AGENTS.md

Guidance for AI coding agents working on this repository. See README.md for what the script does from a user's point of view.

Project overview

Steamify CachyOS: a bash wizard that makes CachyOS (KDE Plasma 6 + plasma-login-manager) boot into a SteamOS-style gamescope session, with working switching between gamescope and the Plasma desktop. Primary target: the Valve Steam Machine (DMI Valve/Fremont) running CachyOS Desktop edition.

Layout

steamify.sh - the only entry point. Pre-flight checks, sources lib/*.sh, runs the menu and applies the plan. No component logic here.
patches/ - kernel module sources and patches the scripts build or apply, never inline in the shell code. Read them with patch_file <name> (lib/common.sh, from the checkout); the bundle embeds every file in patches/ and overrides patch_file. Add new ones to its README.
services/ - the systemd units the scripts install (.service, .timer, .path), never inline in the shell code. Read them with service_file <name> [KEY=value...] (lib/common.sh), which fills in @KEY@ placeholders; the bundle embeds every file in services/ too (service_raw). Add new ones to its README. Small drop-ins for other packages' units stay inline.
ui/ - the app: steamify-ui (PySide6; runs steamify.sh --backend, lib/backend.sh) and ui/qml/: Main.qml (window, header, which screen shows), AppState.qml (all state and logic, input actions), one *Screen.qml per screen, small widgets (Btn, Chip, Badge, ...), and the singletons Theme (colours, fonts), Texts (item texts) and Input (controller/keyboard/remote and its button names), listed in qmldir. Screens get the AppState as app and only show it or call its functions.
lib/*.sh - one file per responsibility, each defining functions only (no top-level side effects besides constants). See the table in TECHNICAL.md.
Components. Every menu item <id> (listed in COMPONENTS and LABEL in lib/menu.sh) provides <id>_status (return 0 if on, detected from the system, no state file needed), <id>_enable and <id>_disable, all idempotent. <id>_enable is also used to re-apply. Optional <id>_available is checked via component_available (e.g. machine only on Fremont). Turn-on order is COMPONENTS order, turn-off reverse; gaming must stay first. Dependencies live in toggle_component.
Feature versions. Set FEATURE_VERSION[<id>] (lib/menu.sh) to the new VERSION whenever what <id>_enable sets up changes (a new component gets one too): installs recorded with an older version are ticked and re-applied ("update" in the plan and the app). New default options are ticked for installs whose parent (top-level: gaming) is on (feature_new, shown as "new"). Status still comes from the system; don't add ad-hoc <id>_repair checks for new changes.
Reversibility. Every per-user KDE setting a component changes goes through kset <component> <file> <group|group> <key> <value> (lib/state.sh), which records the old value once; <id>_disable calls krevert <component>. Never call kwriteconfig6 directly for settings a component owns. System files are backed up with backup_file and restored on disable.
Single-file build. .github/tools/bundle.sh inlines lib/*.sh in the order of the entry point's for lib in ...; do source loop and wraps everything after that loop in main(). Keep that loop on one line, keep all logic in functions, and don't rely on SCRIPT_DIR for anything but sourcing. CI (.github/workflows/bundle.yml) publishes the bundle as release v$VERSION on pushes to main; an existing version is never overwritten, so bump VERSION for every release.

Conventions

Bash, set -uo pipefail (no -e): check exit codes of steps that matter explicitly (|| { err ...; exit 1; } or || return 1).
Use the helpers from lib/common.sh (info, ok, warn, err, ask_yn, backup_file) for all output and prompts.
Runs as the normal user; use sudo per command, never require root. Per-user files go in $HOME of the invoking user (the script refuses to configure another user).
Idempotent: every step must be safe to re-run without duplicating lines or settings. Back up system files with backup_file before the first edit.
Don't overwrite package-owned files in /etc/xdg or /usr. KDE settings go into the user's config via kwriteconfig6 (or merge_kde_config for whole Valve ini files).
Package installs after a user already confirmed use --noconfirm: a second pacman prompt consumes the next scripted answer.
Comments explain why (the CachyOS/Plasma quirk being worked around), not what the next line does.
Versioning and releases. SemVer in VERSION (steamify.sh, shown in the menu header and the bundle header).
- Every commit gets an entry in CHANGELOG.md under its version (short hash
  - subject; a commit can't contain its own hash, so fill it in with the next commit). The section heading must be ## <VERSION> - <date>: CI cuts the release notes out of the changelog by that heading.
- Every PR that should be released bumps VERSION and adds its section. A push to main publishes release v$VERSION (tag + bundle + that changelog section) and marks it latest. An existing version is never overwritten: without a bump nothing is released, and pull requests show a warning.
- A release that adds, removes or renames a menu row also retakes the README screenshot (assets/screenshot-menu.png): the app from the branch on a Steam Machine, every row visible (window 1280 wide, tall enough), the header showing the new VERSION, scaled to 1600 px wide.
- Users install through releases/latest/download/steamify.sh (GitHub's newest release). The latest tag and release follow the newest version tag too (moved, asset replaced, when a new version is released), so the older URL releases/download/latest/... keeps working.

