Vast.ai GPU Streaming Deployment Guide

Complete guide for deploying Hyperscape GPU streaming to Vast.ai with WebGPU rendering.

Overview

Hyperscape streams live gameplay to Twitch, Kick, and X/Twitter using GPU-accelerated WebGPU rendering. This guide covers the complete deployment process for Vast.ai GPU instances.

Requirements

Hardware

NVIDIA GPU with Vulkan support (RTX 3060 or better recommended)
8GB+ VRAM for WebGPU rendering
16GB+ RAM for Chrome, FFmpeg, and game server
50GB+ storage for Docker images and game assets

Software

Ubuntu 22.04 or newer
NVIDIA drivers 525+ with Vulkan support
Docker for PostgreSQL
Xorg or Xvfb display server (headless NOT supported)
PulseAudio for audio capture
FFmpeg with H.264 encoding support
Chrome Dev channel with WebGPU enabled

Architecture

Rendering Pipeline

Chrome (WebGPU) → CDP Screencast → FFmpeg (H.264) → RTMP Tee → Twitch/Kick/X
                                                              ↓
                                                         PulseAudio (Audio)

GPU Rendering Modes

The deployment script tries these modes in order:

Xorg with NVIDIA (preferred):
- Direct GPU access via DRI/DRM devices
- Best performance and compatibility
- Requires /dev/dri/card0 access
Xvfb with NVIDIA Vulkan (fallback):
- Virtual framebuffer for X11 protocol
- Chrome uses GPU via ANGLE/Vulkan
- Works without DRM device access
Ozone Headless with GPU (experimental):
- Wayland-like headless rendering
- May work when X11/Xvfb fails
- Requires GPU sandbox bypass
Headless mode: NOT SUPPORTED
- WebGPU requires display server
- Deployment FAILS if no GPU mode works

Deployment Steps

1. Create Vast.ai Instance

Recommended specs:

GPU: RTX 3060 or better
RAM: 16GB+
Storage: 50GB+
Image: Ubuntu 22.04 with NVIDIA drivers

Template:

# Search for instances
vast search offers 'gpu_name=RTX 3060 gpu_ram>=8 ram>=16 disk_space>=50'

# Create instance
vast create instance <offer_id> --image nvidia/cuda:12.0.0-devel-ubuntu22.04

2. Configure GitHub Secrets

Set these secrets in your GitHub repository (Settings → Secrets → Actions): Required:

VAST_HOST - Instance IP address
VAST_PORT - SSH port (usually 22)
VAST_SSH_KEY - Private SSH key for authentication
DATABASE_URL - PostgreSQL connection string
TWITCH_STREAM_KEY - Twitch stream key
KICK_STREAM_KEY - Kick stream key
KICK_RTMP_URL - Kick RTMP URL
X_STREAM_KEY - X/Twitter stream key
X_RTMP_URL - X/Twitter RTMP URL
SOLANA_DEPLOYER_PRIVATE_KEY - Solana keypair (base58)

Optional:

JWT_SECRET - JWT signing secret
ARENA_EXTERNAL_BET_WRITE_KEY - Arena betting API key

3. Deploy via GitHub Actions

Automatic deployment:

# Push to main branch
git push origin main

# GitHub Actions will:
# 1. SSH into Vast.ai instance
# 2. Clone/update repository
# 3. Run scripts/deploy-vast.sh
# 4. Start PM2 with ecosystem.config.cjs

Manual deployment:

# SSH into instance
ssh -p <port> root@<host>

# Clone repository
cd /root
git clone https://github.com/HyperscapeAI/hyperscape.git
cd hyperscape

# Run deployment script
./scripts/deploy-vast.sh

4. Verify Deployment

Check GPU access:

nvidia-smi
# Should show GPU info (name, memory, driver version)

vulkaninfo --summary
# Should show Vulkan support

Check display server:

echo $DISPLAY
# Should be :99 (Xvfb) or :0 (Xorg)

xdpyinfo -display $DISPLAY
# Should show display info (screen dimensions, etc.)

