punktfunk/docs-site/content/docs/steam-deck.md

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Steam Deck (Decky)	Install the Punktfunk Decky plugin to discover, pair, and stream from the Steam Deck's Gaming Mode — no drop to Desktop.

The Decky plugin adds a Punktfunk panel to the Steam Deck's Quick Access Menu (the … button), so you can find a host, pair, and start streaming without leaving Gaming Mode. It's the couch-friendly front end for the Steam Deck — built from real Steam UI, gamepad-navigable end to end.

The plugin is a launcher, not a second client. It doesn't decode video, browse your library or hold settings of its own — it starts the regular Linux client (usually the io.unom.Punktfunk Flatpak) the way gamescope needs so it fullscreens correctly. Everything the panel doesn't do is one tap away in that client's own gamepad UI. So the Deck has two ways to stream, and they share one client + one paired identity:

• Gaming Mode → the Decky plugin (this page).
• Desktop Mode → run the Flatpak directly, like any Linux app.

Before you start

You need three things on the Deck:

1. Decky Loader — the plugin loader. Install it from decky.xyz if you haven't already.

2. A Punktfunk client on the Deck — the plugin doesn't decode video itself, it launches a client. On a normal Deck that's the Flatpak, installed once in Desktop Mode:

   flatpak install --user https://flatpak.unom.io/io.unom.Punktfunk.flatpakref
   

   (Full options: Install a Client → Steam Deck.) If you have no Flatpak but a native punktfunk-client — a sysext, a distro package, a nix profile, your own build — the plugin uses that instead; with both installed the Flatpak wins, unless PF_DECKY_CLIENT=native (or flatpak) is set in the plugin backend's environment. Both kinds share ~/.config/punktfunk, so your identity, known hosts and settings are the same either way.

   The client must be v0.22.0 or newer. The panel drives everything through the client's headless punktfunk command, which shipped in that release. An older client says so in the panel, with the update button that fixes it right there.

3. A Punktfunk host running on your LAN — see Install the Host. The Deck finds it automatically over mDNS, so nothing to configure here.

Install the plugin

The plugin is published as a ready-to-install zip on every build. You don't need the Decky CLI or a developer toolchain — just paste a URL into Decky:

1. On the Deck, open the Quick Access Menu (…) → the plug icon (Decky) → the gear (Settings) → enable Developer Mode.

2. Open the new Developer tab and choose Install Plugin from URL.

3. Paste the stable link and confirm:

   https://unom.io/pf-decky
   

The Punktfunk panel appears in the Quick Access Menu right away — no Deck restart needed.

Channels. https://unom.io/pf-decky is a short link to the stable channel (moves on vX.Y.Z releases), currently https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/generic/punktfunk-decky/latest/punktfunk.zip. For the latest main build use the canary zip — https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/generic/punktfunk-decky/canary/punktfunk.zip — or pin an exact version with https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/generic/punktfunk-decky/<version>/punktfunk.zip. See Release Channels.

Use it

Open the Punktfunk panel from the Quick Access Menu. It has one list — the hosts you can stream — plus a door into the client's own gamepad UI for everything else.

• Hosts — hosts on your network appear automatically (mDNS), alongside the ones you've already saved. A saved host is also probed directly, so a box reached over a VPN or Tailscale shows as online even though it never advertises. Tap Refresh to rescan. The list sorts online hosts first, then whichever you streamed most recently. A lock icon means the host still has to let this Deck in.

• Let a host in — tapping a locked host opens a small sheet with two ways through:

  • Request access — no PIN at all. See Request access below.
  • Use a PIN instead — arm pairing on the host (its console or web console shows a 4-digit PIN), then enter it on the Deck's keypad.

  Either way the host is remembered, so the next connection is silent.

• Stream — tap a host and the stream launches fullscreen in Gaming Mode. The plugin drives a hidden Steam shortcut behind the scenes so gamescope focuses and fullscreens it.

• Sleeping host? Streaming sends a Wake-on-LAN packet and waits for the host to actually come back before dialling, so a stream survives a resume from sleep. Nothing to enable — it's a no-op until the client has learned that host's MAC address, and the packet only lands if the host machine is armed to wake in its BIOS and its network card.

• Pinned cards — a host with pinned settings profiles shows them nested underneath it as ▸ <Profile name>. Tapping one streams that host with that profile applied — your "4K on the TV" and "battery saver" presets, one tap each. Pins are made in the Punktfunk app (or any other client) and shared across all of them; the panel shows them, it doesn't create them.

• Open Punktfunk — opens the client's console home: the host picker, adding a host by address, pairing, browsing a host's game library, and the full settings screen. This is where resolution, bitrate, codec, audio, controllers and the stats overlay live.

• Library entry — a visible, branded Punktfunk app also appears in your Steam library, and launching it opens that same console home — it does not resume a stream. If it ever disappears, the Quick Access Menu panel has a button to put it back.

Where did the plugin's settings tab go? Into the app, at Open Punktfunk → Settings — the same rows over the same settings, gamepad-navigable, and one tap from the same panel. The plugin used to carry its own copy of that screen, which meant two places to change one setting and a copy that fell behind. There is now one.

With Controller type on Automatic the Deck's built-in controller is forwarded as a Steam Deck pad (paddles, both trackpads, gyro) — that needs Steam Input set to Off for Punktfunk (game page → ⚙ → Controller Settings), else Steam keeps those controls and only sticks + buttons reach the host.

Request access

Request access lets you in without typing a PIN: instead of the host showing you a code, you ask, and whoever is at the host approves the Deck in its web console or on screen.