Non-obvious behaviour to preserve

apply_changes sets $LOGIN_MANAGER from the menu: sddm when single user mode is wanted, else plasmalogin. Toggling single user re-applies gaming so it moves to the other login manager. Single user mode hides the launcher's Session dropdown via kickoff primaryActions=3 (restricting action/logout also hides Restart/Shut Down). Two login-manager paths: sddm (like SteamOS: steam-set-session writes /etc/sddm.conf.d/zz-steamos-autologin.conf, which SDDM honours; we add User=/Relogin= in 10-gamescope-autologin.conf, and /etc/sddm.conf must not contain [Autologin] since it's read last) and plasmalogin (needs the sync bridge and the shortcut's sudoers rule). Both must keep working.
steam-set-session only writes /etc/plasmalogin.conf.d/zz-steamos-autologin.conf; the base /etc/plasmalogin.conf wins, hence the sync bridge. The sync service needs StartLimitIntervalSec=0, or bursts of session switches get it rate-limited and all later switches silently stop working.
The sync script must only edit Session= inside [Autologin].
The Steam desktop autostart unit is guarded with ExecCondition=... XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP = KDE, so it doesn't start a second Steam inside gamescope.
Vapor theme: comes from the cachyos-vapor package (system-wide, in /usr/share); only remove it on disable if we installed it. It is applied with lookandfeeltool --resetLayout ("Desktop and window layout"), which replaces the panel/desktop layout: the layout files are backed up to $STATE_DIR/theme-layout and restored, and every key from Vapor's contents/defaults goes through kset first. plasma-apply-colorscheme runs with the ColorScheme key cleared, since it skips a scheme already named there. The layout reset drops single user's launcher settings, so single_launcher is re-applied.
SteamOS extras (lib/steamos-extras.sh, part of the theme): downloaded from Valve's newest steamdeck-kde-presets (repo db gives name + SHA-256) into /usr/local, never /usr. gaming-return.svg is a symlink in the package: install steam-gaming-return.svg under that name. The shortcut's icon is switched with set_shortcut_icon, since the conversion is created before the theme. An existing KWallet is never replaced or removed.
Plasma 6 has no separate systemtray containment: tray settings live on the systemtray applet itself (Valve's setup script targets Plasma 5).
Restart plasmashell via systemctl --user (plasma-plasmashell.service), not plasmashell --replace from the script's shell: a shell without the session environment yields a light-themed desktop (context menus, apps it launches).
Live Plasma changes (qdbus6 ... evaluateScript, lookandfeeltool) only run when plasmashell is running; config-file fallbacks cover the rest.
plasmashell writes its in-memory config back on exit: edit panel/applet/ wallpaper files only between stop_plasmashell_for_edit and restart_plasmashell_if_stopped (lib/common.sh).
LED driver: leds-valve-dkms-git's Makefile builds against uname -r, not DKMS's target kernel: /etc/dkms/leds-valve-dkms.conf sets MAKE[0]="make KVERSION=${kernelver}" (written before the AUR install). Without it, other kernels build against the running kernel's tree and fail (CachyOS kernels are clang-built; DKMS adds LLVM=1 only for the target's tree). Headers for every installed kernel are installed first, and ensure-kernel-headers.service installs missing ones at boot (a pacman hook can't run pacman), which triggers DKMS's install hook. The module creates /sys/class/leds/valve-leds*.
boot ("Boot into: [gamescope] / desktop") is a choice row, not a checkbox: on = desktop. It's a sub-option of the conversion: menu_visible only shows it (indented, └) while gaming is ticked, so menu numbers after it shift by one when the conversion is unticked. It needs gaming (ticking it ticks gaming, unticking gaming unticks it) and is never preselected (NO_PRESELECT), so the conversion boots into gamescope by default. Desktop is steamify-boot-desktop.service, ordered Before= the login managers: steam-set-session plasma.desktop plus the plasmalogin sync bridge when it exists, at every boot. CachyOS's cachyos-gamescope-autologin still sets gamescope during each desktop session; the unit corrects it at boot.
bios is an action (ACTIONS in lib/menu.sh) and a sub-option of machine, not an on/off component: never preselected (not even on a first run), never re-applied by a, not listed in the state overview, and bios_status is always off. Only selectable when Valve's version differs from the installed one (component_selectable, greyed out otherwise). Download, SHA-256 and the fwupd device check (get-details --json: no UpdateError) come before the warnings. The warning box uses █ for its frame: Konsole draws a long coloured row of # narrower, so the right edge wouldn't line up. Keep both confirmations (y/N, then typing UPDATE) and the warnings; the firmware comes from the newest holo-X.Y repo (.files db names the .cab, .db gives the SHA-256), and fwupd itself refuses non-Fremont hardware. In the VM, test it with WIZARD_BIOS_DRY_RUN=1 (skips only the device check, never flashes) and a faked version (dev-env BIOS_VERSION=F7F0107 ./run.sh --fremont).
