punktfunk/scripts/steamdeck/README.md

punktfunk host on a Steam Deck

Run a punktfunk host on a Steam Deck — stream its Game Mode (or KDE desktop) to other devices. (Streaming to a Deck is the client; use the Flatpak + Decky plugin instead.)

User-facing guide: docs-site → "SteamOS (Host)" (docs-site/content/docs/steamos-host.md). This README is the deep reference for what the scripts do and how to operate them by hand.

Why build on-device (not a package or prebuilt binary)

SteamOS 3 is an immutable, read-only Arch base:

• No pacman -S for system libs; /usr is read-only and reset on A/B updates.
• A prebuilt binary is fragile — it links the system FFmpeg/glibc, and a SteamOS update can bump those sonames out from under it (the same class of breakage as the NVIDIA-driver-after-update issue).
• The host needs unsandboxed /dev/uinput + /dev/uhid, PipeWire, the compositor, and VAAPI — so Flatpak (the normal Deck app channel) doesn't fit. Flatpak/Decky are for the client.

So the host is built natively inside a Debian-trixie distrobox (pf2), chosen because its FFmpeg/glibc ABI matches SteamOS's — the resulting binary runs natively on SteamOS (the container is only the build environment; punktfunk-host is launched directly, not via distrobox enter). A rebuild always matches the running OS. Encode is VAAPI on the Deck's AMD GPU (NVENC on NVIDIA), auto-selected by PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER=auto.

The honest trade-off: on-device building costs a slow first install (~10–15 min, ~1 GB of image + toolchain) and adds moving parts (apt mirrors, rustup, bun) — the price of an install that can always chase the OS. Both failure modes of that chase are automated away now: punktfunk-rebuild-check rebuilds when an OS update breaks the binary's links, and the atomic-update keep list preserves the /etc tuning. The eventual lighter-weight alternative is a CI-prebuilt bundle with the volatile libraries (FFmpeg et al.) vendored under an $ORIGIN rpath — OS-update-proof without a toolchain on the device — worth it once SteamOS host volume justifies per-release artifact signing/hosting; the from-source path would stay as the dev/fallback route.

The web console is the one part that stays in the container at runtime: it's a Nitro bun build (bun both builds and runs it — the bun-preset output uses Bun.serve with TLS, serving HTTPS (HTTP/1.1 over TLS) with the host's identity cert), so its service does distrobox enter pf2 -- … bun .output/server/index.mjs. bun is provisioned in the container.

Scripts

Script	What it does
install.sh	Idempotent installer: ensure the pf2 distrobox + toolchain → build host + web + plugin runner → write config → tune sysctl + udev + vhci-hcd + input group and register it on SteamOS's atomic-update keep list (sudo) → install + start punktfunk-host / punktfunk-web systemd user services with linger, plus the rebuild check below.
update.sh	Rebuild everything from the current source and restart the services (config + pairings persist). --pull does git pull first. Also retrofits anything a newer install.sh writes (runner, keep-list registration, rebuild check) onto older installs.
rebuild-check.sh	The post-OS-update self-heal (run by punktfunk-rebuild-check.service before the host at session start): ldd-probes the binary — milliseconds when healthy, a full update.sh rebuild only when a SteamOS update actually broke its library links.

git clone https://git.unom.io/unom/punktfunk ~/punktfunk
bash ~/punktfunk/scripts/steamdeck/install.sh            # PIN pairing required (secure default)
bash ~/punktfunk/scripts/steamdeck/install.sh --open     # trusted LAN: accept unpaired clients
bash ~/punktfunk/scripts/steamdeck/install.sh --no-web   # host only, no web console
bash ~/punktfunk/scripts/steamdeck/install.sh --no-gamestream  # native punktfunk/1 only, no Moonlight surface
bash ~/punktfunk/scripts/steamdeck/update.sh             # after pulling new source

Note: unlike a bare serve (native-only by default), the Deck install enables --gamestream by default so stock Moonlight clients work out of the box; --no-gamestream turns that surface off.

Env overrides: PUNKTFUNK_SRC (source dir, default ~/punktfunk), PUNKTFUNK_BOX (container name, default pf2), PUNKTFUNK_MGMT_PORT (47990), PUNKTFUNK_WEB_PORT (47992).

What gets installed

• Binary: ~/punktfunk/target-steamos/release/punktfunk-host (built in pf2, run natively).
• Config: ~/.config/punktfunk/host.env (encoder/compositor) and web.env (generated web login password + session secret). Trust material (cert.pem, mgmt-token, punktfunk1-paired.json) lives here too and persists across updates.
• Services: ~/.config/systemd/user/punktfunk-host.service (runs serve --gamestream --mgmt-bind 0.0.0.0:47990, + --open if chosen — --gamestream adds the Moonlight-compat planes so the Deck's Game Mode also streams to stock Moonlight; the native punktfunk/1 plane is always on), punktfunk-web.service, punktfunk-rebuild-check.service (post-OS-update self-heal, enabled), and punktfunk-scripting.service (plugin runner, opt-in — enable it once you use plugins/scripts). Linger is enabled so they run without a login session.
• Plugin runner: the deb's payload laid out user-scoped (read-only /usr can't take the package): wrapper ~/.local/bin/punktfunk-scripting, pinned bun in ~/.local/lib/punktfunk-scripting/, bundle in ~/.local/share/punktfunk-scripting/.
• System tuning (sudo): /etc/sysctl.d/99-punktfunk-net.conf (32 MB UDP buffers — the #1 high-bitrate lever), /etc/udev/rules.d/60-punktfunk.rules (uinput/uhid access), /etc/modules-load.d/punktfunk.conf (vhci-hcd for the native Deck pad), $USER in the input group — and /etc/atomic-update.conf.d/punktfunk.conf, which registers the three files on SteamOS's atomic-update keep list so A/B OS updates carry them over (verified: without it an update silently strips them — pads degrade to Xbox 360, buffers drop to 208 KB).

Operating

systemctl --user status  punktfunk-host punktfunk-web
journalctl --user -u punktfunk-host -f          # watch sessions / pairing PIN
systemctl --user restart punktfunk-host         # after editing host.env

Pair from the web console (Devices → arm pairing) or directly from a client with the host's PIN. The host advertises over mDNS as _punktfunk._udp, so clients discover it automatically.

Gotchas

• distrobox required. If missing: curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/distrobox/main/install | sh -s -- --prefix ~/.local (then ensure ~/.local/bin is on PATH).
• First build is slow (~10–15 min + ~1 GB toolchain/image). Incremental afterwards.
• No passwordless sudo → the installer skips the sysctl/udev/input steps with a warning; high bitrates will drop packets until you apply 99-punktfunk-net.conf and join input yourself.
• Game Mode auto-suspend drops the host off the network on idle — disable it (Settings → Power) for a headless host.
• WiFi tx ceiling ≈ 250 Mbps goodput (a Deck hardware/driver packet-rate limit, band-independent); fine for 1080p/1440p60. A wired dock lifts it.
• After a SteamOS update nothing should be needed: the /etc tuning survives via the atomic-update keep list, and punktfunk-rebuild-check rebuilds the binary automatically if the new base actually broke its library links (first session start after the update takes the build's few minutes in that case). A manual update.sh remains harmless.