Steam Deck (Decky)

The Decky plugin adds a Punktfunk panel to the Quick Access Menu (the … button), so you can find a host, pair and stream without leaving Gaming Mode.

The plugin launches the Linux app and uses its settings. In Desktop Mode, run the app directly. Both share one identity and one list of hosts.

Before you startCopy Anchor Link

1. Install Decky Loader.

2. Install the Punktfunk client, in Desktop Mode:

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   flatpak install --user https://flatpak.unom.io/io.unom.punktfunk.flatpakref

   A native punktfunk-client (a sysext, a distro package, your own build) works too. With both installed the Flatpak wins; set PF_DECKY_CLIENT=native in the plugin's environment to change that. The client must be v0.22.0 or newer.

3. Run a Punktfunk host on your network.

Install the pluginCopy Anchor Link

1. Open the Quick Access Menu → the plug icon (Decky) → the gear → turn on Developer Mode.
2. Open the Developer tab and choose Install Plugin from URL.
3. Paste https://unom.io/pf-decky and confirm.

The Punktfunk panel appears right away. That link is the stable channel. For canary builds, paste https://unom.io/pf-decky-canary instead. To pin a version, see Release Channels.

Use itCopy Anchor Link

Open the Punktfunk panel from the Quick Access Menu. From the top, it shows a waiting update, the running stream, your hosts, then Punktfunk, Troubleshooting and About.

• Hosts lists the hosts this Deck can stream, one row each. Tap a host to stream it fullscreen. A sleeping host is woken first once the client knows its MAC address; its row then reads Offline · wakes on connect.
• ▾ beside a host opens its options. The ☰ button does the same while the host is selected. Pick a profile to stream as it this time only; the check marks the profile this Deck plays as. Pick a preset to stream with it. It also holds Wake host while the host sleeps, and the host power actions this Deck may run while it's on. A host with nothing to pick has no ▾. Pin presets in the Punktfunk app; the panel only shows them.
• Screen, in the same menu, picks how this Deck uses the host's screens from the next stream on. Only screen turns the host's monitors off while you stream. Main screen leaves them on and opens apps on the Deck. Second screen makes the Deck one more screen beside them. Under Show a monitor, pick a monitor to stream what it shows. The check marks what the next stream gets. Picking needs Choose its screen in this Deck's access. Without it, or while the host's preset picks the screen, the menu shows the current pick and says why.
• Needs access lists hosts that haven't let this Deck in yet. Tap one and choose Request access or Use a PIN instead…. See Request access, or pair with a PIN. After that, the host moves to Hosts.
• Refresh, the last row under the hosts, rescans.
• Open Punktfunk opens the app's console: add a host by address, pair, browse a host's library, and change settings.

The plugin also puts a Punktfunk entry in your Steam library. It opens the same console.

Request accessCopy Anchor Link

Tap the host under Needs access → Request access. The sheet waits until someone approves the Deck in the host's web console, then the host moves to Hosts. With no approval in about three minutes it gives up. A host that takes new devices without approval offers Connect instead, which streams right away.

The host must be advertising on your network. A host you added by address offers the PIN only.

Stream from Steam's Play buttonCopy Anchor Link

On a game's page, press ▾ beside Play. Hosts with that game in their library are listed with a small Punktfunk mark. Pick one and Play becomes Stream, even when the game isn't installed on the Deck. Pick This device to hand the button back to Steam. The panel's Punktfunk in Steam's Play menu switch turns this off.

Controls while streamingCopy Anchor Link

While a stream runs, the panel opens with a Streaming section.

• Leave: hold L1 + R1 + Start + Select for a second, quit the game from the Steam overlay, or tap Stop under Streaming. Change the button combination under Open Punktfunk → Settings → Input → Shortcuts.
• The Steam and … buttons open the Deck's own menus. To press them on the host, hold Select, or tap Steam menu on host or Quick access on host under Streaming. To send them raw instead, set Open Punktfunk → Settings → Controllers → Guide button to Send to host (turn on Show advanced first).
• End game: a stream started from a game's page adds End game to Streaming. It closes the game on the host, then the stream.
• Steam Input. The host always gets the full Steam Deck controller: paddles, both trackpads and gyro. Set a game's controls in Steam on the host, during a stream so Steam there sees the Deck: send the Steam button to the host as above, then open the game's controller settings. On the Deck, every stream uses the Punktfunk layout the plugin installs, even when the overlay shows the game's name. That layout sends the touchscreen as real touch. A different layout stops touch, and any key or mouse binding in it reaches the host on top of the controller.

UpdatingCopy Anchor Link

When the plugin or the client has an update, the panel shows Update Punktfunk at the top. Tap it; nothing leaves Gaming Mode. A client the plugin can't update (a sysext, a nix profile, a source build) shows the update command instead. To check right away, tap About → Check for updates.

The plugin follows the channel you installed it from. If the button never appears, install the plugin from the same URL again; Decky replaces it in place.

TroubleshootingCopy Anchor Link

For host-side problems, start at Troubleshooting.

The panel says "Update the Punktfunk client"Copy Anchor Link

The client is older than v0.22.0. Tap Update Punktfunk in the panel, or update it in Desktop Mode.

The panel says "Punktfunk isn’t installed"Copy Anchor Link

The plugin found no client on the Deck. Install the Flatpak in Desktop Mode.

No hosts listedCopy Anchor Link

The host isn't reachable over mDNS. Check it runs on the same network and tap Refresh. For a VPN or another subnet, add it by address in Open Punktfunk.

Pairing failsCopy Anchor Link

The PIN was wrong or had run out. Click Pair a device in the host's console again and retry, or use Request access.

Request access isn't offeredCopy Anchor Link

The host isn't advertising on this network. Use the PIN.

Punktfunk returns to Play within a secondCopy Anchor Link

Steam ran it through Proton. Once an entry has had a compatibility tool set, even back to Default, Steam runs it with its default Proton until Steam restarts. Update the plugin: it replaces its own entries when that happens. For an entry you added yourself, set its compatibility tool to Default, then restart Steam.

The stream launches but doesn't take focusCopy Anchor Link

Start it from the panel, not by launching the client yourself.

A host is missing from a game's ▾ menuCopy Anchor Link

The host must be paired and online, and have the game in its library as a Steam title. Open the panel once to rescan, then reopen the game page. Check that Punktfunk in Steam's Play menu is on.

Play stays green after picking a hostCopy Anchor Link

Reopen the game page.

Hidden entries named after games pile upCopy Anchor Link

Each game streamed from its page has one. Panel → Troubleshooting → Remove game shortcuts.

The stream is stuck, black or won't closeCopy Anchor Link

Panel → Troubleshooting → Force-stop, then start it again. While the panel shows Streaming, its Stop does the same.

The Punktfunk library entry is goneCopy Anchor Link

Panel → Troubleshooting → Recreate library shortcut.

UninstallingCopy Anchor Link

1. In the panel, tap Troubleshooting → Remove game shortcuts.

2. Remove the plugin: Quick Access Menu → plug icon → gear → Plugins → Punktfunk → Uninstall.

3. Remove the two non-Steam entries named Punktfunk (one is hidden): in your library, Manage → Remove non-Steam game from your library.

4. To remove the client too, in Desktop Mode:

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   flatpak uninstall --user --delete-data io.unom.punktfunk

   Delete ~/.config/punktfunk as well to forget this Deck's identity and saved hosts.

5. On the host, unpair the Deck.

The Steam Input template stays behind at ~/.local/share/Steam/controller_base/templates/punktfunk.vdf; delete it if you like.

The plugin source is clients/decky.