Reflective PipeWire

A reflective PipeWire audio suite plugin for OpenDeck (Stream Deck on Linux). All buttons sync their state in real-time - mute your mic via a pedal and every button across all your Stream Decks reflects the change instantly.

Features

• Real-time state sync across all buttons and devices via pactl subscribe
• 5 action types: Mute Toggle, Volume Knob, Volume Display, Volume Up, Volume Down
• 18 built-in icons: Mic, Headset, Headphones, Stereo, 3.5mm Jack, External DAC, Applications, Discord, OBS, Twitch, Speaker, Mixer, Plus, Minus, Chevron Up, Chevron Down, Volume Up, Volume Down
• Per-button customization: icon colors (active/muted), background colors (active/muted)
• Device-aware: all buttons watching the same device update together
• Works with any PipeWire/PulseAudio source or sink

Requirements

• Linux with PipeWire (and PulseAudio compatibility layer)
• OpenDeck installed
• wpctl and pactl available in PATH

Installation

1. Download the latest de.mircoblitz.reflective-pipewire.zip from Releases
2. In OpenDeck, go to Plugins → Install from file
3. Select the downloaded .zip file
4. The plugin appears under RefPipe Audio in the action sidebar

Updating

Simply install the new plugin version using the same steps as above. The installation replaces the plugin files while preserving all your button configurations - no need to reconfigure anything.

Actions

Mute Toggle (Keypad)

Toggles mute on any source or sink. The icon color switches between active (default: green) and muted (default: red).

Settings:

• Device - select any source/sink or use the system default
• Icon - choose from 12 built-in icons
• Icon Colors - active and muted color (applied to the icon)
• Background Colors - active and muted color (default: black/black)

Volume Knob (Encoder)

For Stream Deck+ dials. Rotate to change volume, press to toggle mute. Shows a volume bar and percentage.

Note: Volume can be raised up to 150%. Values above 100% are only effective if "Allow volume to exceed 100%" (or equivalent) is enabled in your system sound settings - otherwise the system silently caps at 100%.

Settings:

• Device / Icon - same as Mute Toggle
• Step per Tick - volume change per encoder tick (default: 5%)
• Icon Colors / Background Colors / Bar Color

Volume Display (Keypad)

Read-only button that shows the current volume as a bar and percentage. Updates in real-time when volume changes from any source.

Settings:

• Device / Icon - same as Mute Toggle
• Icon Colors / Background Colors / Bar Color

Volume Up (Keypad)

Press to increase volume by a configurable step. Maximum is 150%.

Note: Values above 100% are only effective if "Allow volume to exceed 100%" (or equivalent) is enabled in your system sound settings - otherwise the system silently caps at 100%.

Settings:

• Device / Icon / Step
• Reflect mute state - checkbox to enable icon color changes on mute (off by default)
• Icon Colors / Background Colors

Volume Down (Keypad)

Press to decrease volume by a configurable step.

Settings:

• Device / Icon / Step
• Reflect mute state - checkbox to enable icon color changes on mute (off by default)
• Icon Colors / Background Colors

Building from source

git clone https://github.com/MircoBlitz/reflective-pipewire.git
cd reflective-pipewire
cargo build --release

To package as an installable plugin:

mkdir -p dist/de.mircoblitz.reflective-pipewire.sdPlugin/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
cp target/release/reflective-pipewire dist/de.mircoblitz.reflective-pipewire.sdPlugin/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/
cp manifest.json dist/de.mircoblitz.reflective-pipewire.sdPlugin/
cp -r propertyInspector icons dist/de.mircoblitz.reflective-pipewire.sdPlugin/
cd dist && zip -r de.mircoblitz.reflective-pipewire.zip de.mircoblitz.reflective-pipewire.sdPlugin

Then install the .zip via OpenDeck.

How it works

The plugin spawns a background pactl subscribe process that monitors all audio events. When any source or sink changes state, every visible button watching that device re-renders with the current volume and mute state. Actions that modify a device (toggle mute, change volume) trigger an immediate sync of all buttons for that device across all action types.

Known Issues

• Buttons turn white when dropping an encoder action (e.g. Volume Knob) onto a keypad slot. OpenDeck clears all button images internally when this happens. Buttons recover on the next interaction - an audio event, button press, or adding another button.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the OpenDeck team for building an open Stream Deck runtime for Linux - this plugin wouldn't exist without it.

License

MIT