Wallpaper Engine Linux

wallpaper-engine-gui is a Tauri desktop app that makes Wallpaper Engine wallpapers more usable on Linux with a cleaner setup flow, a live Steam Workshop browser, and local runtime management.

The current implemented desktop backend is KDE Plasma via catsout/wallpaper-engine-kde-plugin. This pass also introduces a backend layer so the app can grow toward other non-GNOME targets later without tangling the whole codebase together.

What Works Now

• Live Steam Workshop browsing instead of placeholder wallpaper cards
• Search-driven workshop results from inside the app
• Managed SteamCMD installation in the app runtime
• One-click KDE plugin install flow from the app
• Local install and apply history
• Direct workshop ID install/apply flow
• Packaging scaffolding for AppImage, DEB, RPM, and Arch

Desktop Support

• KDE Plasma is the only fully implemented backend right now
• The codebase now has a desktop backend layer so future support can be added without rewriting the app flow
• GNOME is intentionally not part of this pass

Project Layout

• App backend: src-tauri
• Bundled frontend: src-tauri/src/index.html
• Packaging assets: packaging

Development

If you already have the system libraries available:

cd src-tauri
cargo tauri dev

If you are using Nix, the repo already includes shell.nix with the GTK/WebKit dependencies needed for local Tauri builds:

nix-shell --run 'cd src-tauri && cargo check'
nix-shell --run 'cd src-tauri && cargo tauri dev'

The actively maintained desktop app lives under src-tauri. Running Cargo commands from that directory avoids pulling in older top-level prototype code that is no longer the primary runtime target.

Notes

• KDE plugin installation expects git and cmake on the host system.
• Live workshop browsing and SteamCMD installation both need network access at runtime.
• The live workshop browser relies on parsing public Steam workshop pages, so Steam markup changes may require parser updates later.

Packaging

See packaging/README.md for the current packaging targets and starter files.

Next Good Targets

• Improve workshop parser resilience and result quality
• Add richer wallpaper metadata caching
• Add import/export or pinning for install history
• Add another non-GNOME desktop backend when its runtime path is ready