~/.bashrc
By default, hactool looks for prod.keys in the same directory where the hactool executable is located.
If you’re running hactool from a terminal, it also checks your current working directory. hactool prodkeys does not exist fixed
So if you run:
hactool mygame.nsp
…and your prod.keys file is sitting on your desktop, you’ll get the error. For power users who run hactool from many
The error message is misleading. It doesn't always mean the file is truly missing. More often, it means hactool cannot find it or read it properly. Here are the five primary causes:
