Steam Deck (Decky)

The Decky plugin adds a Slipstream panel to the Steam Deck's Quick Access Menu (the ... button), so you can find a host, pair, and start streaming without leaving Gaming Mode. It's the couch-friendly front end for the Steam Deck, built from real Steam UI, gamepad-navigable end to end.

Under the hood the plugin doesn't decode video itself: it discovers hosts, runs the PIN pairing, and launches the Flatpak client (io.slipstream.Slipstream) the way gamescope needs so it fullscreens correctly. So the Deck has two ways to stream, and they share one client + one paired identity:

• Gaming Mode -> the Decky plugin (this page).
• Desktop Mode -> run the Flatpak directly.

Before you start

You need three things on the Deck:

1. Decky Loader, the plugin loader. Install it from decky.xyz if you haven't already.

2. A Slipstream client on the Deck, the plugin doesn't decode video itself, it launches a client. On a normal Deck that's the Flatpak, installed once in Desktop Mode:

   # Build locally or install a .flatpak from GitHub Releases when attached:
   # flatpak install --user --bundle /path/to/slipstream-client.flatpak

   (Full options: Install a Client -> Steam Deck.) If you have no Flatpak but a native slipstream-client, a sysext, a distro package, a nix profile, your own build, the plugin launches that instead; with both installed the Flatpak wins, unless PF_DECKY_CLIENT=native (or flatpak) is set in the plugin backend's environment. But pairing, Wake-on-LAN and the host game library still go through the Flatpak, so install it on the Deck even then. Both kinds share ~/.config/slipstream, so your identity, known hosts and settings are the same either way.

3. A Slipstream host running on your LAN, see Install the Host. The Deck finds it automatically over mDNS, so nothing to configure here.

Install the plugin

The repository can produce a ready-to-install zip. Build it in clients/decky with pnpm run package, then host the resulting file somewhere the Deck can reach:

1. On the Deck, open the Quick Access Menu (...) -> the plug icon (Decky) -> the gear (Settings) -> enable Developer Mode.
2. Open the new Developer tab and choose Install Plugin from URL.
3. Paste a URL to the generated clients/decky/out/slipstream-v<version>.zip, then confirm.

The Slipstream panel appears in the Quick Access Menu right away, no Deck restart needed.

There is no public Decky feed. Install a newly packaged zip from a reachable URL when updating. For local development, sideload with pnpm run deploy from clients/decky.

Use it

Open the Slipstream panel from the Quick Access Menu, or Open Slipstream for the full-screen page (host list + stream settings).

• Discover, hosts on your network appear automatically (mDNS). Tap Refresh to rescan. A lock icon means the host requires pairing.
• Add a host by hand, if mDNS can't reach it (another subnet, a VPN), tap + on the Hosts tab and enter its address; the port defaults to 9777. Saved hosts can be renamed, re-pointed at a new address, or forgotten from the same row.
• Sleeping host? Streaming sends a Wake-on-LAN packet first, and when one actually went out the Deck waits far longer than usual for the host to answer, so a stream survives a resume from sleep. Nothing to enable, it's a no-op until the plugin has learned that host's MAC address, and the packet only lands if the host machine is armed to wake in its BIOS and its network card.
• Pair, for a locked host, arm pairing on the host (its console or web console shows a 4-digit PIN), then enter that PIN on the Deck's keypad. Pairing persists, so the next connection is silent.
• Stream, pick a host and the stream launches fullscreen in Gaming Mode. The plugin drives a hidden Steam shortcut behind the scenes so gamescope focuses and fullscreens it.
• Library entry, a visible, branded Slipstream app also appears in your Steam library. Launching it opens the client's console home (host picker, pairing, settings), gamepad-navigable , it does not resume a stream. If it ever disappears, the Quick Access Menu panel has a button to put it back.
• Games, tap Games on a host row to browse that host's library, and Pin the ones you play. Pinned games show up on the full page and in the Quick Access Menu as one-tap streams that launch straight into the game.
• Settings, resolution, refresh rate, render scale, bitrate, video codec, gamepad type, host compositor, and mic, written to the client the plugin launches. Leave Resolution / Refresh on Native to get the Deck's own mode, Render scale at 1x unless you want to trade bandwidth for sharpness (>1x) or sharpness for bandwidth (<1x), and Video codec / Host compositor on Automatic, that suits almost every host, so change them only when you're troubleshooting. With Gamepad type on Automatic the Deck's built-in controller is forwarded as a Steam Deck pad (paddles, both trackpads, gyro), that needs Steam Input set to Off for Slipstream (game page -> ⚙ -> Controller Settings), else Steam keeps those controls and only sticks + buttons reach the host.

Steam Input off is a trade-off, not a free win. The plugin installs a Steam Input layout called Slipstream and points its shortcuts at it, and that layout's whole job is making the Deck's touchscreen arrive at the stream as real touch. Leaving Steam Input On with that layout gives you native touch plus a standard gamepad; setting it Off gives you the full Steam Deck pad, paddles, both trackpads, gyro, but the touchscreen stops working as touch. Pick per game, on the game page -> ⚙ -> Controller Settings.

To leave a stream: hold L1 + R1 + Start + Select for about a second and a half, or close the "game" from the Steam overlay. Either ends the session and drops you straight back to Gaming Mode. A quick press of the same four only releases captured input, so it is safe to hit by accident.

Updating

The public repository does not currently provide a Decky or Flatpak update feed. Update the plugin by building or downloading a newer zip, then install its URL again through Decky -> Developer -> Install Plugin from URL. Decky replaces the installed copy in place.

Update a Flatpak bundle by downloading or building a newer file and reinstalling it:

flatpak install --user --bundle slipstream-client-<version>-<arch>.flatpak

If you configure a Flatpak remote, flatpak update --user io.slipstream.Slipstream updates the per-user installation. Do not use sudo for that installation.

Troubleshooting

Nothing here matching? The problem is probably on the host side, start at Troubleshooting, which is organised by symptom (host not found, pairing rejected, black picture).

Uninstalling

Removing the plugin through Decky removes the plugin and nothing else, so do these in order:

1. Remove the plugin. Quick Access Menu (...) -> the plug icon (Decky) -> the gear (Settings) -> Plugins -> Slipstream -> Uninstall.

2. Remove the Steam shortcuts it created. The plugin adds two non-Steam entries, both named Slipstream, the one you see in your library, and a second one it keeps hidden to carry the stream. Decky removes neither. In your library, right-click a Slipstream entry -> Manage -> Remove non-Steam game from your library, and repeat for the hidden one once you've let the library show hidden games.

3. Remove the client, if you're done streaming on this Deck. In Desktop Mode:

   flatpak uninstall --user --delete-data io.slipstream.Slipstream

   Your identity and saved hosts live in ~/.config/slipstream and survive that, delete the directory too for a clean slate. See Removing a client.

4. Revoke the pairing on the host. The host still trusts this Deck until you remove it from its web console, see Managing paired devices.

The Steam Input layout the plugin installed also stays behind as a selectable template named Slipstream (~/.local/share/Steam/controller_base/templates/slipstream.vdf), along with the per-account configset entry pointing at it. Leave them, with the shortcuts gone they apply to nothing, or delete the file if you'd rather not see it offered as a template.

The plugin source lives in clients/decky.