diff --git a/src/plugin.ts b/src/plugin.ts
index 77fe28c..ca58feb 100644
--- a/src/plugin.ts
+++ b/src/plugin.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,19 @@ const HeroicConfig = Schema.Struct({
 				"Absolute path to Heroic's config directory. Leave empty to find it automatically.",
 		}),
 	),
+	/**
+	 * Publish a tile that opens the Heroic window itself (design D4) alongside the games. On by
+	 * default: it is what lets someone install, update or log in from the couch.
+	 */
+	launcher: Schema.Boolean.annotate({
+		title: "Show a Heroic tile",
+		description:
+			"Add a tile that opens Heroic itself, so you can manage games from a client.",
+	}).pipe(
+		Schema.withDecodingDefaultKey(Effect.succeed(true), {
+			encodingStrategy: "omit",
+		}),
+	),
 });
 
 /** Heroic's three backends: (store_cache file, runner id, the electron-store key holding games). */
@@ -134,6 +147,39 @@ export const runnerGames = (
 	return out;
 };
 
+/**
+ * The tile that opens Heroic itself (design D4).
+ *
+ * `launcher_ui` is valued by *store id*, never a command: the host resolves "heroic" to the
+ * native binary or the Flatpak, minus the `--no-gui` and the URI that game entries carry, so
+ * the window itself opens (D1). A plugin cannot publish a `command` kind at all since the
+ * 2026-08-05 review made that operator-only.
+ *
+ * CAVEAT: Heroic is a single-instance Electron app, so if a Heroic window is ALREADY open on
+ * the box the spawned process forwards to it and exits. The host's launch path documents the
+ * same caveat for game launches; keeping the session alive across it is WP-B1.
+ *
+ * No art on purpose - see the lutris plugin: a square app icon cover-cropped into a 2:3 tile
+ * looks broken, and every client renders an art-less launcher entry deliberately.
+ *
+ * A standalone exported function so it is testable without standing up the whole plugin —
+ * the same reason `artFile` is exported.
+ */
+export const launcherEntries = (cfg: {
+	launcher?: boolean;
+}): ProviderEntry[] =>
+	cfg.launcher === false
+		? []
+		: [
+				{
+					external_id: "launcher",
+					title: "Heroic",
+					role: "launcher",
+					launch: { kind: "launcher_ui", value: "heroic" },
+					platform: "PC",
+				},
+			];
+
 export const plugin = defineLibraryPlugin({
 	// One string: plugin id, provider id, store claim, and the id of the built-in scanner this
 	// replaces — matching the package and repo names too.
@@ -149,6 +195,8 @@ export const plugin = defineLibraryPlugin({
 			return RUNNERS.flatMap((r) => runnerGames(root, r.file, r.runner, r.key));
 		}),
 
+	launchers: launcherEntries,
+
 	// Heroic rewrites these caches when a game is installed or removed.
 	watchDirs: (cfg) => {
 		const root = findRoot(cfg);
diff --git a/test/heroic.test.ts b/test/heroic.test.ts
index d99d1c5..c241d87 100644
--- a/test/heroic.test.ts
+++ b/test/heroic.test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
 import * as fs from "node:fs";
 import * as os from "node:os";
 import * as path from "node:path";
-import { runnerGames } from "../src/plugin.js";
+import { launcherEntries, runnerGames } from "../src/plugin.js";
 
 // A throwaway Heroic config root with a real store_cache and real install dirs — the scan requires
 // the install dir to EXIST, so a fixture of pure JSON would report nothing and pass vacuously.
@@ -108,3 +108,27 @@ describe("heroic store_cache", () => {
 		expect(runnerGames("/nope/not/here", "x.json", "gog", "games")).toEqual([]);
 	});
 });
+
+describe("the launcher tile", () => {
+	test("is published by default, valued by store id and never by a command", () => {
+		// Design D4 + D1: the plugin names a launcher, the host resolves it to the native binary
+		// or the Flatpak. A `command` kind would be refused (operator-only since the 2026-08-05
+		// review), so `launcher_ui` valued "heroic" is the only shape that can work.
+		const tiles = launcherEntries({});
+		expect(tiles).toHaveLength(1);
+		expect(tiles[0]).toMatchObject({
+			role: "launcher",
+			launch: { kind: "launcher_ui", value: "heroic" },
+		});
+		// `heroic:launcher` — game ids are `<runner>:<appName>`, so this cannot collide.
+		expect(tiles[0]?.external_id).toBe("launcher");
+		expect(tiles[0]?.title).toBe("Heroic");
+		// Deliberately art-less — see the tile's own comment.
+		expect(tiles[0]?.art).toBeUndefined();
+	});
+
+	test("an operator can turn it off", () => {
+		expect(launcherEntries({ launcher: false })).toEqual([]);
+		expect(launcherEntries({ launcher: true })).toHaveLength(1);
+	});
+});