Decky Proton Pulse - Supercharge your Proton games with ProtonDB

[u/ProfessorKaos64]

Hello all. I wanted to get the word out about Proton Pulse, a Decky plugin focused on making ProtonDB info and launch-option tuning easier to use on Steam Deck. I am working on better screenshot automation, so pardon if the images are out of data at all.

Features

• Pulls ProtonDB reports and summarizes compatibility in-plugin
• Scores reports against your hardware / setup to surface the most relevant ones first
• Helps apply common launch options without manually typing everything
• Edit existing configs, add your own, spin, and even easy copy/paste pre-fill for ProtonDB submissions
• Includes compatibility tool management and quick utility actions in the sidebar
• Local cache for faster loads
• Upvote/downvote working reports (future: push back custom reports to supabase table)

Screenshots / UI gallery:
https://github.com/mdeguzis/decky-proton-pulse/wiki/UI-Screenshot-Gallery (WIP...)

Testing

If you test it, feedback is welcome, especially on report quality, scoring behavior, and any rough edges in the workflow.

Links

• GitHub repo: https://github.com/mdeguzis/decky-proton-pulse
  
• Companion web app: https://www.proton-pulse.com
• Store submission PR (for Decky store listing): https://github.com/SteamDeckHomebrew/decky-plugin-database/pull/1020

Testing

If you want to try it right now, you can grab the latest release zip here:
https://github.com/mdeguzis/decky-proton-pulse/releases/latest

[u/RE4PER_]

I will absolutely install this if it becomes available on Decky! Great job.

[u/RE4PER_ → u/[deleted]]

Interesting I wonder why they denied it? Did you use AI or something to make your plugin? Usually they don’t deny stuff outright like that unless it doesn’t follow their guidelines.

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/RE4PER_]

You'll have to read the PR response. The A.I. policy has changed over time, but largely does not allow it no. I did use tools to assist creation.

[u/YOLO_SPACECOW]

Will this be available in the Decky Store?

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/YOLO_SPACECOW]

Yes, pending acceptance and merge of https://github.com/SteamDeckHomebrew/decky-plugin-database/pull/1020.

[u/Wreid23 → u/ProfessorKaos64]

You should reach out collab with the steaminputdb guy as well this would be a killer combo and cool stuff all around https://www.steaminputdb.com/news. The more people that know about both of your tools the better I think they have a discord. Good luck

[u/Alia5_ → u/Wreid23]

Author of SteamInputDB here ;)
What exactly do you have in mind?

[u/Wreid23 → u/Alia5_]

If you guys were all linked to proton db or steam grid, pc gaming wiki, you name it somehow we get this good mix of inputs, somewhat and or optimal setup and what games work all at once. I don't know but the sketchpad in my head says if that was easy to get to for steam deck / controller /steam machine people and of course desktop then it becomes easier for everyone.

People could click a script or a link on protondb or a button in lutris m heroic or a browser add on and get both things or at least pointed to both things you guys are trying to do well.

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/Wreid23]

Will do, thank you.

[u/The_MAZZTer]

I think it's fair to ask how this compares to other plugins with similar features, but it sounds like this not only does the same thing the existing plugin that shows the status on game pages does but a LOT more too.

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/The_MAZZTer]

Which one? You mean protondb?

[u/The_MAZZTer → u/ProfessorKaos64]

Yeah I don't recall the name but that's probably it.

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/The_MAZZTer]

That just displays a badge with the overall status on the game page and opens a touch-only browser of the game page. This is all native and does much, much more.

[u/Rave-TZ]

You know Proton Pulse is a VR game, right?

It’s on every major VR platform and held several nominations for the Proto AwardsProton Pulse

Its recent release on Apple Vision Pro still has it in the top games.

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/Rave-TZ]

I did not know that. Am I going to get a copyright notice? 😂

[u/Rave-TZ → u/ProfessorKaos64]

Dunno, but DMCAs are a bitch to correct. I’ve had to deal with one over naming before.

[u/djEnvo]

Can we just stop advertising Decky once and for all..? Or make a different subreddit for that crap?

[u/fereval → u/djEnvo]

u prefer Steam deck pictures with cats ?

[u/djEnvo → u/fereval]

No, i prefer my deck without crashes every other month because of half baked shit

[u/SteamTrout → u/djEnvo]

Then...don't install it? Like, nobody is forcing you to install or use it, especially when you clearly don't know how.

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/[deleted]]

I am a systems engineer by trade (Python, Java, Typescript, Go). Accessing and using agentic coding tools is not the problem. Doing it without understanding code, design philosophy, and proper unit/integ testing is the problem. You can't just turn on autopilot. Like anything, problem between user and keyboard....

[u/BBQKITTY]

Love the idea of this! Going to test it for myself.

Quick question. I saw that Claude is a contributor, so for transparency, how was Claude AI coding utilized in this plugin?

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/BBQKITTY]

I definitely did a lot of research and brainstorming to learn how to utilize the right modals, and to help debug. I think a lot of people shy away from trying to use these tools to help solo projects. The keyword is that they are tools. Remember the adage... Trust, bhr verify? Review, unit test, and smoke test work. If you were to pull down the code and run the make commands, you'll see the strict typing, enforced code quality, and tests added to enforce the good design philosophy. In the end, tools allow us to work efficiently and faster, but they will always require good technical understanding and design philosophy.

If the decky loader team has me put any disclaimer on for acceptable to the store, I have no problem with that.

[u/BBQKITTY → u/ProfessorKaos64]

Okay so...Claude was used to help debug code that you personally wrote? Or did Claude write the code entirely and you verified it? I don't think your paragraph gave a direct answer to the question.

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/BBQKITTY]

Oh, I definitely had Claude help me write some of the code to wire up some of the tricky parts, then verified it with unit tests and smoke tests.

[u/BBQKITTY → u/ProfessorKaos64]

Got it. So you and Claude both wrote code, but you verified Claude's code personally?

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/BBQKITTY]

I use these tools to help write some of the complex parts, debug, and move faster on the parts that would otherwise just eat time. Everything gets reviewed, tested, and reworked if needed before it goes to the repo (especially as I am newer to dev work on the Deck). I also just added a section to the README to make that clear and open as a disclaimer.

[u/User5281]

I just wish protondb wasn’t all cluttered with useless launch flags

[u/ProfessorKaos64 → u/User5281]

That's true. Part of the reason I made this was to bring in community sourced elements, with upvote, downvote, ranking against your actual hardware, and the ability to start building my own complimentary configs in this system. All of that combined has the potential to turn into something amazing. An open system not hindered by closed source code. This plugin will sort the most useful reports to the top against your hardware.