Installing Huenicorn on Bazzite
After moving to Bazzite I wanted to get my Philips Hue lights syncing with my screen again. On Windows this is handled by the Hue Sync app, but that doesn't exist on Linux. The alternative is Huenicorn; an open-source tool that captures your screen and sends colour data to your Hue Bridge.
The tricky part is that Bazzite is immutable, so you can't just install packages like on a normal distro. The solution is Distrobox, which lets you run a full Arch Linux container while keeping Bazzite untouched. This was set up with the help of Claude and tested on my machine. Package names or build steps may change over time, so check the Huenicorn AUR page for the latest.
You'll need a Philips Hue Bridge on the same network and a Hue Entertainment Area already configured in the Hue app.
Setting up the container
First create an Arch container and enter it:
distrobox create -n huenicorn-box -i docker.io/library/archlinux:latest
distrobox enter huenicorn-box
Then install the dependencies Huenicorn needs for screen capture and talking to the Bridge:
sudo pacman -Sy --needed base-devel git curl mbedtls opencv \
libx11 libxext libxrandr pipewire wayland
Building Huenicorn
Clone it from AUR and build:
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/huenicorn.git
cd huenicorn
makepkg -si
I ran into an issue where the build failed because of a missing crow dependency. If that happens to you, install it manually first:
sudo pacman -Sy --needed cmake nlohmann-json glm asio
cd ~
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/crow.git
cd crow
makepkg -si
cd ~/huenicorn
makepkg -si
Pairing with the Bridge
Run huenicorn and a browser window opens. Press the physical button on your Hue Bridge, refresh the page, and you should be paired. From there you select your Entertainment Area, drag your lights into the right positions, and start syncing.
On Wayland you'll get a screen capture permission prompt, click Allow. It works with Steam and Proton games in both fullscreen and windowed mode, though your mileage may vary depending on your compositor.
If you want a proper launcher entry in your application menu instead of running it from the terminal:
distrobox-export --app huenicorn
Updating
distrobox enter huenicorn-box
cd ~/huenicorn
git pull
makepkg -si
If things go wrong
If the lights don't react on Wayland, restart Huenicorn and make sure you accepted the screen capture prompt. If it still doesn't work, try logging in to an X11 session instead.
If it can't find your Hue Bridge, double-check that your PC and Bridge are on the same network, that you pressed the physical button before pairing, and that you don't have a VPN active.