The entry point loops: menu, run, "back to the menu" (or [m]/[r] when a restart is needed), until q. When a restart is needed, q asks "Restart now? [Y/n]" (quit_prompt): n goes back to the menu, the next q asks again. Scripted input that runs out quits without restarting (never restart on EOF: ask_yn would take its default).
Steamify shortcut (launcher): "Steamify CachyOS" (desktop and launcher, id steamify-ui.desktop, the app's own id) runs curl | bash of releases/latest/download/steamify-app.sh without a terminal (in Konsole only while PySide6 is missing, for sudo); "Steamify Terminal" (launcher) runs steamify.sh in Konsole. Both always the newest release. The entry has X-Steamify-Shortcut=true: steamify-app.sh doesn't overwrite it, and disable only removes it then. A pre-2.0.1 shortcut (terminal only) is ticked by launcher_repair. Its icon, assets/steam-gaming-settings.svg (Valve's GPL-2.0 return icon with a gear), is a release asset too, and is downloaded from there (Steam's icon if that fails). Desktop files are written with their mode already set (install_executable): Plasma opens a desktop icon it first saw non-executable in an editor. The start script closes its window after a 10-second countdown on success and waits for Enter after an error; it uses pipefail, or a failed download would run an empty script and count as success.
HDMI refresh boost (hdmi, lib/hdmi-refresh.sh): retired in 2.2.0 (it needed the pinned kernel); only removal is left (see the power-off fix below). hdmi_enable refuses. debugfs is root-only (glob it under sudo), and edid_override takes exactly reset with no newline.
Steam Machine CEC driver (cec_driver_enable, lib/cec.sh): mainline cros_ec_cec lacks Fremont, so HDMI-CEC builds Valve's copy (evlaV linux-integration, pinned commit + SHA-256) with DKMS for every kernel. It's patched to register its notifier without a port name when the board has one CEC port: amdgpu registers its HDMI notifier nameless, and the kernel only pairs that with a named lookup ("Port C") when the CEC driver registered first, which never happens since amdgpu loads from the initramfs. Without it /dev/cec0 exists but stays at f.f.f.f.
Power-off fix (poweroff, lib/fremont-poweroff.sh, a default sub-option of machine): recent kernels (7.2 and the 6.x/7.0/7.1 updates with the backport) keep the firmware's S4/S5 wake bit on GPIO pin 18, so the Steam Machine boots again right after powering off (Valve's kernel clears it at probe, not for upstream). The DKMS module steamify-fremont-poweroff (patches/steamify-fremont-poweroff.c) clears it in a power-off-prepare handler, built for each kernel. It made the kernel pin unnecessary: kpin is only available while on (kpin_available), and detect_components unticks it, so a normal run removes an existing pin. hdmi (it needed the pin) is retired the same way: hdmi_status is on while anything of it is left (saved displays, hotplug unit, EDID files, old kernel parameter), hdmi_available only then, it's always unticked, and hdmi_disable removes all of it. CachyOS's linux-cachyos is clang-built, -bore GCC-built: let DKMS pick the compiler, never pass LLVM=1. Test shutdown on the real machine for every new major kernel.
Update notifications (notify, lib/update-notifier.sh, top-level, ticked by default, 2.5.0): a user timer (daily, and the service is wanted by plasma-workspace.target) runs patches/steamify-notifier.py, which compares GitHub's newest release with the seen version every run records (notify_seen in the entry point, only while it's on, with frontend: app or terminal, which Open Steamify starts again, in a systemd-run --scope since the check's own unit is stopped when it exits). It must never update anything itself: notification + tray icon, Open Steamify / Skip this version (skipped). Desktop only (exits without plasmashell).
VRAM booster (vram, lib/vram-booster.sh, top-level, ticked by default, 2.3.0; only available when /sys/fs/cgroup/dmem.capacity lists a VRAM region of at least 2 GB; greyed out with an NVIDIA card, vram_selectable, faked with WIZARD_VRAM_FAKE_NVIDIA=1): CachyOS's dmemcg-booster (system + user service) and plasma-foreground-booster, like SteamOS 3.9's VRAM management. The latter only starts with kcgroupsrc [Foreground Booster] autostart=true (set with kset). Disable removes only the packages it installed (state_get vram installed_pkgs).
Relogin=true means a gamescope that fails to start is relaunched in a tight loop; keep that in mind when changing session handling.

Checking changes

The bundle puts every module in one file, so shellcheck sees all their local variables together: don't reuse a name another module uses as an array (e.g. g in lib/state.sh), or CI's shellcheck on the bundle fails.

There is no test suite. At minimum:

for f in steamify.sh lib/*.sh; do bash -n "$f"; done
shellcheck -S warning steamify.sh lib/*.sh   # if available

Behaviour is verified in a CachyOS QEMU/KVM test VM. The VM scripts and a Claude Code skill describing the whole test workflow (snapshots, SSH, running the wizard with scripted menu input such as printf '2\n\ny\nn\n', the per-component checks; when stdin is not a terminal the menu falls back to a numbered prompt, which is what scripted runs use, reboot checks, the full test matrix, --fremont to fake Steam Machine hardware) live in steamify-cachyos-dev. Gamescope itself and the real LED bar can only be verified on hardware.

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