Check PulseAudio:

pulseaudio --check
# Should exit silently if running

pactl list short sinks
# Should show chrome_audio sink

Check PM2:

pm2 status
# Should show hyperscape-duel running

pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 50
# Should show startup logs

Check WebGPU:

pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 500 | grep -A 20 "GPU Diagnostics"
# Should show:
# ✅ WebGPU Status: Hardware accelerated
# ✅ Vulkan Support: true
# ✅ HW Acceleration: true

Check RTMP status:

cat /root/hyperscape/packages/server/public/live/rtmp-status.json
# Should show active streams to Twitch, Kick, X

Configuration

Environment Variables

The deployment script auto-configures these variables in .env: GPU Configuration:

DISPLAY=:99                                              # X display
GPU_RENDERING_MODE=xorg                                  # xorg, xvfb-vulkan, ozone-headless
DUEL_CAPTURE_USE_XVFB=false                             # true for Xvfb, false for Xorg
VK_ICD_FILENAMES=/usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/nvidia_icd.json # Force NVIDIA Vulkan

Browser Configuration:

STREAM_CAPTURE_CHANNEL=chrome-dev                        # Playwright channel
STREAM_CAPTURE_EXECUTABLE=/usr/bin/google-chrome-unstable # Chrome path
STREAM_CAPTURE_HEADLESS=false                            # Always false
STREAM_CAPTURE_USE_EGL=false                             # Always false
STREAM_CAPTURE_OZONE_HEADLESS=false                      # Experimental mode

Stream Configuration:

STREAM_CAPTURE_MODE=cdp                                  # cdp, webcodecs, mediarecorder
STREAM_CAPTURE_WIDTH=1280                                # Stream width
STREAM_CAPTURE_HEIGHT=720                                # Stream height
STREAM_FPS=30                                            # Target FPS
STREAM_CDP_QUALITY=80                                    # JPEG quality
STREAM_LOW_LATENCY=false                                 # false = film, true = zerolatency
STREAM_GOP_SIZE=60                                       # Keyframe interval

Audio Configuration:

STREAM_AUDIO_ENABLED=true
PULSE_AUDIO_DEVICE=chrome_audio.monitor
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/tmp/pulse-runtime
PULSE_SERVER=unix:/tmp/pulse-runtime/pulse/native
PULSE_SINK=chrome_audio

Production Client:

DUEL_USE_PRODUCTION_CLIENT=true                          # Pre-built client for faster loads

Stream Destinations:

TWITCH_STREAM_KEY=live_...                               # From GitHub Secrets
KICK_STREAM_KEY=...                                      # From GitHub Secrets
KICK_RTMP_URL=rtmps://...                                # From GitHub Secrets
X_STREAM_KEY=...                                         # From GitHub Secrets
X_RTMP_URL=rtmp://...                                    # From GitHub Secrets
YOUTUBE_STREAM_KEY=""                                    # Explicitly disabled

PM2 Configuration

ecosystem.config.cjs is pre-configured with optimal settings:

Auto-restart on crash
Memory limit: 4GB
Crash-loop protection
Log rotation
Environment variable passthrough

Commands:

pm2 start ecosystem.config.cjs          # Start
pm2 restart ecosystem.config.cjs        # Restart
pm2 stop ecosystem.config.cjs           # Stop
pm2 delete ecosystem.config.cjs         # Remove
pm2 logs hyperscape-duel                # View logs
pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 200    # Last 200 lines

Monitoring

Health Checks

RTMP Status:

# Check stream status
cat /root/hyperscape/packages/server/public/live/rtmp-status.json

# Expected output:
{
  "active": true,
  "destinations": [
    {"name": "Twitch", "connected": true},
    {"name": "Kick", "connected": true},
    {"name": "X", "connected": true}
  ],
  "stats": {
    "bytesReceived": 123456789,
    "uptimeSeconds": 3600,
    "healthy": true
  }
}

PM2 Status:

pm2 status
# Should show:
# hyperscape-duel | online | 0 | 0s | 0 | 500 MB

pm2 monit
# Real-time monitoring (CPU, memory, logs)

GPU Usage:

nvidia-smi
# Check GPU utilization (should be 30-50% during streaming)

watch -n 1 nvidia-smi
# Real-time GPU monitoring

Stream Health:

# Check logs for stream health
pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 50 | grep "Stream Health"

# Expected output:
# [Stream Health] CDP FPS: 30 | Resolution: 1280x720 | Frames: 12345 | Dropped: 0

Alerts

Webhook alerts (optional):

# Set in .env
ALERT_WEBHOOK_URL=https://hooks.slack.com/services/...

Alerts trigger on:

Server crash
Database connection failure
RTMP stream failure
WebGPU initialization failure

Troubleshooting

WebGPU Initialization Failed

Symptoms:

Black frames in stream
Browser hangs on page load
“WebGPU preflight FAILED” in logs

Diagnosis:

# Check GPU access
nvidia-smi
# Should show GPU info

# Check Vulkan
vulkaninfo --summary
# Should show Vulkan support

# Check Vulkan ICD
cat /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/nvidia_icd.json
# Should exist and contain NVIDIA driver path