Tap the host → Request access. The Deck says "Approve this Deck in 's console — the stream starts by itself", and the stream opens and waits. The moment somebody approves it, the picture comes up — no going back to the panel, nothing else to tap. If nobody approves within about three minutes, it gives up like any failed connection and you can try again or use a PIN.

It's the better option when you're not the person sitting at the host, or when reading a PIN off another screen is awkward. Two things to know:

• The host must be advertising on your network for this to be offered. A host you added by address (a VPN box, another subnet) has no advertised identity for the Deck to pin, so the sheet offers the PIN path only and says so. That's a safety rule, not a limitation to work around: pinning the advertised identity is what stops something else answering in the host's place while the Deck waits.
• Once approved, the host shows as paired and every later stream connects silently.

Steam Input off is a trade-off, not a free win. The plugin installs a Steam Input layout called Punktfunk and points its shortcuts at it, and that layout's whole job is making the Deck's touchscreen arrive at the stream as real touch. Leaving Steam Input On with that layout gives you native touch plus a standard gamepad; setting it Off gives you the full Steam Deck pad — paddles, both trackpads, gyro — but the touchscreen stops working as touch. Pick per game, on the game page → ⚙ → Controller Settings.

To leave a stream: hold L1 + R1 + Start + Select for about a second and a half, or close the "game" from the Steam overlay. Either ends the session and drops you straight back to Gaming Mode. A quick press of the same four only releases captured input, so it is safe to hit by accident.

The Steam and … buttons stay with the Deck while streaming. SteamOS opens its own menus for them no matter what, so forwarding the raw press as well opened both menus at once — the Deck's covering the stream. To reach the host's menus instead: hold Select for the host's Steam menu (how it works), or open the Punktfunk panel — while a stream runs it grows a Host menus section whose two buttons, Steam menu on host and Quick access on host, press the button on the host and close the Deck's own menu so the host's shows through. Want the raw forwarding back? Open Punktfunk → Settings → Steam / guide button → Send to host.

Updating

The plugin checks for updates itself — no Decky store needed. It covers both the plugin and the streaming client (they version independently), so when either has a newer build the panel shows an Update button at the top of the panel. Tap it: the client updates in place, and if the plugin itself changed it downloads, verifies, replaces itself, and reloads — all without leaving Gaming Mode.

One exception: if your client isn't one the plugin can install for you (a sysext, a nix profile, a source build), the panel shows you the update command instead of a button — tap-to-install would only fail. A pending plugin update still gets its button.

The plugin check follows the channel you installed from: a plugin installed from the stable link tracks stable releases; one installed from the canary link tracks main builds.

Updating the client from the terminal? The Flatpak client is installed per-user, so run flatpak update --user io.unom.Punktfunk — without sudo. sudo flatpak update only touches the system installation and silently skips the client. (Un-sudo'd flatpak update updates both scopes, so it's the safe default.)

If the plugin Update button never appears (an older Decky Loader, or no network), update the plugin manually: Decky → Developer → Install Plugin from URL, and paste the same channel link again. Decky replaces the installed copy in place.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
The panel says "Update the Punktfunk client"	The installed client predates v0.22.0 and has no punktfunk command to drive. Tap the update button in the same panel, or update it in Desktop Mode.
The stream never starts, or the panel can't reach the client	Install the client Flatpak in Desktop Mode (see Before you start).
No hosts listed	Make sure the host is running and on the same LAN. Tap Refresh. For a host mDNS can't reach, add it by address in Open Punktfunk → Add host.
Pairing fails / "not armed"	The PIN is shown only after you arm pairing on the host. Arm it, then enter the PIN within the window — or use Request access instead, which needs no PIN.
Request access isn't offered	The host isn't advertising on this network, so there's no identity to pin. Use the PIN path.
A request-access stream sits there	That's it waiting — somebody has to approve the Deck on the host. It gives up after about three minutes.
Stream launches but doesn't focus	Start it from the panel (not by launching the client by hand) so Steam/gamescope focuses it.
The stream wedges — black, or won't close	Panel → About → Force-stop, then start it again.
The Punktfunk library entry disappeared	Panel → Recreate library shortcut; it puts the entry back in place.
You want a clean slate	Open Punktfunk → Settings for stream settings, or punktfunk reset in Desktop Mode to forget every saved host. Your paired identity is kept either way.

Nothing here matching? The problem is probably on the host side — start at Troubleshooting, which is organised by symptom (host not found, pairing rejected, black picture).

Uninstalling

Removing the plugin through Decky removes the plugin and nothing else, so do these in order:

1. Remove the plugin. Quick Access Menu (…) → the plug icon (Decky) → the gear (Settings) → Plugins → Punktfunk → Uninstall.

2. Remove the Steam shortcuts it created. The plugin adds two non-Steam entries, both named Punktfunk — the one you see in your library, and a second one it keeps hidden to carry the stream. Decky removes neither. In your library, right-click a Punktfunk entry → Manage → Remove non-Steam game from your library, and repeat for the hidden one once you've let the library show hidden games.

3. Remove the client, if you're done streaming on this Deck. In Desktop Mode:

   flatpak uninstall --user --delete-data io.unom.Punktfunk
   

   Your identity and saved hosts live in ~/.config/punktfunk and survive that — delete the directory too for a clean slate. See Removing a client.

4. Revoke the pairing on the host. The host still trusts this Deck until you remove it from its web console — see Managing paired devices.

The Steam Input layout the plugin installed also stays behind as a selectable template named Punktfunk (~/.local/share/Steam/controller_base/templates/punktfunk.vdf), along with the per-account configset entry pointing at it. Leave them — with the shortcuts gone they apply to nothing — or delete the file if you'd rather not see it offered as a template.

The plugin source lives in clients/decky.