Best Steam Machine Customization and Library Plugins

Steam Machine's Gaming Mode is deliberately simple. Decky Loader is how you add to it without leaving the couch, and a handful of plugins do genuinely useful work rather than just decoration.

All of these need Decky Loader installed first. See our Decky Loader guide for that. If its installer asks for a local administrator password, our Desktop Mode and sudo guide explains how to set one and why it is separate from your Steam account password.

Read this before you install anything

Decky Loader is not officially supported on Steam Machine. The project's FAQ scopes it to the SteamOS installation that ships on Steam Deck, and the open Steam Machine support request remains unresolved.

In practice it works, and community reports are consistent on that. But every plugin below inherits that status. Expect occasional breakage after SteamOS updates, and expect the fix to be re-running the Decky installer.

Decky plugins can be uninstalled, but third-party tools may leave settings or files behind. Back up anything you would not want to recreate.

UnifiDeck

The most useful plugin on this list, and the one that changes how you use the machine. Its project README lists the supported store integrations and the current install path.

UnifiDeck pulls games from Epic Games Store, GOG, Amazon, Ubisoft Connect, Battle.net, and Xbox Cloud Gaming into your Steam library as browsable tabs. They install and launch from Gaming Mode with the same Play button as Steam games. No separate launcher, no Desktop Mode trip every time you want to play something.

What it handles for you:

• Proton setup, automatically, with the option to force a specific version through Steam's normal Compatibility menu
• Cover art, icons, Metacritic scores, and compatibility ratings, so non-Steam games look like they belong
• Cloud saves for Epic and GOG, with a warning if local and cloud copies disagree
• Install location, whether internal, microSD, or a folder you choose

Two requirements worth knowing. It needs Decky Loader, and it needs Microsoft Edge installed for store sign-in and Xbox Cloud Gaming. UnifiDeck prompts you to install Edge if it is missing, and bundles the rest of its tooling itself.

Install by downloading the ZIP from the project's GitHub releases page, enabling developer mode in Decky's settings, and installing from ZIP. Recent releases added Steam Machine and SteamOS categories to its compatibility tab, so the project is actively accounting for the device.

Known limitation: download speeds are noticeably slower than Steam's own.

How this compares to Heroic and NonSteamLaunchers. Heroic is a native Linux app that replaces the store client and covers Epic, GOG, and Amazon. NonSteamLaunchers installs the real Windows launchers under Proton. UnifiDeck skips both and puts the games directly in your Steam library. If you want the most console-like result, UnifiDeck. If you want the most mature tool, Heroic. See our non-Steam games guide for the full comparison.

SteamGridDB

Fixes the ugliest problem with non-Steam shortcuts: missing or wrong artwork. The Decky SteamGridDB project describes it as a plugin for applying community artwork to library entries.

Any game you add manually shows up as a blank tile with a generic icon. SteamGridDB pulls proper covers, heroes, logos, and icons from the community artwork database and applies them without leaving Gaming Mode.

If you have added anything as a non-Steam game, whether an emulator, a launcher, or a browser shortcut, this is the plugin that makes your library stop looking broken.

Worth noting UnifiDeck handles artwork for games it manages, so there is overlap. SteamGridDB still covers everything else.

CSS Loader

CSS Loader is a theme manager for the Steam interface. It applies community-made CSS themes that change colors, layout density, animations, and how the library is laid out.

Themes install from a browsable store inside the plugin. They stack, so you can combine a color theme with a layout tweak, and each can be toggled individually.

This is the plugin most likely to be affected by a Steam client update, since it depends on Steam's own interface structure. When Steam changes something, themes need updating. Usually they get fixed quickly, but expect the occasional broken week.

Tab Master

Tab Master rebuilds how your library is organized. Rather than Steam's default tabs, you build your own with rules, so a tab can automatically contain everything unplayed, everything from a given store, everything under a certain install size, or whatever combination you define.

Most valuable once your library is large and mixed. If you have Steam games, Epic games through UnifiDeck, and emulated games through EmuDeck all in one place, this is what stops that from being a mess.

Less useful if you keep twenty games installed and know where all of them are.

Animation Changer

Animation Changer replaces boot and suspend animations with community-made alternatives, downloadable from within the plugin.

Purely cosmetic, which is worth being honest about. It is on this list because it is popular and it works, not because it does anything functional.

On a living room device that boots in front of guests, the argument for it is slightly stronger than on a handheld.

Where to start

Most people should install two things: UnifiDeck if you have libraries outside Steam, and SteamGridDB to clean up artwork.

CSS Loader and Tab Master are worth adding once you have used the machine for a while and know what annoys you about the default interface. Animation Changer whenever you feel like it.

Install one at a time rather than all five in a session. If something breaks, you want to know which thing caused it.

When something breaks

SteamOS and Steam client updates are common triggers.

1. Check whether Decky itself is still there. If the plug icon is gone from the Quick Access Menu, re-run the Decky installer. It repairs an existing install rather than starting fresh.
2. If Decky is fine but one plugin misbehaves, check that plugin's own page for an update.
3. CSS Loader themes break more often than the plugin itself. Update themes before assuming the plugin is at fault.

What remains unknown

These projects document their Steam Deck or general SteamOS behavior, not an official Steam Machine support contract. Their plugins may need updates after Steam client or SteamOS changes, and we have not represented a first-party Steam Machine test for each one. Treat the list as a practical starting point, not a compatibility guarantee.