First Launch
The first time you run Chromatics 4, a short welcome wizard guides you through selecting which RGB devices to use. Here's what to expect.
The Welcome screen
When Chromatics opens for the first time, you'll see a Welcome to Chromatics dialog asking you to pick your device providers.
Each tile represents a family of RGB hardware:
Razer
Logitech
Corsair
Cooler Master
SteelSeries
Asus
MSI
Wooting
Novation
OpenRGB
PlayStation (Beta) - DualShock 4 and DualSense controllers
QMK (Beta) - custom keyboards running QMK firmware with Raw HID
Philips Hue - smart bulbs over your local Hue Bridge
LIFX - bulbs, strips, and tiles on your local network
Yeelight (Beta) - bulbs, light strips, and lamps on your local network
Nanoleaf (Beta) - OpenAPI panel controllers, paired one at a time
Alienware (Beta) - AlienFX hardware on Alienware chassis and Dell G-series machines
Windows Dynamic Lighting (Beta) - any device Windows lists in Settings → Personalization → Dynamic Lighting (Windows 11+)
Tick every provider you actually own hardware for. You need to pick at least one to continue. If you're not sure, it's safe to tick all of them. Chromatics only talks to what's connected.
EVision keyboards and Redragon mice aren't in the Welcome wizard. You can turn them on later from Settings → Device Providers.
When you're happy, click Continue. Chromatics will save your choices and open the main window.
Administrator permissions
Chromatics needs elevated permissions to read game memory from Final Fantasy XIV. If it's started without those permissions, you'll see a small prompt on startup asking:
Would you like to relaunch as Administrator?
Yes - Chromatics closes and reopens with the rights it needs.
No - Chromatics keeps running, but FFXIV-driven effects (HP, job gauges, weather, etc.) won't work.
If you click Yes, a second dialog asks whether you'd like Chromatics to always relaunch as admin from now on. Choose Yes to skip this prompt in the future. You can toggle this behaviour any time from Settings → Advanced → Always relaunch Chromatics as Administrator.
The admin prompt only appears when Chromatics is actually running without admin rights. If you launched the app as administrator yourself, or the setting is already on, you won't see it.
The main window
Once the wizard is done, you'll land on the main Chromatics interface. It's organised into a few tabs along the top:
Console - status messages and the app log.
Mappings - where you design what each device does.
Palette - where you customise colours.
Effects - quick on/off toggles for animated effects.
Settings - everything else.
Chromatics loads with a sensible default layer setup, so you can plug in, start the game, and see lighting right away. From there, explore the Using Chromatics section to learn how to make it your own.
What to do next
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