Steam Frame ↔ Mac

This repo holds notes and Mac-side helpers for controlling a Valve Steam Frame (standalone VR headset: SteamOS 3, Arch-based, arm64, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) from this Mac, with as little typing on the headset's virtual keyboard as possible.

Status: written 2026-09-25 and checked against a real Frame the same day (SteamOS 0.3.0, variant vr, build 20260922). The Frame Control Mac app and most scripts are verified on the device. The scripts table below marks each one, and docs/open-questions.md lists what's still unchecked.

Quick start: set up SSH once (next section), then install Frame Control from the DMG.

Minimum typing on the headset

Valve's own developer docs say SSH, ADB, and RDP are all turned on through a UI toggle. You don't need a terminal, passwd, or systemctl. The only thing you type on the headset is a password you choose.

On the Frame:

1. Steam Settings → System → Enable Developer Mode (a toggle, no typing).
2. Scroll down to the Developer section and click Set User Password. Type a password. This is the only thing you type on the headset. Pick something short, because you'll type it once more on the Mac and then never again.
3. (Optional, no typing) Note the IP address from Quick Settings or Steam Settings → Internet, in case frame.local doesn't resolve.
4. (Optional) Check Steam Settings → System → Hostname. Leaving it as frame means the scripts work without any extra setup.

On the Mac:

cd ~/projects/steam-frame
./scripts/connect.sh              # or: ./scripts/connect.sh 192.168.1.50
ssh frame                          # passwordless from now on

connect.sh does four things:

• finds the headset (frame.local, then frame, or the IP/host you pass in)
• creates a dedicated key (~/.ssh/id_ed25519_frame)
• adds a Host frame block to ~/.ssh/config
• runs ssh-copy-id, which asks for the Developer Mode password once

Run ./scripts/connect.sh --harden later if you want to turn off SSH password logins.

Sources: Valve: Setting up your Steam Frame for development, Valve: Steam Frame Debugging (both confirmed on Steam Frame, Valve official).

Fallback, only if the Developer Mode toggle doesn't give you SSH. From the Mac, run ./scripts/serve-bootstrap.sh. It prints a one-liner of about 30 characters, like curl -fsS mac.local:8765|bash, to type into Konsole on the Frame's Linux desktop. The script it serves installs your Mac's public key and enables sshd. See docs/ssh.md.

Recommended options

Goal	Recommended	Confidence
Shell on the Frame	ssh frame (user steamos)	Confirmed (Valve docs)
See/control the Frame from the Mac	Steam Link for macOS → connect to frame (Valve names this). Alternatives: RDP to xrdp with Microsoft Windows App for the Linux desktop, or adb/scrcpy for the Android (Lepton) layer only	Steam Link and xrdp confirmed on Frame; the Mac RDP client is inferred
Show the Mac's desktop inside the Frame	macOS Screen Sharing (built-in VNC) → Remmina (Flatpak, aarch64) on the Frame's Linux desktop, installed over SSH	Inferred: each piece is documented, but the combination hasn't been tested on a Frame
File transfer	scp / rsync over the frame alias (scripts/push.sh)	Verified (rsync is on the image)
Paste Mac clipboard into the headset	scripts/paste-to-frame.sh (pbpaste → ssh → Klipper over D-Bus), or the clipboard sync in an RDP session	Verified (script); RDP untested

Details: docs/ssh.md, docs/streaming.md, docs/file-transfer.md, docs/open-questions.md. For how the Frame's software fits together, see docs/how-the-frame-works.md.

Windows anywhere in the room

The in-headset Linux desktop is a single 1280×800 panel, and its windows can't leave it. Each Steam app, though, gets its own SteamVR panel. That also works for any Linux app tagged with an app id of its own:

./scripts/panel-on-frame.sh konsole
./scripts/panel-on-frame.sh mac-screen      # the Mac's screen, in its own panel

Then use the SteamVR dashboard's Float in World, Move and Size controls to place each panel. See docs/panels.md.

