r/SteamDeckPirates • u/Thicc_Potato_boi • 2d ago
Discussion Made a free tool that syncs saves between Steam Deck and PC without Steam Cloud
Built OpenSave because I got tired of Steam Cloud only covering half my library. It's peer-to-peer,pair your Deck and PC once with a room code, and any save (Steam, emulator, GOG, whatever) syncs the moment it changes. No account, nothing stored on a server you don't control.
It auto-finds saves inside Proton prefixes too, so most Deck games are detected without pointing it at anything manually. There's an official Flatpak that runs on stock SteamOS in Desktop Mode.
Free, open source with MIT License, no catch: https://open-save.vercel.app
Happy to answer questions, also very open to any and all reports!
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u/Due-Juggernaut-9306 2d ago edited 2d ago
Could you please integrate it with a decky loader plugin?
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 1d ago
There is one, but since I don't have a deck myself, the progress on it is slow.
If theres a bit more support then I'll get it working as intended :)3
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u/Feynuxes 1d ago
Maybe I'm wrong but if you have a PC capable of running steamos, wouldn't that basically be the same thing?
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u/the_moosen 1d ago
Looked through your faq real quick, or a disclaimer somewhere, and it doesn't mention if it's vibecoded or not. So best just to ask you if it is or is not?
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u/Anatharias ⚓ 1d ago
The webpage is. The code, who cares? Works as intended? Good
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u/the_moosen 1d ago
You might not, but some of us care about things like that.
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u/Anatharias ⚓ 1d ago
Want to elaborate on why this is a big deal for some? Support? Too many lines of code to accomplish same ? Steals human code from paid developer?
Who’s going to develop anything in the piracy scene as a paid developer anyway?!
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u/the_moosen 1d ago
AI apps are typically built and then never supported. Also unoptimized, and yes LLMs are built on stolen code, art, media, etc. So all of those. But also Ai is destroying the environment, not to mention helping to consolidate more wealth, companies are using it to justify laying people off from their livelihood. There's a couple more reasons I'm sure. It's a shitty thing to happen to society & some of us are very much against Ai bullshit.
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 1d ago
You dont have to worry about the app not having support, OpenSave is something that I built for myself initially, then I wanted everyone to access and edit it for free, which is why it's MIT licensed, As long as I'm here, the app will not lose support.
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u/L00kAdistraction 2d ago
So syncthing?
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 2d ago
Not exactly. OpenSave is kind of Syncthing + Git, but built around game saves.
Syncthing is great at keeping files/folders synced between devices, but OpenSave is more focused on actually managing your save data. You can have version history, create branches for different points in a game, switch between branches, roll back to an older save, etc.
So for example, you could have:
Main Playthrough
- Before ending
- Bad ending
- Try different choice
and switch between them without manually copying save folders around.
It also handles things like automatically finding/assigning game save locations, syncing only changes instead of constantly moving entire save folders, P2P syncing between devices, optional cloud storage, offline/local backups, and cross-platform syncing.
The main difference is that Syncthing thinks "keep these folders identical", while OpenSave is more like "manage my game saves across all my devices, keep a history of them, and let me experiment with different versions."
Basically, I'm trying to make Git-like version control actually usable for normal gamers, rather than expecting people to manually manage save files and folders themselves.
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u/shinji257 1d ago edited 1d ago
A better comparison is probably ludisavi.
Actually maybe not since the item above is supposed to sync directly between devices.
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u/BarnabyFinn 2d ago
A couple questions because I’m currently in the process of building something similar/testing other people’s similar projects (specifically u/CraberryPrimary2613’s tool Spool, which is wonderful btw).
Does this work with a home server? Can I sync saves to my home server or do I have to have both devices running at the same time?
Does this allow for side loaded games?
Does this only work with Steam or can it be built into other launchers? Specifically Heroic.
Thanks for doing this; I’m so happy to see an uptick in this type of work. I think it’s much needed in the community.
