KDE Plasma (KWin)

Stream a KDE Plasma desktop, or run a KWin box that streams at boot with nobody logged in. Install the host first: Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch or Bazzite.

What worksCopy Anchor Link

• Each client gets its own virtual display at its exact mode, captured on the GPU (NVIDIA, AMD and Intel).
• Keyboard, mouse and touch go straight into KWin, with no "Allow remote control?" dialog.
• A display scale you set for a client comes back on its next connect.
• On Bazzite and SteamOS the host follows a switch to Game Mode and back mid-stream — see Steam / gamescope.

It needs Plasma 6 on a Wayland session; pick it on the login screen. KWin reads the host's permission file when you log in, so log out and back in once after installing the host.

host.envCopy Anchor Link

Nothing is required: the host finds KWin on every connect.

Don't set PUNKTFUNK_COMPOSITOR, WAYLAND_DISPLAY or XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP. A pinned compositor turns off detection and session following, and stale session values point the host at dead sockets. The headless session pins them on purpose. Every other option is in Configuration.

Start the hostCopy Anchor Link

From inside your Plasma session:

systemctl --user enable --now punktfunk-host
journalctl --user -u punktfunk-host -f    # watch it start and print its fingerprint

Then add the drop-in from Restart the host with your desktop, or restarting Plasma leaves the host tied to a KWin that is gone. On a box that switches between the desktop and Game Mode, also run sudo loginctl enable-linger "$USER", or the switch stops the host mid-stream.

Open the web console to pair a client. To serve Moonlight too, see What the unit starts.

Headless sessionCopy Anchor Link

A box with no graphical login runs its own headless KWin session, punktfunk-kde-session, which needs none of the permissions above. It needs KWin 6.5.6 or newer (kwin_wayland --version).

mkdir -p ~/.config/punktfunk
cp /usr/share/punktfunk/host.env.kde ~/.config/punktfunk/host.env  # Ubuntu: punktfunk-host/
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now punktfunk-kde-session punktfunk-host
sudo loginctl enable-linger "$USER"

Full setup: Running as a Service.

Known limitsCopy Anchor Link

• Refresh rates above 60 Hz need KWin 6.6 or newer.
• SDR only: HDR on Linux needs gamescope — see HDR.
• X11 sessions can't stream.

TroubleshootingCopy Anchor Link

punktfunk-host probe-compositor, run inside the session, exits 0 when KWin is ready and prints the reason when it isn't.

KWin does not expose zkde_screencast_unstable_v1Copy Anchor Link

KWin hasn't granted the host its screencast permission. Log out and back in once. If that doesn't fix it, getcap /usr/bin/punktfunk-host must print nothing: KWin can't identify a binary that carries a capability — see GPU scheduling priority.

"KWin virtual output failed: Could not find output"Copy Anchor Link

KWin refused the display; the message arrives in your session's language. Its backend can't create one (a nested KWin, or kwin_wayland --virtual below 6.5.6), or KWin 6.6 created it disabled. The host enables a disabled one and retries on its own. If it keeps failing:

• punktfunk-host list-monitors shows a Virtual-punktfunk-* display marked disabled.
• ~/.config/kwinoutputconfig.json holds a stale entry for it.
• journalctl --user -b -t kwin_wayland says "Applying output configuration failed!": KWin won't enable one more display beside your monitors.

Meanwhile, stream a real monitor instead: Stream this monitor under Displays in the console, or PUNKTFUNK_CAPTURE_MONITOR — see Virtual displays.

"Allow remote control?" appears, or input does nothing, with PUNKTFUNK_INPUT_BACKEND=libeiCopy Anchor Link

The libei input path, and portal capture (PUNKTFUNK_VIDEO_SOURCE=portal), go through KDE's RemoteDesktop portal, which needs a one-time grant. Seed it, then log out and back in:

bash /usr/share/punktfunk/bazzite/kde-desktop-setup.sh    # Fedora, Bazzite

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/flatpak/db                        # Ubuntu, Arch
cp /usr/share/punktfunk*/headless/kde-authorized ~/.local/share/flatpak/db/kde-authorized

Black screen, no pictureCopy Anchor Link

Check you are on Wayland and, on NVIDIA, that the GL userspace is installed. More in Troubleshooting.