Frame Control (Mac app)

As of 2026-09-25 no other Mac app manages the Frame end to end. Stream Frame (macOS 14+, free) records and screenshots the headset over SSH. FrameDrop sideloads but is Windows-only. Steam Link views the headset. Frame Control is a Mac app over the scripts below. Install it from the DMG (see Mac app), or run the same UI in a browser without packaging:

./scripts/frame-ui.sh        # opens http://127.0.0.1:47810 in its own window

• Headset view: what the lenses show, as SteamVR composites it (the room, floating panels, dashboard and controllers). Shows the left eye, like pointing a camera into one lens, or both eyes; single shot or about 2 fps live; saves as PNG. The viewer fits the whole frame; zoom with − / + (or scroll, or double-click), drag to pan, 0 to fit, F for full screen. It uses OpenVR's IVRScreenshots API through Python ctypes (ui/frame_vrshot.py), so nothing is installed on the Frame. Desktop panel captures gamescope's flat layer instead.
• Battery with charging state: charge rate in watts, time to full or empty, charger type and wattage (for example USB-C PD 20 W), and battery temperature
• Storage, memory, temperature, Wi-Fi, uptime, and whether SteamVR, the desktop, Lepton and xrdp are running
• Library shelf with Steam cover art and a Play button (steam://rungameid)
• Get games: every game you own with its Steam Frame rating (Verified, Playable, Unsupported, Unknown). Install on Frame downloads it to the headset with live progress. Search the Steam store with prices and Frame ratings; Buy opens the store page in your browser, or Store on Frame opens it in the headset. It drives the Frame's own Steam client through its DevTools port; see docs/steam-games.md
• Volume and mute (wpctl)
• Android apps: search about 4,500 F-Droid apps rated for the Frame, install one with a click as its own Lepton instance (it keeps its data and shows in the Steam library), then launch, stop, test or remove it. Report an APK records whether any APK worked (F-Droid or not: pick a file, type a package, or use an installed app). The ratings go into our private compatibility database (a Lakebed capsule only the app can use, backed up daily to Google Drive; see compat-db/README.md)
• Android display: pick a running Lepton instance (by the app in it) and set its resolution (Native 1920×1080, or Sharp 2560×1440 with density scaled to match), UI scale (Smaller / Default / Larger, or an exact dpi) and text size (0.85–1.3×) over ADB (wm size, wm density, font_scale). Reset puts all three back. Whether the settings survive the app relaunching is untested
• Drag and drop files to ~/Downloads; .apk files install as their own Android app
• Send typed text, or the Mac clipboard, to the Frame clipboard
• Install and remove Flatpaks (quick picks: Moonlight, Firefox, VLC, Remmina)
• One-click SSH or SFTP in Terminal, Steam Link, and Windows App (RDP). Sleep, restart and shut down open Terminal because SteamOS asks for the sudo password over SSH.

The server is Python stdlib only and listens on 127.0.0.1. It rejects requests with a non-local Host header, and any /api/ request without a custom header, so other websites can't drive it or read captures. It keeps a single multiplexed SSH connection open, so status and each capture take about 0.3s. Headset captures are deleted from the Frame as soon as they're copied, because they show everything on screen, including anything private. The look follows the Steam client: its palette, Motiva Sans (loaded from Valve's CDN), portrait library capsules and green Play buttons. Verified on the Frame 2026-09-25: status and charging details, both capture modes (headset view while in use, and a blank frame in standby, which the UI labels), clipboard, volume, file push, and input validation. Not yet exercised from the UI: Launch, Flatpak install/remove, APK drop, and the power buttons. Each of these calls a command or script that was verified separately.

Mac app

app/ wraps the same UI as a standalone Mac app (Electron). The app bundles ui/, scripts/, frame/android/ and the rated catalogue from apk-catalog/. It starts ui/server.py on a free loopback port and shows it in its own window. The server stops when you quit the app. A prebuilt DMG for Apple Silicon is attached to each GitHub release.

cd app
npm install
npm run dist     # → app/dist/Frame Control-<version>-arm64.dmg (and a .zip)
npm start        # run from the checkout without packaging

Open the DMG and drag Frame Control to Applications. You need python3 on the Mac (Xcode Command Line Tools or Homebrew). The app reads PATH from your login shell, so Homebrew's rsync and adb work when you launch it from Finder. Each time it starts while there's no frame SSH alias, the app offers to run connect.sh in Terminal. Frame → Set Up Connection… does the same at any time. The Frame menu also shows the server log at ~/Library/Logs/Frame Control/server.log. Installing APKs needs adb (brew install android-platform-tools). The Android ratings database needs its key in the Keychain (see compat-db/README.md); without it, the app uses its offline copy.

