-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
FAQ
Proton Pulse is a compatibility database for Steam games on Linux. Two parts:
- The website (proton-pulse.com) -- browse and filter reports by GPU or driver, vote on configs, see the actual hardware specs behind each report
- The Decky Loader plugin -- runs on Steam Deck, scores reports against your real hardware, and writes launch options straight into your Steam game entry
GPL-3.0. Fully open source. No cost.
ProtonDB is a report aggregator -- it collects community compatibility reports and shows a flat tier (Platinum/Gold/Silver/Borked). Proton Pulse builds on that foundation and adds things ProtonDB does not have:
| What you get with Proton Pulse | ProtonDB |
|---|---|
| Edit or delete your own reports any time | Reports are permanent -- only an admin can remove them |
| Hardware-aware scoring (GPU, driver, Proton version, age) | Flat tier only -- no hardware context |
| Filter reports by your specific GPU or driver | Not available |
| Vote on configs (upvote / downvote best launch options) | Not available |
| Full open data / JSON API -- no key required | Closed |
| Source code fully public (GPL-3.0) | Closed source |
| Apply launch options directly to Steam -- no copy/paste | Not available |
| Submit reports without leaving game (via Decky plugin) | Requires opening the browser |
| Playtime tracking per config | Not available |
| Non-Steam game support (Heroic, GOG, Lutris, etc.) | Not available |
ProtonDB has a much larger historical report archive, and Proton Pulse imports that data as a baseline. The two are complementary -- Proton Pulse is what you use when you want more control over your data and hardware-specific answers.
No. Proton Pulse imports ProtonDB data as a foundation and credits it accordingly. The goal is to build a richer, more user-controlled layer on top of the community data that already exists, not to fragment the ecosystem.
Yes. On ProtonDB, submitted reports are locked. Wrong Proton version, wrong hardware -- you contact an admin and wait. On Proton Pulse you can fix or delete your own reports at any point.
Stale reports are a real problem in compatibility databases. Letting users clean up their own entries is the only way the data stays usable.
Three sources, merged in priority order:
- Pulse Reports -- reports submitted natively through the Decky plugin or the website, with full hardware capture (GPU, driver, Proton version, kernel, distro, playtime)
-
ProtonDB mirror -- a daily snapshot of ProtonDB reports, cached as static JSON at
https://proton-pulse.com/data/{appId}/ - ProtonDB live API -- real-time fallback for games not yet in the mirror
All data is exposed as static JSON files under /data/{appId}/. No API key required. Scriptable, forkable, self-hostable.
Standard ProtonDB tiers treat all reports equally regardless of hardware. A Platinum report from a 2018 iGPU is weighted the same as one from a Steam Deck OLED.
Proton Pulse scores each report based on how closely the reporter's hardware matches yours:
- GPU match -- same vendor (AMD/Nvidia/Intel) scores higher; exact model match scores highest
- Driver proximity -- closer driver version scores higher; very old drivers score lower
- Proton version -- more recent builds score higher; very old builds are discounted
- Report age -- recent reports are weighted more than old ones
- Tier -- Platinum/Gold reports start with a higher base weight
The result is a ranked list of reports most relevant to your setup, not the average of all hardware.
The full algorithm is documented on the Scoring Algorithm wiki page and in the scoring explainer on the site.
Yes, completely. Every Pulse Report is available as static JSON:
https://proton-pulse.com/data/{appId}/pulse-reports.json
The data pipeline that generates and updates these files is open source at github.com/mdeguzis/proton-pulse-data. No API key, no rate limit, no authentication required to read data.
The plugin runs natively on Steam Deck in Gaming Mode and adds things that only work at the OS level:
- Hardware auto-detection -- reads your actual GPU, driver, kernel, and Proton version so scores are computed against your real setup, not a manually entered profile
- Direct launch option writes -- applies configs directly to the Steam game entry; no clipboard, no copy/paste, no browser
- In-game submission -- submit a Pulse Report without leaving the game or switching to Desktop Mode
- Playtime tracking -- tracks how long you played under each config so you can see which ones actually work long-term
- Compatibility tool management -- install and switch Proton/GE versions from inside the plugin
The store submission process requires a stable release with a clean build pipeline and no known critical bugs. Proton Pulse is actively maintained and the store submission is on the roadmap. In the meantime, installation via the Decky manual install method takes under a minute -- see the README for steps.
Yes. Games added to Steam via Heroic, Lutris, Bottles, itch.io, and other launchers are resolved to their matching Steam store app ID so ProtonDB and Pulse data load correctly.
No. You can browse all compatibility reports, filter by hardware, and read configs without an account.
An account (Steam login via OAuth) is required to submit reports and vote on configs.
When you submit a Pulse Report, the following is stored:
- Game app ID and title
- Your hardware profile (GPU, driver version, Proton version, kernel, distro)
- Launch options used
- Outcome (working / partial / broken)
- Playtime under this config (optional)
- Your Steam account ID (for report ownership -- edit/delete)
No personal identifiers beyond your Steam ID are stored. Reports are attributed to a Steam ID, not a display name, by default. Full details are in the Privacy Policy.
Install the Decky plugin and submit a Pulse Report from Gaming Mode after playing a game. Reports are reviewed and published to the public JSON API within minutes.
Both repos are open:
- proton-pulse-data -- data pipeline, website, JSON API
- decky-proton-pulse -- Decky Loader plugin (TypeScript frontend + Python backend)
See the Developer Guide for environment setup, build steps, and how to test changes on a real Steam Deck.
Yes. The entire stack is GPL-3.0. The static site, data pipeline, and Decky plugin can all be forked and self-hosted. If you self-host the data pipeline, point the plugin's CDN URL at your own host in the plugin settings.