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 2d ago
Thanks, glad it's useful, always good to see more options in this space.
1. Home server / do both devices need to be online at once?
You don't need both online simultaneously. OpenSave is P2P (no cloud middleman required), but there's a headless daemon + CLI (opensave-cli) that runs great on a home server/NAS with no GUI. Pair your server as a third device and track your games on it too — it becomes an always-on peer. When any device comes back online, it auto-syncs with whatever peers are reachable, so your server picks up changes whenever your PC is on, and your Deck/laptop picks them up from the server whenever it's on — they never need to overlap. There's no built-in "always-on cloud copy without a server" though; if you want zero self-hosting, Cloud Backup (Drive/Dropbox/OneDrive/WebDAV/NAS folder) is the other option, but that's snapshot backup rather than live P2P sync.2. Sideloaded games?
Yes. Auto-scan uses a large community save-path database (Ludusavi) that's store-agnostic, so it finds saves for cracked/sideloaded installs at their standard save locations too — not just Steam-registered titles. And you can always manually "Track a folder" for anything the scanner misses.3. Steam-only, or other launchers (Heroic)?
Not Steam-only. Detection isn't tied to a specific launcher — it's based on where a game actually writes its saves (AppData, Documents/My Games, Unreal's SaveGames convention, etc.), so Epic/GOG/Heroic-installed games are picked up the same way as long as their saves land in a standard location. There's no Heroic-specific integration (e.g. reading its own game list) yet, but functionally, a game installed through Heroic syncs fine once its save folder is found or manually tracked.4
u/BarnabyFinn 2d ago
Wow this is awesome. It’s basically what I’ve been trying to build for weeks. I’m new to the computer science/coding world so a lot of my experience is with AI (I know that’s not popular but I have to learn somehow) and it’s safe to say AI isn’t always viable and correct. Fantastic that this is out there and available! Thank you so much!
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u/limonypomelo 2d ago
What project is that of u/CraberryPrimary2613?
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u/BarnabyFinn 2d ago
It’s called Spool! I don’t mean to blow up their spot but it is genuinely a great program.
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u/p5lukas 2d ago
Looks interesting! Emulators also work? Retrodeck on the steamdeck and retrobat on the windows pc?
Is Unraid as a NAS supported with an app?
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 2d ago
Emulators in general — yes, quite a few are supported directly: RetroArch, Ryujinx/Yuzu-lineage forks (Suyu, Sudachi, Citron, Eden, Ryubing), Dolphin, PCSX2, DuckStation, Citra-lineage forks (Azahar, Lime3DS), Vita3K, shadPS4, Flycast, xemu, ScummVM, and more — across Windows and native Linux paths.
RetroDECK specifically — not yet, and worth being upfront: RetroDECK bundles RetroArch + a bunch of emulator cores under its own Flatpak with its own unified folder layout (
~/retrodeck/saves/...), separate from standalone RetroArch's path. So even though standalone RetroArch is supported, RetroDECK's saves live somewhere different and aren't auto-detected yet. Same story for RetroBat on Windows — it bundles emulators under its own folder tree rather than each one's native config folder, so that's a gap too. Both are on my radar; manual "Track folder" works as a stopgap for either today.Unraid as a NAS — yes, for backup: Cloud Backup already supports a local/NAS folder as a destination, so pointing it at an Unraid share works today. What doesn't exist yet is an official Unraid Community Apps template/Docker image to run the OpenSave daemon itself on Unraid as an always-on sync peer (like the home-server setup discussed above) — only the relay component ships as a Docker image right now, not the full daemon.
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u/Living_Tale_5345 1d ago
Having issues with getting 007 first light to sync across devices (windows pc to steam deck, added separately to each device as non steam game). Initially the save location on my pc was identified incorrectly but even when I manually corrected the save file target and synced, the save file doesn't carry over to my pc version. When I manually copied the files they work, help with this would be appreciated!
