StreamLink Host 2026.11.13-preview.1 — 13 November 2026
DEVELOPMENT PREVIEW / Windows x64 / unsigned installer

This preview is for people who already have a StreamLink client test build.
The client apps are not supplied by this Windows download.

WHAT IS INCLUDED
Host engine 1.0.0, paired-certificate streaming and library endpoints,
the corrected network-test interface binding, and running Steam game detection.
The library helper is inside the host. No separate helper key is needed.
This package uses the current locally tested host executable and worker.
CPack strips debug symbols when packaging, so its executable hash differs from
the unstripped development/installed binary.

KNOWN LIMITATIONS
This installer is not code-signed. Windows may show a security warning.
Only migration on the development PC has been exercised. Clean Windows install,
upgrade/uninstall, hardware compatibility and fresh-PC onboarding are unfinished.
The installer uses administrator access and installs a Windows host service,
program-scoped firewall rules and a virtual gamepad driver when absent.
It may migrate an existing Apollo service and retain its configuration.
Existing working users do not need to reinstall merely to use this download.
Full owned Steam-library access currently depends on separately configured,
user-encrypted Steam API access. No such credentials are shipped. Installed Steam
games are discovered independently. Xbox/GOG/Epic account connectors are absent.

INSTALL / PAIR
Run the installer on the gaming PC, open StreamLink Host from the Start menu,
and complete the local host setup. Keep the PC awake on the same LAN as the
StreamLink client. Select the PC in the client, then enter the client's PIN
in the PC host's pairing page. Sign in to Steam on the PC for installed games.

VALIDATION OF THIS PACKAGE
The staged installer files passed 19 isolated host/API/protocol checks covering
paired/unpaired access, permission and Origin rejection, launch input validation,
network-test tokens/interface binding/pacing/cancellation, and library responses.
The tests used disposable certificates and alternate ports. They did not change
the installed host. They are not a clean-install or physical streaming soak test.
No PC keys, accounts, pairing state or Steam library cache are included.

SOURCE / BUILD
Apollo base: adc5c5a0bd80831ce495434bb16aee2cd4175fb8.
Host source ZIP includes modified files and vendored source submodules, with
SOURCE-SHA256.json and UPSTREAM-REVISIONS.txt. Read README-StreamLink.txt and
docs/building.md as well as these newer preview notes.
Extract the Host source ZIP, then the Windows build libraries ZIP into the same
directory. This supplies third-party/build-deps/dist/Windows-AMD64, matching
build-deps binary commit a9a7f86328963837e30e21c8901faba00fe81542.
The dependency build recipe at c0a89a80c399dcdd25fa7357d5799c0c7988d547 and its
exact FFmpeg/SVT-AV1/x264/x265/nv-codec/AMF inputs are separately downloadable.
Extract each source at its path in the recipe's .gitmodules; apply the provided
patches using that recipe. AMF headers used for compilation and their licence
are included; unrelated sample applications/media are not distributed.

Use Windows x64 with MinGW UCRT GCC 15.2, CMake, Ninja, NSIS and Node/npm.
The reference build used Boost 1.89.0 (CMake fetches the pinned archive),
OpenSSL, libcurl, miniupnpc, MinHook and libvpl from the MSYS2 UCRT toolchain.
Use GCC 15.2; the tested GCC 16.2 build failed in the compiler.
Install the build prerequisites described in docs/building.md, then configure:
  cmake -S . -B build-release -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBUILD_TESTS=OFF -DBUILD_DOCS=OFF
Ensure PATH/CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH point to the GCC15/UCRT toolchain and dependencies.
  cmake --build build-release
  cd build-release
  cpack -G NSIS
Use a short build path: NSIS can fail on long source/staging paths.
The host smoke test is tests/streamlink-host-smoke.py. Use a new disposable test
directory. Never publish test state or credentials generated by that test.

LICENCES
Apollo/Sunshine host retains GPLv3. See Host-LICENSE.txt and the source licences.
FFmpeg and x264/x265 retain their included copyleft licences; other dependencies
retain their own notices. The separate licence ZIP supplements source notices.
Steam names and logos belong to Valve. No affiliation is implied.