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punktfunk/clients/linux
enricobuehlerandClaude Opus 5 9c5af8d7e1
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fix(clients): the settings you chose reach the stream again, and four more that never did
Since spec mode (`f32c3aaa`, shipped in 0.22.0) the GTK shell has handed the session
a `--resolved-spec` built from `Settings::default()`. A session running from a spec
performs ZERO store reads by design, so every stream since has run at the defaults:
`bitrate_kbps: 0` reaches the host, which reads it as its 20 Mbps fallback — the
field report this starts from, "my bitrate seems to be stuck at 20 MBPS" on 0.22.3 —
and with it the resolution, refresh, render scale, codec, decoder, HDR, 4:4:4, audio
channels, mic, touch/mouse mode, invert scroll, stats tier, match-window and gamepad
type. Profiles never applied at all: the spec's `profile` was None, and spec mode
ignores `--profile`. The tell in the wild is that the GPU and audio-device pickers
kept working — the session reads those three off disk into env vars before it reads
the spec.

The plan carried a comment explaining that `settings` "carries only what the argv
needs (the fullscreen flag)". That was true when it was written and stopped being
true one commit later, in another file. `ConnectPlan::for_target` answers that shape
of bug: a front-end holding its own request type resolves through the same helper the
session's compat path uses, so there is no hand-built `Settings` left to go stale.
The GTK shell's `fullscreen_on_stream` parameter goes with it — that is a tier-P
field, and a shell-read global was beating a profile that set it. The Windows shell
was never affected (it spawns with no spec) but had the same fullscreen-vs-profile
bug, so it moves onto the resolver too.

The audit that followed found four more settings stored, rendered in two UIs, and
read by nothing:

- `enable_444` never became `VIDEO_CAP_444`. "Full chroma (4:4:4)" is announced in
  the 0.22.0 notes for Linux and Windows and did nothing on either; only Apple
  advertised the bit. The host already gates it on its own policy, its capturer,
  HEVC and a real GPU probe, and answers the resolved chroma in the Welcome before
  we build a decoder — the client only has to ask. There is no desktop decode probe
  (Apple has `Stage444Probe`), but the presenter bails cleanly on a plane format it
  doesn't know and demotes to software, so the downside is a slow decode, not a
  broken one.
- `session_params` picked the HEIGHT fallback off `settings.width == 0`.
- `cli::exec_session` dropped `--profile` from its forward list, so
  `punktfunk --connect … --profile Work` from a script or a Decky wrapper streamed
  with the host's binding instead.
- `ResolvedSpec::write_temp` named the spec by the SPAWNER's pid alone, so a
  cancelled connect and the retry behind it shared one path — and the first child's
  exit deleted the file the second was still starting up to read.

The regression test asserts the plan carries the profile-overlaid bitrate and that
the spec equals it. On the old code both are 0.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-31 19:32:51 +02:00
..

punktfunk — Linux client

The native Linux app for streaming a punktfunk host to your desktop, laptop, or Steam Deck. It's a clean relm4/GTK4/libadwaita shell that finds hosts on your network, pairs with a PIN, and manages your settings and library — the stream itself runs in the sibling punktfunk-session Vulkan binary (clients/session), which the shell spawns, putting the picture on glass at your display's own resolution and refresh rate.

Built in Rust end to end (no C ABI): the shell shares its plumbing with the session binary through crates/pf-client-core, which links the punktfunk-core protocol crate and speaks the fast punktfunk/1 protocol — QUIC control plane, GF(2¹⁶) FEC + AES-GCM data plane.

Features

  • Zero-copy hardware decode — the session presenter decodes via Vulkan Video on every GPU vendor (including NVIDIA), falling back to FFmpeg VAAPI → DRM-PRIME dmabuf and then software when Vulkan Video is unavailable.
  • Your display's native mode — the host builds a virtual output at exactly your WxH@Hz; no scaling, no letterboxing. Steady 60 fps at 1080p60, ~6 ms capture→decoded on the LAN.
  • Audio both ways — PipeWire playback with a jitter ring, plus mic uplink to the host.
  • Full controller support — SDL3 gamepads with rumble and DualSense fidelity (lightbar, player LEDs, touchpad, motion, adaptive-trigger replay). Click-to-capture keyboard and mouse, with a release chord (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Q) and focus-loss release.
  • Find hosts automatically — mDNS discovery lists hosts on your LAN; saved hosts persist. First connect does a one-time SPAKE2 PIN pairing (or TOFU on trusted LANs), then reconnects on a pinned identity.
  • Per-host speed test to pick a bitrate, plus compositor and mode preferences in Settings.
  • Game library browser (experimental, off by default) — "Browse library…" on a saved host shows its games (Steam + custom) as a poster grid; click one to launch it in the session. Fetched from the host's management API over mTLS — paired devices are authorized by their certificate, no extra host setup.
  • Gamepad library launcher (--browse host) — a console-style, controller-driven library view of a paired host's games, rendered by the session binary's Skia console UI: A plays the focused title, B quits, L1/R1 jump. Built for the Steam Deck plugin's "Open library" launch; session end returns to the launcher. Arrow keys/Enter/Esc drive it too (no pad needed).

Get it

Most people should install a package rather than build from source:

Distro Install
Flatpak (any distro, Steam Deck) io.unom.Punktfunk — see packaging/flatpak
Ubuntu / Debian (apt) sudo apt install punktfunk-client (after adding the repo)
Fedora / Bazzite (rpm) rpm-ostree install punktfunk-client
Arch (PKGBUILD) see packaging/arch

Per-device install steps and pairing walkthrough: docs.punktfunk.unom.io/docs/install-client.

Build & run from source

Requires GTK ≥ 4.16, libadwaita ≥ 1.5, FFmpeg 7 or 8 (with VAAPI for hardware decode), PipeWire, and SDL3 (with hidapi) development packages.

# from the repo root
cargo run -p punktfunk-client-linux                 # launch the app
cargo run -p punktfunk-client-linux -- --connect HOST[:PORT]   # skip the host list and connect
cargo run -p punktfunk-client-linux -- --browse HOST           # the gamepad library launcher

The binary is named punktfunk-client — the relm4/libadwaita desktop shell (hosts, pairing/trust, settings, the desktop library page). Every stream and the console game library run in the sibling punktfunk-session Vulkan binary; the shell spawns it for connects, and --connect/--browse on the shell exec it directly (so the Decky wrapper keeps working unchanged). Headless flags stay in the shell: --pair <PIN> --connect host[:port] (pairing ceremony), --wake host[:port], and --library host[:mgmt_port] (print a host's game library).

Layout

src/
  main.rs · app.rs        entry point, relm4 AppModel (window, trust gate, session child
                          lifecycle, typed messages), primary menu, CSS
  cli.rs                  headless paths (--pair/--wake/--library), the --connect/--browse
                          exec handoff to punktfunk-session, screenshot scenes
  ui_hosts.rs             hosts page component (FactoryVecDeque cards, saved + discovered
                          grids, add-host dialog, banner)
  ui_library.rs           game-library poster grid (per-host, launches titles)
  ui_trust.rs             TOFU / PIN-pairing / request-access dialogs
  ui_settings.rs          resolution · refresh · decoder · bitrate · compositor · mic
  spawn.rs                the session-child plumbing (stdout contract → AppMsg)
tools/screenshots.sh      store screenshot capture (app self-capture; Xvfb fallback)

The UI-agnostic plumbing — session pump, FFmpeg decode, PipeWire audio, SDL3 gamepads + keymap, trust store, mDNS discovery, library client, Wake-on-LAN — lives in crates/pf-client-core, shared with the Vulkan session binary.