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Pierre Kisters dc527d0253 clipboardSync: off by default
It is built from source, which makes the first switch long. The template
lists it as a commented option; status shows clipboard-sync only while it
runs or its autostart link exists.
2026-10-02 00:40:01 +02:00

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Session fixes

Five fixes for the Frame's two graphical sessions: session settings and services, the portal, the applications menu, the keyboard layout and the clipboard. Options: README, Options (session.*, keyboard.layout, keyboard.variant, clipboardSync.*).

Session settings and services

Module session (session.nix), used by the other modules; normally nothing to set.

Problem: the nested desktop can't see the Steam session's runtime dir and bus (services, KDE wallet), and switching from the nested desktop, Home Manager can't reach the service manager ("User systemd daemon not running") and skips reloadSystemd.

What you get:

  • session.runtimeDir / session.bus point at the Steam session's runtime dir and bus; session.busEnv is a launcher prefix to reach them.
  • After every switch this module reloads the Steam session's user manager and applies session.services.start / stop / restart, which other modules fill (you can add your own units).
  • Then it names what the running session can't pick up until a restart: the keyboard layout and the SteamVR debugger of the dashboard patches.

Configuration: apps that keep secrets in the wallet get a launcher with keyring.enable. Another app that must reach the outer session (its bus, services or wallet) gets the bus through its launcher's hostEnv; a hand-written entry uses the prefix session.busEnv:

{ config, ... }: {
  steamFrame.launchers."org.example.App".hostEnv.DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS =
    config.steamFrame.session.bus;
  # or, in an entry of your own:
  # Exec=${config.steamFrame.session.busEnv} flatpak run org.example.App %U
}

Portal fix

session.portalFix.enable and session.portalFix.fileChooser, module portal. Both on by default.

Problem: the Frame image (SteamOS 0.3.0, build 20260922) points the Steam session's xdg-desktop-portal at /usr/share/xdg-desktop-portal/gamescope-portals, which lacks gamescope-portals.conf: no backend, no OpenURI, so no app in the Steam session can open links. Its two backends (gamescope, holo) also have no FileChooser, so Flatpak apps fall back to a dialog inside their sandbox: a Flatpak app's file selector shows only its sandbox, not your home dir.

What you get: a working OpenURI portal in the Steam session and, with fileChooser, KDE's file dialog there (a normal window in VR) with access to all your files; the app gets only the files you pick. The desktop's portal is unaffected.

Configuration: takes effect when the portal restarts (next Steam session start, or systemctl --user restart xdg-desktop-portal) and the app restarts (Electron apps check for the portal at startup). To keep the old dialog: steamFrame.session.portalFix.fileChooser = false;.

Remove when SteamOS ships gamescope-portals.conf (and a FileChooser backend, for fileChooser).

How it works: a portal dir in ~/.local/share linking Valve's .portal files plus a config (default=holo;gamescope), and a drop-in on xdg-desktop-portal.service. fileChooser adds a link to /usr/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals/kde.portal and org.freedesktop.impl.portal.FileChooser=kde; the preinstalled xdg-desktop-portal-kde starts on demand (D-Bus activation) with the Steam session's DISPLAY=:0.

Applications menu

session.applicationsMenu.enable, module applications-menu. On by default; false turns it off.

Problem: KDE apps build their app database (ksycoca) from applications.menu, but SteamOS only ships /etc/xdg/menus/plasma-applications.menu. The nested desktop sets XDG_MENU_PREFIX=plasma-, the Steam session doesn't: KDE apps started there (e.g. Dolphin from the "+" menu) know no apps at all ("no installed application can open …").

What you get: KDE apps in the Steam session see every installed app, Flatpaks included, e.g. for "Open with". The nested desktop is unaffected (it reads Plasma's menu through its prefix).

Remove when the Steam session sets XDG_MENU_PREFIX or SteamOS ships applications.menu.

How it works: ~/.config/menus/applications.menu is a Home Manager link to /etc/xdg/menus/plasma-applications.menu. If SteamOS drops that file, the link dangles, which is the same as no menu.

Keyboard layout

keyboard.layout, keyboard.variant, module keyboard-layout.

Problem: gamescope and its Xwayland displays use US unless XKB_DEFAULT_* is set; KDE's layout only affects the nested desktop, and ~/.config/environment.d isn't read on the Frame.

What you get: the layout in the Steam session, from the next Steam session start (e.g. reboot): gamescope reads it only when it starts, and sends its own keymap to the X apps again whenever the VR keyboard types, so it can't be set in a running session. While the running session has another layout, the switch (and install.sh install at its end) says so (install.sh restart-check). The layout also picks the VR keyboard's default dictionary language.

Configuration: keyboard.variant picks a variant of the layout, e.g. for de: null (standard, with dead keys: ^, `, ´ wait for the next key), "nodeadkeys" (those are typed immediately), "mac", "neo", "e1", "us" (German letters on a US layout). List them with localectl list-x11-keymap-variants <layout>.

steamFrame.keyboard = { layout = "de"; variant = "nodeadkeys"; };

Remove when SteamOS applies a layout setting to gamescope.

How it works: a drop-in on gamescope-session.service setting XKB_DEFAULT_LAYOUT/VARIANT.

Clipboard sync

clipboardSync.enable, module clipboard-sync. Off by default: it is built from source, so the first switch with it takes a while.

Problem: the Steam session's X displays and the nested desktop have separate clipboards.

What you get: one clipboard: copy in one session, paste in the other.

Configuration: clipboardSync.package replaces the package. Switch from a desktop terminal: each switch restarts clipboard-sync if outdated, and it must restart with the desktop's environment.

How it works: clipboard-sync, built from source (its flake is x86-only), started via KDE autostart (the desktop can't reach the user manager, and :2 must exist first).