The build is ad-hoc signed and not notarized. A copy you build yourself opens normally. A copy downloaded from GitHub Releases is quarantined; clear it with xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Frame Control.app". The first time you use them, macOS asks to allow local network access (for SSH) and control of Terminal (for SSH and power actions). Verified 2026-09-25: installed from the DMG, launched from Finder, connected to the Frame, and showed live status and the library.

Scripts

Script	Runs on	Purpose
scripts/tailscale-on-frame.sh	Mac → Frame	Install Tailscale in ~ as a userspace user service so frame works from anywhere; --uninstall (verified on the LAN)
scripts/connect.sh	Mac	Discover, set up key and ~/.ssh/config, copy key, optional --harden (verified; --harden untested)
scripts/install-apps.sh	Mac → Frame	Install Flatpaks (Remmina, Moonlight, …) on the Frame over SSH as --user (verified with Remmina)
scripts/paste-to-frame.sh	Mac → Frame	Send the Mac clipboard (or stdin) to the Frame clipboard (verified)
scripts/install-apk.sh	Mac → Frame	Install APKs, each as its own persistent Lepton instance with a Steam library shortcut (--dev: old ADB path into Lepton Development) (verified; see docs/apks.md)
scripts/panel-on-frame.sh	Mac → Frame	Start an app as its own floating VR panel, outside the desktop (verified: overlays created; in-headset placement not yet checked)
scripts/run-on-frame.sh	Mac → Frame	Start an app on the headset desktop, e.g. mac-screen opens Remmina straight into the Mac (verified)
scripts/frame-ui.sh	Mac	Start the Frame Control web UI (ui/server.py) and open it (verified)
scripts/apk-catalog.sh	Mac	Refresh the rated F-Droid catalogue that Frame Control's Android section shows (verified)
scripts/compat-db-backup.sh	Mac	Back up the compatibility database locally and to Google Drive (daily LaunchAgent) (verified)
scripts/push-vr-video.sh	Mac → Frame	Upload VR180/360 videos to ~/Videos/VR, linked into DeoVR's Proton prefix; --launch starts DeoVR (verified: upload and link; in-headset playback of local files not yet checked). See docs/vr-video.md
scripts/push.sh	Mac → Frame	rsync files to ~/Downloads (or a given path) on the Frame (verified)
scripts/serve-bootstrap.sh	Mac	Fallback: serve bootstrap-on-frame.sh with your public key embedded
scripts/bootstrap-on-frame.sh	Frame	Fallback: install the key and enable sshd

Security notes

• With Developer Mode on, sshd, ADB and xrdp are all reachable on your LAN. Each running Lepton (Android) instance opens its own ADB port in 5555–5599, listening on 0.0.0.0 rather than only loopback. This was seen on the device on 2026-09-25, so anyone on the network can reach it. Use trusted networks only, and turn Developer Mode off when you don't need it.
• Frame Control reaches ADB and the Steam client's DevTools port (Frame loopback 127.0.0.1:8080) only through SSH tunnels. The compatibility database key lives in the macOS Keychain and is never written to the repo.
• steamos has sudo, protected by the same Developer Mode password. Once you've switched to key auth, a short password still protects sudo and RDP, so pick one that isn't trivially guessable.
• Don't port-forward 22, 3389, or 5555–5599 from your router. For remote access, use Tailscale: scripts/tailscale-on-frame.sh (no sudo). In its userspace mode every Frame port is reachable from your tailnet, including Steam's DevTools on loopback 8080; see docs/tailscale.md.

Development

python3 -m unittest discover -s tests   # server guards, validation, Steam helpers; no headset needed
cd app && npm install && npm run dist   # build the DMG

GitHub Actions runs the tests on Python 3.9, which is the oldest python3 the app may find (Xcode Command Line Tools), plus syntax checks for every script and the Electron main process (.github/workflows/checks.yml). Anything that touches the headset is verified by hand against a real Frame, and the docs label it verified or inferred.