decky-loader-windows

A self-maintained build & install pipeline for running Decky Loader on Windows, built straight from upstream source.

It exists because the Windows side of Decky is chronically under-distributed: upstream officially supports Windows in CI (build-win.yml) but never attaches the Windows exes to releases, and the community installers (e.g. ACCESS-DENIIED/Decky-Loader-For-Windows) go stale for months. When Steam updates its UI, old Decky builds crash (findModuleByExport → "Cannot convert a Symbol value to a string") and the in-app updater stalls on Windows because there's no PluginLoader.exe release asset to download. This repo removes that dependency: you build the current loader yourself and install it in one command.

This fully replaces the ACCESS-DENIIED installer. It does not use that repo at all — the actual loader code (and every Steam-compat fix) lives in upstream decky-loader, so we build from upstream directly.

Install (for users)

Go to Releases, download the latest decky-loader-<version>-setup.exe (e.g. decky-loader-3.2.4-setup.exe), and run it. The installer:

• deploys the loader to %USERPROFILE%\homebrew\services,
• creates the homebrew folder tree,
• enables Steam CEF remote debugging,
• registers the elevated run-at-logon autostart task.

Then fully restart Steam and open the Quick Access menu — the Decky icon appears. To update later, just run a newer installer from Releases.

What it does (for maintainers)

• build.ps1 — clones/pins upstream decky-loader, builds the React frontend + PyInstaller backend, outputs PluginLoader.exe and PluginLoader_noconsole.exe to .\dist. No admin needed.
• install.ps1 — full install: creates ~/homebrew, enables Steam CEF remote debugging, deploys the exes (with backup), and registers an elevated run-at-logon scheduled task (Startup-folder shortcuts can't elevate, which is why the icon silently failed to appear before). Self-elevates via UAC.
• update.ps1 — resolves the latest upstream release, re-pins, rebuilds, and redeploys. This is your one-command recovery when a Steam update breaks Decky.
• uninstall.ps1 — removes the autostart task (-Purge also wipes ~/homebrew + the CEF flag).
• installer/decky-loader-windows.iss — Inno Setup script that packages the built exes + install logic into a single setup.exe.
• .github/workflows/build-release.yml — CI on windows-2022 that builds the exes, compiles the installer, and publishes setup.exe as a GitHub Release (manual, on upstream.ref/installer change, and weekly). This is the distribution gap, fixed.

Prerequisites (local builds)

• Git, Python 3.10–3.13, Node 18+ with npm, and a working internet connection.
• pnpm, poetry, and pyinstaller are installed automatically (pnpm globally; poetry + pyinstaller into an isolated .build\buildenv).

Quick start

# from the repo root
.\install.ps1
# accept the UAC prompt, then fully restart Steam.
# Open the Quick Access menu (Big Picture) — the Decky icon should be there.

Build without installing:

.\build.ps1            # uses upstream.ref
.\build.ps1 -Ref v3.2.4

Updating / recovering after a Steam break

.\update.ps1                  # -> latest upstream stable, rebuild, redeploy
.\update.ps1 -Prerelease      # newest upstream prerelease
.\update.ps1 -Ref v3.2.5-pre1 # a specific tag

upstream.ref records the pinned upstream version (currently v3.2.4). Bump it and re-run install.ps1 (or push it to trigger CI) to move versions deliberately.

How autostart works

A scheduled task named Decky Loader runs PluginLoader_noconsole.exe at logon with highest privileges (silent, no UAC at login). The legacy non-elevated Startup-folder shortcut, if found, is moved aside during install.

Publishing (maintainer)

git remote add origin https://github.com/Draek2077/decky-loader-windows.git
git push -u origin main

Then cut a release one of two ways:

• Actions → Build & Release Windows Installer → Run workflow, and type the version (e.g. 3.2.4, or 3.2.5-pre1 for a prerelease — a leading v is optional). CI builds decky-loader-<version>-setup.exe and uploads it to a new Release. Prerelease tags (-pre/-rc) are auto-marked as prereleases.
• Push a change to upstream.ref to move the pinned default version; the same build+release runs automatically (also weekly).

Troubleshooting

• No icon after install → fully quit and reopen Steam. Decky injects into Steam's UI on launch.
• Confirm injection → with Steam running, Invoke-RestMethod http://localhost:8080/json lists the CEF contexts; a healthy load exposes window.DeckyPluginLoader in SharedJSContext.
• Port 1337 taken → Decky's backend needs 127.0.0.1:1337. Make sure nothing else (some RGB/peripheral services) is holding it.
• In-app "update available" that stalls → expected; Windows self-update is broken upstream. Use update.ps1 instead.

Licensing

Decky Loader is GPLv2; the binaries this repo builds are a GPLv2 work — corresponding source is the upstream decky-loader at the pinned upstream.ref. The wrapper scripts here are provided under the MIT License.

Credits

All loader functionality is the work of the SteamDeckHomebrew team. This repo only builds and installs it for Windows.