Overview

This PR adds a streaming framework to RomM that lets you launch games from the RomM UI into a native emulator running in a separate container. The stream comes back in the browser, with save state controls, volume, and session management built into the player.

The emulator runs in a linuxserver Docker container with a Selkies WebRTC stream. An HTTP broker sidecar inside that container handles game launches, archive extraction, and I/O. RomM talks to the broker through a new /api/streaming backend endpoint and embeds the stream in a player view.

Four emulators are covered here. More (PS3/rpcs3 and others) will follow in separate PRs once this lands.

Supported emulators

Architecture

RomM frontend
  └── StreamingStore (Pinia)
        ├── fetchConfig()       — loads container list from backend on app start
        ├── claimSession()      — POST /api/streaming/sessions
        ├── saveState/loadState — proxied to broker via backend
        ├── saveAndExit()       — save + release session
        └── setVolume/setMute   — PulseAudio control via broker

RomM backend  (/api/streaming/*)
  ├── GET  /config              — returns enabled flag + container list
  ├── POST /sessions            — claims a session, proxies launch to broker
  ├── POST /sessions/{platform}/save-state
  ├── POST /sessions/{platform}/load-state
  ├── POST /sessions/{platform}/save-and-exit
  ├── POST /sessions/{platform}/volume
  ├── POST /sessions/{platform}/mute
  └── DELETE /sessions/{platform} — releases session

Emulator container (linuxserver + broker sidecar)
  ├── POST /launch              — kill current game, extract archive, launch
  ├── GET  /status              — session state + extraction progress (0–100%)
  ├── POST /save-state          — hotkey inject → poll for write confirmation
  ├── POST /load-state          — hotkey inject (fire-and-forget)
  ├── POST /save-and-exit
  ├── POST /volume              — pactl set-sink-volume
  └── POST /mute

Configuration (config.yml)

streaming:
  enabled: true
  containers:
    - platform: ps2
      host: https://192.168.1.51:3001       # Selkies WebRTC UI (browser-facing, must be HTTPS)
      broker_host: http://192.168.1.51:8000  # Broker API (server-to-container, HTTP ok)
      label: PCSX2
    - platform: ngc
      host: https://192.168.1.51:3002
      broker_host: http://192.168.1.51:8001
      label: Dolphin

Each emulator is its own container entry. Multiple platforms can share a container (e.g. ngc/wii/wiiu all pointing at the same Dolphin instance) or use separate ones. host is the URL the browser loads the stream from; broker_host is the server-side URL RomM uses to send commands.

Set a BROKER_SECRET env var on both the RomM container and the emulator container to authenticate broker API calls.

Changes

Backend

• backend/endpoints/streaming.py — new router: session management, broker proxy, config endpoint
• backend/config/config_manager.py — STREAMING_ENABLED + STREAMING_CONTAINERS config fields
• backend/main.py — registers streaming router

Frontend

• frontend/src/stores/streaming.ts — Pinia store: config, session lifecycle, per-platform capabilities
• frontend/src/views/Player/Stream/Player.vue — streaming player view: Selkies iframe, loading overlay with extraction progress bar, save state controls, volume/mute
• frontend/src/components/common/Game/PlayBtn.vue — "Play on [label]" button appears when a streaming container is configured for the platform
• frontend/src/layouts/Main.vue — stream player route wired into nav
• frontend/src/plugins/router.ts — /play/:platform/:romId route

Config

• examples/config.example.yml — streaming config example with comments
• env.template — BROKER_SECRET variable

Broker containers

Each emulator has a companion Docker mod repo with the broker sidecar:

• PCSX2: https://github.com/LoneAngelFayt/pcsx2-romm-integration
• Dolphin: https://github.com/LoneAngelFayt/dolphin-romm-integration
• xemu: https://github.com/LoneAngelFayt/xemu-romm-integration
• Eden: https://github.com/LoneAngelFayt/eden-romm-integration

Each repo includes a docker-compose.yml showing the full setup.

UX flow

1. User clicks Play on PCSX2 (the button only appears when a container is configured for that platform)
2. RomM claims a session → broker kills any running game, extracts the archive if needed
3. Loading overlay shows a spinner or extraction progress bar (0–100%) polled from /status
4. Once running, the stream fills the player; save state controls and volume appear in the toolbar
5. Save & Exit saves state, returns to the library, and releases the session for other users

AI Disclosure

Claude assisted in generating code and documentation.