CouchLink

Console-style Steam Remote Play between a Steam Machine and a Steam Deck. Wake the host from the couch, sleep it when you're done, and see at a glance whether it's awake.

Install · Pair · Daily use · Limitations · Architecture

---

The plugin auto-detects its role from the hardware (Steam Machine → host, Steam Deck → client) and pairs the two with a single "Allow" press on the host's screen. Steam Remote Play itself is untouched — this only takes care of what Steam doesn't.

Deck (client)	Steam Machine (host)
Wake host (Wake-on-LAN) · Sleep host · Power off host	Wake-on-LAN armed on the NIC at every boot
Live status in the plugin title (awake / asleep / streaming) + toasts	Auto-sleep N min after the stream ends
"Leaving home" mode: keep the host awake for internet streaming	Sleep when idle (no stream and no local input for N min)
Last stream stats (fps, bitrate, ping, slow stages)	Local-input guard: never sleeps while someone plays at the TV
One-tap host discovery + approve-on-host pairing	Token-protected LAN API with rate limiting
Optional: wake host when the Deck resumes / when the Library opens	Optional fixed IP for faster resume; experimental stream display profile

How it works

flowchart LR
    subgraph Deck["🎮 Steam Deck — client"]
        C1["Wake / Sleep / Power off"]
        C2["Status in plugin title<br/>+ toasts"]
        C3["Leaving-home mode"]
    end
    subgraph Host["🖥️ Steam Machine — host"]
        H1["Wake-on-LAN armed<br/>on the NIC at boot"]
        H2["Auto-sleep after stream<br/>Sleep when idle"]
        H3["Local-input guard"]
    end
    C1 -- "magic packet (LAN broadcast)" --> H1
    C1 -- "token-authenticated<br/>HTTP API :27889" --> H2
    H2 -- "status, stream stats" --> C2
    H3 -. "blocks sleep while<br/>someone plays at the TV" .-> H2
    C3 -- "keep awake" --> H2

Loading

The Deck wakes the host with a Wake-on-LAN magic packet, then talks to it over a small token-protected LAN API. Steam Remote Play itself is untouched — the plugin only handles power and status around it.

Install

1. Install Decky Loader on both devices.
2. Download CouchLink.zip onto each device.
3. On each device, in Gaming Mode: Quick Access (⋯) → Decky (plug icon) → gear → General → Developer mode → Developer → Install Plugin from Zip → pick the zip.

Pair (once)

On the Deck: Quick Access → Decky → CouchLink → Pair host… → Find hosts on this network → tap the host. The host's screen shows "Allow "Galileo (steamdeck)" … to wake, sleep and power off this machine?" → press Allow. Done. (Manual pairing with IP + the token shown on the host panel is available as a fallback.)

Daily use

• Wake host – the Steam Machine resumes in ~10 s; Steam re-lists it a few seconds later and the Stream button comes back.
• Sleep host – suspends it (this is the recommended way to "turn it off": it wakes over the network; a full power-off does not — see below).
• Auto-sleep / Sleep when idle (host panel) – turn these on once; the host sleeps on its own after streams or when unused, but never while someone uses a controller or keyboard at the TV.
• Leaving home (Deck panel) – toggle Keep host awake before going out to stream over the internet; toggle it off when back, and your sleep settings come back.

Known limitations (read this)

• Wake from full power-off (S5) doesn't work on the Steam Machine, even with the BIOS "S4/S5 Wake on LAN" option enabled. The firmware's ACPI tables only allow the Ethernet port's wake from S4 (/proc/acpi/wakeup shows GPP5 S4), and Linux arms wake sources for power-off only when they support S5. Windows "shut down" is really hibernate (S4), which is why it appears to work there. Tracked upstream in ValveSoftware/SteamOS#2735. Use Sleep.
• No remote wake from outside your LAN: Wake-on-LAN is a LAN broadcast and the host API only accepts LAN peers. Use Leaving home mode before you go out. (Orange Livebox routers have no reliable Wake-on-WAN.)
• Steam's SteamClient.RemotePlay session events do not fire for plain streams on the host; stream detection uses Steam's streaming_log.txt markers, which is reliable but Steam-version dependent.
• Decky's bundled Python exports LD_LIBRARY_PATH pointing at its own OpenSSL, which breaks systemctl in child processes (OPENSSL_x not found); the plugin scrubs it (util.run).

Development

pnpm i && pnpm run build              # frontend → dist/index.js
python3 main.py                       # backend smoke test (no Decky needed; role auto-detected)
python3 -m py_modules.couchlink.wol status|enable|send <mac>
python3 -m py_modules.couchlink.streamwatch replay      # replay Steam's log through the detector
python3 -m py_modules.couchlink.activity                # list input devices the idle guard watches
PYTHONPATH=py_modules python3 -m couchlink.cli ping|status|wake|sleep|poweroff <ip> <token> [mac]
./deploy.sh zip                       # build out/CouchLink.zip for Decky's "Install from Zip"

See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/TESTING.md and CHANGELOG.md. Logs: ~/homebrew/logs/CouchLink/, journalctl -u plugin_loader.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md. If you hit a bug, the bug report template asks for the few details (device role, SteamOS version, plugin log) that make it reproducible.

License

BSD-3-Clause. Built with the Decky plugin template.