docs(nix): bring the Nix docs in line with the module, and fix a stale claim they shared

There are three places Nix is documented — the public docs-site, packaging/nix/
README.md, and packaging/README.md — plus the changelog. All had drifted.

STALE CLAIM, and not only for Nix. install.md said the plugin runner's "user unit
ships **disabled** — enable it once you have" something to run. That is true only
of Arch and source installs: the deb postinst and RPM %post both
`systemctl --global enable punktfunk-scripting.service`, and the Bazzite sysext
bakes in a default.target.wants symlink (build-sysext.sh:113). bazzite.md carried
the same claim about its own image. Both corrected, per channel, with the reason
the default flipped — the library scanners are plugins, so a host without the
runner can come up with an empty library — and the `mask`-not-`disable` opt-out
the sysext's own comment documents.

docs-site:
  * install.md NixOS — `desktopSession` in the example and explained, the runner
    no longer needs enabling, and the host/console line says what autoStart does.
  * running-as-a-service.md — "Restart the host with your desktop" documented the
    drop-in for packaged installs only; NixOS gets its one-liner beside it.
  * bazzite.md — the runner is started for you, not "isn't started".

packaging/nix/README.md:
  * option tables gain `desktopSession`, `gamescopeHdr`, `gamescopePackage`, and
    the `punktfunk` group next to `input` (both are required — the udev rule
    chgrp's the vhci nodes and fails outright if the group was never created).
  * "what the module configures" gains the security.wrappers entry, and a note on
    why the capability sits on the encode worker and never on the host: a wrapper
    raises it into the ambient set, which lands it in the permitted set and fails
    KWin's /proc/<pid>/exe readlink identically to a file capability.
  * the appliance snippet no longer tells you to put pkgs.gamescope on PATH —
    gamescopeHdr does that with the patched build, and desktopSession is called
    out as the thing to leave off there.
  * a caveat recording that `nix flake check` does not check the module, and the
    two rules for editing module-check.nix (assertions stay pure Nix; assert
    list-valued unit fields on the lists, not the rendered text).

packaging/README.md: the flake ships five packages, not "host + client".

CHANGELOG.md v0.27.0: a NixOS section covering the comm/session-detection fix, the
module changes including the scripting default flip as an explicit behaviour
change, and the flake-check gap — plus the documentation bullets above.
This commit is contained in:
2026-08-10 20:24:21 +02:00
parent f8cde0adaf
commit 1befa8a2c4
6 changed files with 164 additions and 19 deletions
+4 -2
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@@ -44,8 +44,10 @@ manifest is OpenPGP-signed by packages@unom.io (key `AF245C506F4E4763`, the same
RPMs), and `punktfunk-sysext` checks that signature against a key baked into the script before it
trusts a single checksum — so it needs `gpg` on the box, and it refuses a feed it can't verify.
The plugin runner rides along in the image but isn't started: run
`systemctl --user enable --now punktfunk-scripting` when you want [plugins](/docs/plugins).
The plugin runner rides along in the image and is **started for you** — the image bakes in its
`default.target.wants` symlink, because the game-library scanners ship as
[plugins](/docs/plugins). To turn it off: `systemctl --user mask punktfunk-scripting` (`mask`, not
`disable` — a plain disable cannot remove a symlink that lives in `/usr`).
From then on:
+26 -5
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@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ services.punktfunk.host = {
enable = true;
users = [ "alice" ]; # added to the `input` group, for virtual gamepads
openFirewall = true;
desktopSession = true; # on a machine you log into — see below
settings = { RUST_LOG = "info"; }; # these become host.env
};
```
@@ -108,13 +109,27 @@ services.punktfunk.host = {
The module does declaratively what the deb/RPM scriptlets do — the systemd user service, udev rules,
kernel modules, sysctl tuning, the firewall ports and `input` group membership — and brings in the
web console alongside the host. Because `settings` writes the environment file for you, skip the
`host.env` step in [After installing](#after-installing). The user services are defined but not
started, so from your graphical session enable the host and the console:
`host.env` step in [After installing](#after-installing).
**Set `desktopSession = true` on any machine somebody logs into.** It ties the host to
`graphical-session.target`, so restarting Plasma or GNOME restarts the host with it. Without it the
host keeps running against a compositor that no longer exists — still listening, still answering,
and failing at capture on every session after that. Leave it off for the headless appliance route
(a pinned compositor or a gamescope box), which may never reach that target. Same reasoning, and
the same caveats for Sway and Hyprland, as [Restart the host with your
desktop](/docs/running-as-a-service#restart-the-host-with-your-desktop).
The host and console user services are defined but not started (set `autoStart = true` for an
appliance), so from your graphical session enable them:
```sh
systemctl --user enable --now punktfunk-host punktfunk-web
```
The plugin runner needs no such step — like the deb and RPM, the module starts it for you, because
the game-library scanners ship as plugins. Opt out with
`services.punktfunk.scripting.autoStart = false;`.
The full option reference (client, console and scripting options, GPU driver notes, headless
appliance setup) is in
[packaging/nix](https://git.unom.io/unom/punktfunk/src/branch/main/packaging/nix/README.md). To
@@ -138,14 +153,20 @@ update, run `nix flake update punktfunk` in your flake directory, then `sudo nix
For Gaming Mode, add the [Decky plugin](/docs/steam-deck) on top of it. Full client instructions
for every device: [Install a Client](/docs/install-client).
- **`punktfunk-scripting`** — the plugin/script runner. Install it if you want
[plugins](/docs/plugins) or [automation](/docs/automation). It's inert until you add something to
run, so its user unit ships **disabled** — enable it once you have:
- **`punktfunk-scripting`** — the plugin/script runner, behind [plugins](/docs/plugins) and
[automation](/docs/automation). The game-library scanners ship as plugins, so a host without the
runner can come up with an empty library — which is why **apt, dnf, the Bazzite sysext and the
NixOS module all start it for you**. On **Arch** and source installs it is not started, so enable
it yourself:
```sh
systemctl --user enable --now punktfunk-scripting
```
To opt out where it *is* on: `systemctl --user mask punktfunk-scripting` (`mask`, not `disable`
a plain disable cannot remove a symlink that lives in `/etc` or `/usr`), or on NixOS
`services.punktfunk.scripting.autoStart = false;`.
## After installing
These three steps are for the **Linux packages**. On Windows the installer does the equivalent for
@@ -108,6 +108,12 @@ the host running against a compositor that no longer exists. It keeps listening
every session after that fails at capture, which is a confusing way to find out. The drop-in makes a
compositor restart a host restart.
On **NixOS** don't copy anything — the module has the option:
```nix
services.punktfunk.host.desktopSession = true;
```
Skip it on the headless/appliance route below (which has its own session unit), and on **Sway or
Hyprland**, which don't hand their session to systemd: they never reach `graphical-session.target`, so
the drop-in is harmless there but does nothing. To make the host come and go with the session on