Deciding Whether You Need to Install Porting Lib Manually

The short answer

Usually you do not. Porting Lib is a dependency, and most launchers and mod loaders pull dependencies in automatically when you install a mod that requires it. Manually adding it is only needed when automatic resolution fails or when a mod's page tells you to grab it separately.

How to decide

1. Try installing only the mod you actually want. Launch the game.

2. If it starts and the mod works, you are done. Porting Lib was either bundled or not needed.

3. If the game refuses to launch and the error names Porting Lib or a porting_lib module, add the library.

4. After adding it, relaunch. If the error changes to name a different missing dependency, repeat the process for that one.

Keeping things clean

• Do not add Porting Lib to a pack that has no mods requiring it. It will load and do nothing, which wastes a small amount of memory and clutters your mod list.
• Do not remove Porting Lib while dependent mods are still installed. Those mods will fail to load.
• When you remove a dependent mod, you can usually remove the library too, unless another mod still needs it.

If you manage a large pack, treat Porting Lib like any other shared library: install it once, and let the mods that need it justify its presence.