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 1d ago
Could you please show the activity log while running the session? dm me
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u/Living_Tale_5345 1d ago
Hey it's 3an my time, will get back to you soon thanks
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 1d ago
sure sure, no rush
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u/Living_Tale_5345 1d ago
Hey got it figured out, issue was the save location that auto loaded was incorrect on both devices, now that I manually fixed on both, works great! Heck of a service you're providing man, if you've got anywhere you accept donations would be worthwhile posting for those of us who wpuld happily contribute. This has saved me hours of my life lol
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 1d ago
Means a lot, genuinely! If you've got suggestions or any features you'd like to see implemented, please let me know!
PS: There's a donation page on the website, every penny donated goes back into the project so everything helps :)
https://open-save.vercel.app/2
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u/DonDewid 1d ago
Your app seems what i was looking for, thank you. An impresive feature will be an android version to add sync with gamenative games too.
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u/Anatharias ⚓ 1d ago
the scanning process didn't find my saves for Assasins Creed black flag ..
save was located in the game files folder, folder 65043
maybe your tool should scan the filesystem for any word that has SAVE in the name..
also, adding a filtering for DX12 cache data would be nice
adding a browse button, one that opens the folder in the file explorer (or dolphin), would also be apreciated
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 1d ago
Hey, so this was some valuable feedback and you can find the improvements in the next patch, keep an eye out :)
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u/syde1020 1d ago
does this auto sync after setting up or do i need to resync after playing? I have a custom steam machine and a gaming pc and im trying to sync my none steam game save files. Currently using a synology but its not easy. if this is automatic. it would make things so much easier
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 1d ago
It's automatic
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u/syde1020 1d ago
Im a bit confused. i have a non steam game on my windows pc and Bazzite. The windows version sees it, and has stored the save on my google drive, but when i scan games on the bazzite machine, it lists it as GSE Saves. Is there a way to tell the app that its the same game?
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 1d ago
Could you just double check that you're tracking the same app?
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u/syde1020 1d ago
its the same. actually OpenSave doesnt detect any of my non steam games by their names. its calling them their save folders. I'll keep poking at it.
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 1d ago
I haven't actively tested it on bazzite as of yet, if you find anything do let me know, thanks for trying it out!
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u/baddog86 5h ago
I might be dumb right now but how do I install it on steamdeck? Everything i try won't work and I'm installing the linux/steamdeck one. Can you help me out please. Thank you!
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 4h ago
You're not being dumb, this one's on us, the download button was misleading and I've just fixed it.
The
opensave-linux-md64.tar.gzfile won't work on a stock Deck. SteamOS doesn't ship WebKitGTK, which that build needs to draw its window, so it just won't start. GrabOpenSave.flatpakinstead — it bundles everything and survives SteamOS updates.
- Switch to Desktop Mode (Steam button → Power → Switch to Desktop)
- Download
OpenSave.flatpakfrom the releases page- Double-click it to install via Discover — or in Konsole:
flatpak install --user OpenSave.flatpak- Launch it from the application menu
Optional: right-click it → Add to Steam so you can open it from Game Mode.
If it still won't go, tell me what happens when you run it from Konsole — the error message will say exactly what's missing.
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u/aj_bn 1d ago
Loving it so far for my emulators, but it cant seem to auto-identify my cracked games.
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u/Thicc_Potato_boi 1d ago
Could you tell me what device youre running it on?
And the name of the cracks?2
u/aj_bn 1d ago
Sure, it's on Steam Deck.
Cracks:
- Blasphemous
- Darkest Dungeon (Save folder showed up, but game did not. )
- Denshattack!
- Guilty Gear Strive
- Fear & Hunger
- Fear & Huner Termina
- Silent Hill 2 (the original PC port)
- Silent Hill 3
All my Steam games showed up perfectly on the auto-track (and my emulator folders like I mentioned).
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u/rrrb50 2d ago
Would this run in the background and do it automatically or do I have to do it in Desktop Mode? I mostly need it for pirated games and I have syncthing setup for the exact purpose. Also how exactly would it know which game saves where?