# Check display server
xdpyinfo -display $DISPLAY
# Should show display info

# Check WebGPU diagnostics
pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 500 | grep -A 20 "GPU Diagnostics"
# Should show "WebGPU Status: Hardware accelerated"

Solutions:

Update NVIDIA drivers:

apt update
apt install nvidia-driver-535  # Or latest version
reboot

Reinstall Vulkan ICD:
apt install nvidia-vulkan-icd

Restart display server:

# For Xvfb
killall Xvfb
Xvfb :99 -screen 0 1280x720x24 &

# For Xorg
killall Xorg
# Xorg will restart automatically

Re-run deployment:
./scripts/deploy-vast.sh

Browser Timeout on Page Load

Symptoms:

“Navigation timeout” in logs
Page takes >180s to load
Stream never starts

Cause: Vite dev server JIT compilation is too slow for streaming. Solution: Use production client build:

# Set in .env
DUEL_USE_PRODUCTION_CLIENT=true

# Restart PM2
pm2 restart ecosystem.config.cjs

Resolution Mismatch

Symptoms:

Stream shows wrong resolution
“Resolution mismatch” warnings in logs
Viewport size doesn’t match stream dimensions

Diagnosis:

pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 100 | grep "Resolution"
# Look for: "Resolution mismatch: got 1920x1080, expected 1280x720"

Solution: Auto-recovery is enabled. Wait for viewport restoration:

# Monitor logs for recovery
pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 50 | grep "Viewport"
# Should show: "Viewport resized to 1280x720"

If auto-recovery fails:

# Restart PM2
pm2 restart ecosystem.config.cjs

No Audio in Stream

Symptoms:

Video works but no audio
FFmpeg shows audio stream as silent

Diagnosis:

# Check PulseAudio
pulseaudio --check
# Should exit silently if running

# Check sinks
pactl list short sinks
# Should show chrome_audio sink

# Check audio device
pactl list short sources
# Should show chrome_audio.monitor source

Solutions:

Restart PulseAudio:

pulseaudio --kill
pulseaudio --start --daemonize=no --exit-idle-time=-1 &

Recreate audio sink:

pactl load-module module-null-sink sink_name=chrome_audio sink_properties=device.description="Chrome_Audio"

Verify environment:

echo $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
# Should be /tmp/pulse-runtime

echo $PULSE_SERVER
# Should be unix:/tmp/pulse-runtime/pulse/native

Restart PM2:
pm2 restart ecosystem.config.cjs

CDP Capture Stalls

Symptoms:

Stream freezes
“CDP capture stalled” in logs
No traffic for 30+ seconds

Diagnosis:

pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 100 | grep "CDP"
# Look for: "CDP capture stalled (4 intervals without traffic)"

Automatic Recovery:

Soft recovery: Restart CDP screencast (~2-3s, no gap)
Hard recovery: Full browser restart (~10-15s, visible gap)
Fallback: Switch to MediaRecorder after max failures

Manual Recovery:

# Restart PM2
pm2 restart ecosystem.config.cjs

RTMP Connection Failed

Symptoms:

“RTMP connection failed” in logs
Stream not visible on platform
FFmpeg errors

Diagnosis:

# Check RTMP status
cat /root/hyperscape/packages/server/public/live/rtmp-status.json

# Check FFmpeg logs
pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 200 | grep "FFmpeg"

Solutions:

Verify stream keys:

# Check environment variables
echo $TWITCH_STREAM_KEY
echo $KICK_STREAM_KEY
echo $X_STREAM_KEY

Test RTMP connection:

# Test Twitch
ffmpeg -re -f lavfi -i testsrc=size=1280x720:rate=30 \
  -c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -b:v 3000k \
  -f flv "rtmp://live.twitch.tv/app/$TWITCH_STREAM_KEY"

Check firewall:

# Ensure RTMP ports are open (1935, 443)
ufw status

Restart PM2:
pm2 restart ecosystem.config.cjs

High Memory Usage

Symptoms:

PM2 restarts due to memory limit
“max_memory_restart” in logs
System OOM killer

Diagnosis:

# Check memory usage
pm2 status
# Look at memory column

# Check system memory
free -h

Solutions:

Increase memory limit:

// ecosystem.config.cjs
max_memory_restart: "6G",  // Increase from 4G

Enable memory trimming:

# Set in .env
MALLOC_TRIM_THRESHOLD_=-1
MIMALLOC_ALLOW_DECOMMIT=0

Reduce stream quality:

# Set in .env
STREAM_CAPTURE_WIDTH=1280
STREAM_CAPTURE_HEIGHT=720
STREAM_CDP_QUALITY=70  # Reduce from 80

Restart browser periodically:
- Automatic browser rotation every 1 hour (built-in)
- Clears WebGPU memory leaks

