enricobuehler
de232ec2f7
The Windows installer ballooned to 154 MB and installed forever because the node-server
bundle externalized the WHOLE @unom/ui dependency tree (payload, lexical, date-fns,
prismjs…) to .output/server/node_modules — 47,567 files / 730 MB copied into Program
Files. Set Nitro `noExternals: true` so every dependency is bundled + tree-shaken into the
server output: .output drops to ~75 files / 10 MB, and the bare external imports
(srvx, seroval…) bun couldn't resolve at runtime are gone — so the console runs on bun
(no node, no node_modules), which is the issue we previously worked around with node.
Windows installer now ships bun.exe + the ~75-file .output (was node.exe + a node_modules
forest) and runs `bun .output\server\index.mjs`:
- windows-host.yml: fetch a pinned portable bun (build tool AND shipped runtime); drop the
node fetch + the .output/server install; smoke-boot under the bundled bun.
- pack-host-installer.ps1 / punktfunk-host.iss: -NodeExe -> -BunExe; stage {app}\bun\bun.exe.
- web-run.cmd / build-web.ps1: run/restart on bun; docs updated.
Net win everywhere: the Linux .deb shrinks (node still runs the self-contained output), and
the docker web image — which already ran `bun run .output/server/index.mjs` with only
.output copied — is fixed (the externals had no node_modules to resolve at runtime).
Validated locally: noExternals build = 75 files / 10 MB; node AND bun both serve /login
(200) + static assets (200) + gate /api (401).
(A true single binary via `bun build --compile` is blocked for now: Nitro serves public
assets from an import.meta-relative path `--compile` doesn't embed (/$bunfs/public); the
75-file payload is the clean result.)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
4.9 KiB
title, description
| title | description |
|---|---|
| Windows Host | Run the punktfunk streaming host on a Windows PC with an NVIDIA GPU. |
Status: implemented and shipping — NVIDIA-only, x64-only. punktfunk is Linux-first, but it also
runs as a native Windows host: a signed installer registers a LocalSystem service that streams
your Windows desktop or games to any punktfunk or Moonlight client, at the client's exact resolution
via a virtual display — including HDR10 (10-bit BT.2020 PQ) when your Windows desktop is in HDR
mode. It's newer and less battle-tested than the Linux host, and it is built specifically around
NVIDIA hardware. (The Linux host is 8-bit only — HDR there is blocked upstream.)
This page is about the Windows host (streaming from a Windows PC). To stream to a Windows PC, see the Windows client.
Requirements
- Windows 10/11, x64. ARM64 is not supported — both NVENC and the virtual-display driver are x64-only.
- An NVIDIA GPU + driver. The host encodes with NVENC (
nvEncodeAPI64.dll); there is no other encoder backend on Windows. - (Optional) ViGEmBus for virtual gamepads — a manual prerequisite for now (releases).
Install
Download the signed punktfunk-host-setup-<ver>.exe from the package registry and run it — it
installs the host into C:\Program Files\punktfunk, optionally installs the bundled SudoVDA
virtual-display driver, and registers + starts the service. Full steps (including the silent install
and the CLI punktfunk-host service install path) are in
Running as a Service → Windows; packaging internals live in
packaging/windows.
The installer also sets up the web management console (status, paired devices, the PIN pairing
flow): it bundles the console plus its own bun runtime and runs it as the PunktfunkWeb service
on http://<this-PC>:3000, starting at boot. During setup you choose the console login
password (pre-filled with a secure random default and shown again on the final page); change it
later in %ProgramData%\punktfunk\web-password. Open the console from any browser on the LAN and log
in — no extra install, and the host's management API stays loopback-only behind it.
How it works
The host installs a LocalSystem SCM service that runs from Session 0 and launches a worker into
the interactive session (CreateProcessAsUserW). That lets it capture the secure desktop (UAC
prompts, the lock screen) and keep streaming across reboots with nobody logged in — the same model
Sunshine and Apollo use. Service registration, firewall rules, and the supervisor all live in
punktfunk-host service install; the installer just lays the exe down and calls it elevated.
One core, Windows backends
Most of punktfunk is platform-agnostic. punktfunk-core (protocol, FEC, crypto, session, transport,
the C ABI), the QUIC control plane, the GameStream wire logic, the management API, and the per-frame
pipeline orchestration are all shared with the Linux host. The Windows host is a set of
#[cfg(windows)] backends behind the same traits the Linux host uses:
| Subsystem | Linux backend | Windows backend |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | xdg ScreenCast portal → PipeWire (dmabuf) | Windows.Graphics.Capture (+ Desktop Duplication for the secure desktop) → D3D11 texture; FP16/10-bit when the desktop is HDR |
| Virtual display | KWin / Mutter / Sway / gamescope | SudoVDA signed IDD — create a WxH@Hz monitor per session, capture it, tear it down |
| Encode | ffmpeg-next NVENC (CUDA hwframes) |
NVENC with a D3D11 device (--features nvenc); HEVC Main10 / BT.2020 PQ for HDR |
| Input — mouse/keyboard | libei / wlr protocols | SendInput (Win32 VK + absolute mouse) |
| Input — gamepads | uinput Xbox 360 pad + rumble | ViGEm virtual pad + rumble back-channel |
| Audio capture | PipeWire sink-monitor | WASAPI loopback |
| Virtual mic | PipeWire Audio/Source |
WASAPI virtual mic |
The virtual display uses SudoVDA (the Sunshine Virtual Display Adapter) — a pre-built, signed Indirect Display Driver — so there is no kernel driver to author or WHQL-sign. The installer bundles and stages it; if it's absent, the host falls back to capturing an existing monitor (losing the per-client native-resolution output).
Limitations
- NVIDIA-only. NVENC is the only encoder backend — there is no AMD / Intel / software encode path on Windows.
- x64-only. No ARM64 build (no ARM64 NVIDIA driver, and SudoVDA is x64-only).
- Newer than the Linux host. The Linux host is the most battle-tested path; the Windows host is more recent, with the virtual-mic and gamepad backends the youngest pieces.