Stream Deck Plugin Development Knowledge Base

A practical, markdown-first knowledge base for building Stream Deck plugins with SDK 2.1.0+. Learn architecture, build workflows, integrate third-party services, and ship to marketplace—all in one focused resource.

New to Stream Deck plugins? Start here: knowledge-base/GETTING_STARTED.md

Looking for specific guidance? Browse by topic: knowledge-base/INDEX.md

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Why This Repository

This KB is designed to be:

• Practical: Real code examples, tested patterns, and actionable troubleshooting paths.
• Lightweight: Plain markdown in one folder. No hosted site, vector DB, or generated artifacts to maintain.
• Canonical: Source of truth for Stream Deck-specific implementation guidance. Official docs remain authoritative for SDK APIs, marketplace policies, and legal/compliance.
• Agent-friendly: Retrieval-ready for AI coding assistants and easy to embed in plugin projects as a submodule.
• Organized by workflow: Lifecycle-based IA (start → learn → build → design UI → integrate & secure → ship) designed for new developers.

Get Started In 3 Ways

🚀 New? → GETTING_STARTED.md
🔍 Lookup? → INDEX.md
🤖 AI Agent? → Using This KB with AI Coding Agents

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Path 1: I'm a new plugin developer

git clone https://github.com/9h03n1x/rag-streamdeck-dev.git
cd rag-streamdeck-dev && npm test

Then read knowledge-base/GETTING_STARTED.md and follow the suggested path.

Path 2: I'm building an existing plugin or want a quick lookup

• Index & Navigation – browse all docs by topic.
• Quick Reference – compact command and API lookup.
• Common Issues – symptom-based fixes.

Path 3: I'm an AI coding agent (Claude, Copilot, etc.)

• Using This KB with AI – retrieval patterns and prompt strategies.
• AI Tools Guides – Claude Desktop & GitHub Copilot setup.
• INDEX.md – structured content for context window optimization.

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Knowledge Base Lifecycle

graph LR
    A["📖 Learn<br/>Concepts"] --> B["🛠️ Build<br/>Workflow"]
    B --> C["🎨 Design<br/>UI"]
    C --> D["🔌 Integrate<br/>Features"]
    D --> E["🚀 Ship<br/>Marketplace"]
    F["🔎 Reference<br/>Lookup"] -.->|anytime| A
    F -.->|anytime| B
    F -.->|anytime| C
    F -.->|anytime| D
    G["❓ Troubleshoot<br/>Issues"] -.->|as needed| A
    G -.->|as needed| B
    G -.->|as needed| C
    G -.->|as needed| D
    style A fill:#e1f5ff
    style B fill:#fff3e0
    style C fill:#f3e5f5
    style D fill:#e8f5e9
    style E fill:#fce4ec
    style F fill:#f5f5f5
    style G fill:#fff9c4

Loading

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What's Inside

Category	Purpose	Key Articles
Learn	Core concepts	Architecture, Actions, Settings, Stream Deck +
Build	Development workflow	Setup, Build & Deploy, Debug, Test
Design UI	User interfaces	Property Inspector Basics, SDPI Components, Advanced PI
Integrate	Advanced features	OAuth, Network Ops, Secrets, Telemetry
Ship	Release & marketplace	Submission, Checklist, Compliance
Reference	Lookup & source mapping	API, Manifest, CLI, Source Code Map
Examples	Complete code samples	Basic Counter, Dial UI, Real-World Scenarios
Troubleshoot	Problem solving	Common Issues, Diagnostic Flows
AI Tools	Claude Desktop & Copilot	Claude Desktop, Claude + MCP, Copilot Setup, Copilot Agents & Prompts

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Using As A Submodule

Embed this KB in your plugin project:

git submodule add https://github.com/9h03n1x/rag-streamdeck-dev.git .streamdeck-kb
git submodule update --init --recursive

Then reference docs from your README or CI/CD pipeline:

For development setup, see `.streamdeck-kb/knowledge-base/development-workflow/environment-setup.md`.

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## What's Canonical vs. External

**We maintain locally:**
- Stream Deck-specific implementation patterns and best practices.
- Code templates and examples for actions, manifests, Property Inspector.
- Troubleshooting workflows and diagnostic guides.
- Integration patterns (OAuth, networking, secrets, telemetry).
- Marketplace submission and compliance checklists.

**We link to official sources for:**
- [Elgato SDK API & docs](https://docs.elgato.com/streamdeck/sdk)
- [SDPI Components](https://sdpi-components.dev/)
- [Stream Deck Marketplace](https://console.elgato.com)
- OAuth provider dashboards (Google, Spotify, Twitch, GitHub, Discord)
- Legal, compliance, and accessibility standards
- CI/CD platforms (GitHub Actions, GitLab, Azure DevOps, Jenkins)

See [knowledge-base/information-architecture-audit.md](knowledge-base/information-architecture-audit.md) for the full content governance model.

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## Contributing & Maintaining

- **Want to suggest a topic or fix?** See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md).
- **Structural changes?** See [knowledge-base/ia-implementation-plan.md](knowledge-base/ia-implementation-plan.md).
- **Review history?** See [knowledge-base/CHANGELOG.md](knowledge-base/CHANGELOG.md).

All markdown is validated with `npm test` (checks headings, links, file names).

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## Technical Baseline

This KB assumes:

- **SDK Version**: 2.1.0 or newer, SDK v3.
- **Node.js**: 24+ (Node.js 20 for legacy SDK v2 projects).
- **Stream Deck**: 7.1 or newer.
- **Build**: TypeScript, esbuild or webpack.

For older versions or SDK v1 migration, see [knowledge-base/reference/sdk-v1-to-v2-migration.md](knowledge-base/reference/sdk-v1-to-v2-migration.md).

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## License

ISC