Add CapyDeploy to Plugin Store

[lobinuxsoft]

Add CapyDeploy to Plugin Store

CapyDeploy is a game deployment plugin for Steam Deck. It receives games from a desktop Hub app over WebSocket and creates Steam shortcuts automatically — no Steam restart needed.

Key features:

• Receive game files from CapyDeploy Hub (PC) over local network
• Create Steam shortcuts instantly via SteamClient.Apps.AddShortcut()
• Apply artwork (cover, hero, icon) via SteamClient.Apps.SetCustomArtworkForApp()
• Secure 6-digit pairing code on first connection
• mDNS auto-discovery — no IP configuration needed
• Real-time transfer progress and toast notifications

This plugin is unique — no other plugin on the store provides game deployment from a desktop app to Steam Deck in gaming mode.

Main project: lobinuxsoft/capydeploy

Task Checklist

Developer

• I am the original author or an authorized maintainer of this plugin.
• I have abided by the licenses of the libraries I am utilizing, including attaching license notices where appropriate.

Plugin

• I have verified that my plugin works properly on the Stable and Beta update channels of SteamOS.
• I have verified my plugin is unique or provides more/alternative functionality to a plugin already on the store.

Backend

• No: I am using a custom backend other than Python.
• No: I am using a tool or software from a 3rd party FOSS project that does not have it's dependencies statically linked.
• No: I am using a custom binary that has all of it's dependencies statically linked.

Community

• I have tested and left feedback on two other pull requests for new or updating plugins.
• I have commented links to my testing report in this PR.

Testing

• Tested by a third party on SteamOS Stable or Beta update channel.

[github-actions]

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[lobinuxsoft]

Community testing completed:

• Tested Decky Launch Options: Add Decky Launch Options to Plugin Store #971 (comment)
• Tested WiFi-Manager: Add WiFi-Manager to Plugin Store #972 (comment)

[beebls]

Code LGTM but I'm gonna ask for a second review from another reviewer before accepting it because I'm not as familiar with ws/python.

Also, is root necessary for this plugin? If it is, then no worries, I'm just asking for a bit of an explanation as to what you do that requires root.

[EMERALD0874]

LGTM as well, though I'll wait for an explanation on the root usage before putting on the testing store

[lobinuxsoft]

Hey @beebls @EMERALD0874, sorry for the late response!

Thanks for the review and for flagging the root usage — that's a fair question.

Initially, root was required because the plugin creates files during game uploads (running as root via Decky), which ended up owned by root:root. Since Steam runs as the regular user (e.g. deck), we needed os.chown() to fix ownership/permissions so Steam could actually read those files. We also used systemctl restart steam which typically requires elevated privileges.

However, after taking a closer look thanks to your feedback, I'm now thinking root might no longer be necessary. If the plugin runs as the regular user, the files would already have the correct ownership and the whole chown workaround becomes unnecessary.

I'm going to do a thorough review to confirm whether we can safely drop the root flag. If it turns out we can, I'll remove it and update the PR. If there's still a legitimate reason it's needed, I'll come back with a detailed explanation of exactly what requires it and why.

Thanks again for the careful review!

[lobinuxsoft]

Hey @beebls @EMERALD0874 — quick update on the root flag discussion:

After a thorough audit, I've confirmed the plugin does not need root. The root flag has been removed in v0.6.2 (7843d3e), which this PR now points to.

Here's what changed:

• plugin.json: "flags": ["root"] → "flags": []
• Removed fix_permissions(): This function used os.chown() to fix file ownership after uploads. It was only necessary because running as root created files as root:root. Without root, files are created with the correct user ownership natively — the whole workaround was circular.
• Replaced systemctl restart steam with steam -shutdown: This is a graceful, unprivileged shutdown. In Gaming Mode, the session manager automatically restarts Steam afterward. This is the same approach used by the desktop Go agent.

Everything else (telemetry reads from /sys/ and /proc/, artwork writes to the user's home, os.chmod on uploaded executables) works fine without root since the user already owns those files/paths.

Tested and verified on device — uploads, artwork, and Steam restart all work correctly without root.

[beebls]

Appreciate the changes, will deploy this to testing store now and wait for user reviews

[lobinuxsoft]

Note: v0.7.2 hotfix

After the v0.7.0 refactor that split ws_server.py into a handlers/ module directory, our automated release workflow (release-please.yml) was not including the new handlers/ directory in the packaged zip. This caused the plugin to fail on load with ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'handlers'.

v0.7.2 fixes this by adding the handlers/ directory to the release packaging step. The plugin has been tested and verified working on SteamOS.

[beebls]

github merge conflict editor had a bit of a goof and so sorry for the double commit there but new version is deploying to the testing store

[lobinuxsoft]

No need to apologize, and thank you so much for the excellent work you do! I have a question: are updates made in the same PR once it's been published, or should they be done in a separate PR? I'm asking because some users who are testing directly from my project page have been reporting bugs, and I've been fixing them on the fly. So far there are no significant changes, but I'll likely need to make some that could have compatibility issues with the version tied to this PR.

[EMERALD0874]

You can update your submodule before we merge the entire PR, but every update requires us to reapprove the plugin for the testing store. Any test reports completed before we reapprove the plugin will be considered invalid. Since your plugin is new, this is fine, but we only recommend updating your PR if there are bug fixes.

Once your PR is merged, new updates are done in new PRs. You update your submodule to the latest commit and PR that to this repo, similar to how you created the submodule. Let us know if you have any other questions. :)

[github-actions]

This pull request is stale as no updates or testing reports have been posted within the last 7 days. Please ensure you are actively recruiting testers or resolving the issues discussed. If you do not remove the stale label or comment, this will be closed in 7 days. Please close this pull request if you need more time to resolve issues so we can keep our repo healthy.