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punktfunk/docs-site/content/docs/host-cli.md
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docs: repo-wide housekeeping — sync README & docs with the code as shipped
Six parallel audits swept the root docs, docs-site, every per-directory
README, and the packaging docs; every claim below was verified against
the source before editing.

- README: Layout gains the six missing crates (pf-client-core,
  pf-presenter, pf-console-ui, pf-ffvk, pf-driver-proto, punktfunk-tray),
  clients/session, api/ and ci/; Linux/Windows client rows reflect the
  shell + Vulkan-session split and the Vulkan Video -> VAAPI/D3D11VA ->
  software decode chains; the "every client over a C ABI" claim is
  corrected (Rust clients link the core directly); tiered stats overlay
  + console shell noted; Apple row mentions AV1.
- CONTRIBUTING: drop the dead CLAUDE.md link (deliberately untracked);
  point at the README's build/invariants sections. SECURITY: 0.9.0.
- host-cli/pairing: --allow-pairing/--require-pairing are no-op legacy
  names — pairing is required by default, --allow-tofu is the real flag;
  document --data-port and --idle-timeout-ms.
- configuration: document PUNKTFUNK_RECOVER_SESSION_CMD (session-crash
  recovery hook), PUNKTFUNK_MDNS, PUNKTFUNK_DATA_PORT.
- virtual-displays/gnome: GNOME per-client scaling shipped (host-
  persisted) — flip the  to  and describe how it works.
- stats: new "Detail levels" section (Off/Compact/Normal/Detailed +
  per-platform cycle gestures); retire the GTK hand-off note.
- clients/install-client/status/roadmap: decode chains, Windows client
  validation narrowed to HDR-only pending, adaptive bitrate, console
  shell, Apple AV1, Windows host vendor list.
- Sub-READMEs: clients/linux rewritten for the re-architecture; session
  Windows decode rung + d3d11va knob; Windows tiered overlay; Android
  minSdk 28; decky file table; host zerocopy/ path; scripts port
  47992 and steamos-host.md; pf-dualsense source path.
- packaging: canary version bases are tag-derived (<next-minor> via
  pf-version.sh/.ps1), codecs-extra not ffmpeg-full, document the
  pinned offline-Skia tarball + SKIA_BINARIES_URL and vulkan-headers.
- Convert 15 dangling design/*.md links to the punktfunk-planning
  prose convention (those docs live in the private planning repo).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-10 09:13:42 +02:00

5.8 KiB

title, description
title description
Host CLI The punktfunk-host commands and the flags you'll actually use.

The host is one binary, punktfunk-host. Most of the time you'll run a single command; the rest reads its settings from host.env.

serve

The normal way to run a host. By default serve starts the secure native host: the native punktfunk/1 server (QUIC, SPAKE2 PIN pairing, per-direction AEAD) plus the management API/web console — all in one process. The native plane is always on; there is no flag to turn it off.

punktfunk-host serve

Add --gamestream (alias --moonlight) to also run the GameStream/Moonlight-compatible planes (nvhttp pairing, RTSP, ENet control, _nvstream mDNS) — required for stock Moonlight clients. This is opt-in because GameStream carries inherent on-path weaknesses (pairing over plain HTTP; its legacy control encryption can reuse GCM nonces), so enable it only on a trusted LAN. The native plane is immune to those issues.

punktfunk-host serve --gamestream
Flag Meaning
--gamestream / --moonlight Also run the GameStream/Moonlight-compat planes (for stock Moonlight clients). Opt-in, trusted-LAN only — see above.
--native No-op. The native punktfunk/1 server always runs in serve; kept only for backward compatibility.
--native-port <PORT> Native QUIC port (default 9777).
--open Don't require pairing — serve any device on the network. Off by default; only for trusted single-user setups.
--mgmt-bind <IP:PORT> Management API address (default 0.0.0.0:47990 — all interfaces, so paired clients can browse the game library over mTLS; pass 127.0.0.1:47990 to keep it loopback-only).
--mgmt-token <TOKEN> Override the bearer token for the management API.
--no-mdns Skip the mDNS adverts (native + GameStream) — for networks/containers where multicast doesn't work. Clients connect via a manually added host instead. Same as PUNKTFUNK_MDNS=0.
--data-port <PORT> Pin the per-session video data plane to this fixed UDP port and stream direct (no hole-punch) — open exactly that port in the host firewall. Same as PUNKTFUNK_DATA_PORT; default is a random port + hole-punch.

These are the only flags serve accepts.

The management API is always HTTPS. It binds all interfaces by default so a paired client can fetch the game library over its mTLS certificate — but off loopback that certificate reaches only the read-only status + library endpoints. The admin surface (arming pairing, removing devices, session control, library edits) authenticates with a bearer token and is honored from loopback only, so it is never LAN-exposed even under the default wide bind. If you don't pass --mgmt-token, a token is auto-generated and persisted to ~/.config/punktfunk/mgmt-token (the bundled web console reads the same file); --mgmt-token only overrides it. Pass --mgmt-bind 127.0.0.1:47990 to keep 47990 loopback-only. Every endpoint is documented in the interactive API Reference.

By default the host requires pairing — see Pairing & Trust. On serve you arm pairing from the web console (or mgmt API); the host then displays a 4-digit PIN. Pass --open to turn off the mandatory-pairing default and serve any device on the network (trusted single-user setups only). punktfunk1-host (below) requires pairing by default too; its --allow-tofu flag is the test-host equivalent of --open.

punktfunk1-host

A standalone native-only host, mainly for testing the punktfunk/1 path without the GameStream server or web console.

punktfunk-host punktfunk1-host --source virtual
Flag Meaning
--port <N> QUIC listen port (default 9777).
--source synthetic · virtual virtual uses a real virtual display + NVENC; synthetic emits test frames.
--seconds <N> / --frames <N> Bound each session by wall-clock seconds or frame count.
--max-concurrent <N> Stream at most N sessions at once (default 4); overflow waits in the queue.
--max-sessions <N> Exit after N sessions (0 = serve forever).
--allow-tofu Also accept unpaired clients (trust-on-first-use) and advertise pairing as optional. Pairing is required by default; trusted LANs only. (--allow-pairing/--require-pairing are the old names for the default behaviour and are accepted as no-ops.)
--pairing-pin <PIN> Use a fixed pairing PIN instead of a fresh random one per ceremony. For test harnesses/CI only — a guessable PIN defeats the ceremony's rate limit.
--data-port <PORT> Pin the video data plane to this fixed UDP port and stream direct (no hole-punch). Same as PUNKTFUNK_DATA_PORT.
--idle-timeout-ms <MS> Disconnect-detection latency — the QUIC control-connection idle timeout (default 8000).
--no-mdns Skip the _punktfunk._udp advert; clients use --connect HOST:PORT. Same as PUNKTFUNK_MDNS=0.

--max-concurrent and --allow-tofu are punktfunk1-host-onlyserve does not accept them. On serve you arm pairing from the web console instead (--open is its serve-any-device switch), and concurrency is fixed at the built-in default (4 sessions) rather than settable from the command line.

Both serve and punktfunk1-host advertise the host on the network so clients can discover it. List hosts from another machine with punktfunk-probe --discover. Where multicast doesn't work (some Docker/VLAN setups), pass --no-mdns (or set PUNKTFUNK_MDNS=0) and add the host in the client by address instead.

Environment

Most behaviour (compositor, video source, input backend, zero-copy) is set in host.env, not on the command line. When running as a service, the unit loads host.env for you.