Provides tools for deploying Decky Loader plugins to a Steam Deck, capturing composited screenshots and recordings, and managing debugging tunnels.
Click on "Deploy Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Decky Plugin Studio build my plugin and deploy it to the Deck, then capture a screenshot of the QAM"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
VS Code / Cursor extension for Decky Loader plugin development: MCP tools that build, deploy and test your plugin on a real Steam Deck, composited screenshots and screen recordings, and an agent pack for your plugin repo.
The in-IDE preview was retired on 2026-10-24. UI checks run on the Deck, or on a stand-in.
Feature | What it does |
MCP tools | 44 tools for agents: build, deploy, logs, capture, and driving the Deck (see the list below) |
Composited capture | Screenshots and recordings that include QAM + your plugin UI (not raw game-only kmsgrab) |
Init Pack | Drops |
Create New Plugin | Clones decky-plugin-template, renames boilerplate, runs Init Pack |
What the tools cover:
Bridge and focus tools. An ESP32 board plugged into the Deck acts as a real gamepad. Agents press buttons (the triggers LT and RT too), walk the D-pad, run sequences and sweeps, and read where the focus ring is and whether a person could see it.
Killswitch. deck.stopAutomation stops every press at once. Only a human re-arms it.
Launch and exit a game by pressing buttons, with a read before every A. deck.listGames lists what can be started.
Run hygiene. Check the Deck is ready before a run, keep it awake, snapshot and restore the plugin's settings, and replay saved checks after a deploy.
Stand-in machines. Drive a Bazzite VM or a Windows PC running Big Picture as well as the Deck. Every result names the machine, and only one session drives a machine at a time.
Focus lint. plugin.lintFocus checks D-pad wiring from source.
Doctor. studio.doctor (and Decky: Doctor) checks DPS's own setup.
Related MCP server: DevServer MCP
Download the latest .vsix from GitHub Releases
Extensions → … → Install from VSIX…
Reload the editor
The status bar (bottom-right) shows the installed version, tunnel state, ingest count, and whether Deck automation is armed.
Any folder with plugin.json and main.py. This repo includes example-plugin/ for smoke testing.
Use MCP deck.configure or copy .env.example → .env in your plugin repo:
cp .env.example .env # Linux / macOSCopy-Item .env.example .env # WindowsDECK_IP=192.168.x.x
DECK_USER=deckDeck credentials are also stored under ~/.config/decky-plugin-studio/deck.env when using MCP configure.
Run scripts/setup-dev.ps1 (Windows) or scripts/setup-dev.sh (Linux) once per Deck to install SSH keys and passwordless sudo for deploy (dev-only — use revert-dev when finished).
Command Palette → Decky: Init Pack
Copies agent guidance, MCP config, skills, .env.example, and the full scripts/ toolkit (build, setup-dev, capture, tunnel, watch-deploy).
build/deploy → on-device QAIf setup looks wrong, run Decky: Doctor first.
Task | MCP (agents) | Shell (human fallback) |
First-time Deck SSH/sudo | — |
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Build + deploy |
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Deploy on same SteamOS machine |
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Watch + auto-deploy | — |
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Screenshot (QAM + plugin) |
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Screen recording |
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Debug logs from Deck |
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Undo dev setup | — |
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Release zip |
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Artifacts: screenshots/, recordings/.
After Init Pack (or in example-plugin/), scripts live under scripts/ in your plugin repo. Source templates: templates/scripts/ in this repo.
Purpose | Windows | Linux / macOS |
Environment template |
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Dev SSH + sudo setup |
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Build + deploy |
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Watch + deploy |
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Screenshot Deck → PC |
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Record Deck → PC |
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Reverse tunnel (ingest) |
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Revert dev setup |
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Verify release zip | — |
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Security: setup-dev grants broad passwordless sudo on the Deck (dev-only). Run revert-dev before handing the Deck back. Re-run setup-dev after SteamOS/client updates.
Init Pack skips existing script files — delete old scripts/build.* or choose Overwrite all to pick up template updates.
After Init Pack, your plugin repo’s MCP config points at the extension’s MCP server — mcp.json and .vscode/mcp.json for Cursor/VS Code, .mcp.json for Claude Code. The server speaks the standard MCP protocol, so all 44 tools appear in any MCP client’s tool list. Tools are documented in docs/MCP_TOOLS.md.
MCP tool names use underscores (deck_deploy, deck_runSequence); the dotted forms in prose refer to the same tools.
Example agent flows:
deck.configure → plugin.build → deck.deploy → deck.captureScreenshot
deck.checkReady → deck.openPlugin → deck.sweep for a focus check on the Deck
deck.record with { seconds: 15, mode: "game", quality: "compressed" }
For game mode screenshots and recordings:
Deploy your plugin (deck.deploy)
Open QAM on the Deck
Open your plugin panel and keep it visible during capture
Recordings use composited pipewire-gamescope (game) or wf-recorder (desktop). They fail closed if only game-plane capture would succeed — unless you pass allowNonPluginUi: true.
Optional: deck.installCaptureHelper installs studio-record / studio-capture to ~/.local/bin on the Deck.
Branch model: feature work on a branch → merge to main with a version bump in extension/package.json → CI publishes a GitHub Release + VSIX
Build locally: docs/DEVELOPMENT.md
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