Performance Tuning

Low Latency Streaming

For faster playback start (higher bitrate):

# Set in .env
STREAM_LOW_LATENCY=true
STREAM_GOP_SIZE=30  # Reduce from 60

High Quality Streaming

For better compression (slower playback start):

# Set in .env
STREAM_LOW_LATENCY=false
STREAM_GOP_SIZE=60
STREAM_CDP_QUALITY=90  # Increase from 80

Stability Tuning

For more stable streaming (slower recovery):

# Set in .env
STREAM_CAPTURE_RECOVERY_TIMEOUT_MS=45000  # Increase from 30000
STREAM_CAPTURE_RECOVERY_MAX_FAILURES=8    # Increase from 6

CPU Optimization

For lower CPU usage:

# Set in .env
STREAM_FPS=24  # Reduce from 30
STREAM_CAPTURE_WIDTH=1280
STREAM_CAPTURE_HEIGHT=720

Monitoring

Real-Time Monitoring

PM2 Dashboard:

pm2 monit
# Shows CPU, memory, logs in real-time

GPU Monitoring:

watch -n 1 nvidia-smi
# Real-time GPU usage

Stream Health:

# Tail logs
pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 0

# Look for:
# [Stream Health] CDP FPS: 30 | Resolution: 1280x720 | Frames: 12345
# [Status] Destinations: Twitch: OK, Kick: OK, X: OK

Log Analysis

WebGPU Diagnostics:

pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 500 | grep -A 20 "GPU Diagnostics"

Stream Status:

pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 100 | grep "Status"

Errors:

pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --err --lines 100

Recovery Events:

pm2 logs hyperscape-duel --lines 200 | grep -E "(recovery|Recovery|RECOVERY)"

Maintenance

Update Deployment

Via GitHub Actions:

# Push to main branch
git push origin main
# Automatic deployment via .github/workflows/deploy-vast.yml

Manual update:

ssh -p <port> root@<host>
cd /root/hyperscape
git pull
./scripts/deploy-vast.sh

Restart Services

Restart PM2:

pm2 restart ecosystem.config.cjs

Restart display server:

# Xvfb
killall Xvfb
Xvfb :99 -screen 0 1280x720x24 &

# Xorg
killall Xorg
# Xorg restarts automatically

Restart PulseAudio:

pulseaudio --kill
pulseaudio --start --daemonize=no --exit-idle-time=-1 &

Clean Up

Clear logs:

pm2 flush

Clear cache:

rm -rf /root/hyperscape/packages/server/public/live/*.ts
rm -rf /root/hyperscape/packages/server/public/live/*.m3u8

Reset database:

# WARNING: Deletes all data
docker stop hyperscape-postgres
docker rm hyperscape-postgres
docker volume rm hyperscape-postgres-data

Security

SSH Access

Use SSH keys (not passwords):

# Generate key
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "vast-deployment"

# Add to GitHub Secrets
# VAST_SSH_KEY = <private key content>

# Add public key to Vast.ai instance
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Stream Keys

NEVER commit stream keys to repository:

Set via GitHub Secrets
Store in .env file (gitignored)
Rotate keys regularly

Verify secrets:

# Check environment (should show masked values)
pm2 env 0 | grep STREAM_KEY

Firewall

Open required ports:

# RTMP (outbound)
ufw allow out 1935/tcp
ufw allow out 443/tcp

# SSH (inbound)
ufw allow 22/tcp

# Game server (inbound, if exposing)
ufw allow 5555/tcp

Cost Optimization

Instance Selection

Recommended specs:

RTX 3060: ~$0.20/hour
RTX 3070: ~$0.25/hour
RTX 3080: ~$0.30/hour

Cost-saving tips:

Use spot instances (cheaper but can be interrupted)
Stop instance when not streaming
Use lower resolution (720p vs 1080p)

Resource Usage

Typical usage:

CPU: 15-25%
GPU: 30-50%
RAM: 2-3GB
Network: 5-10 Mbps upload

Advanced Configuration

Custom Chrome Executable

# Set in .env
STREAM_CAPTURE_EXECUTABLE=/path/to/custom/chrome

Custom RTMP Destinations

# Set in .env
RTMP_DESTINATIONS_JSON='[{"name":"Custom","url":"rtmp://host/live","key":"key","enabled":true}]'

WebCodecs Mode (Experimental)

# Set in .env
STREAM_CAPTURE_MODE=webcodecs

Benefits:

Native browser encoding
FFmpeg stream copy (no re-encoding)
Lower CPU usage

Limitations:

Experimental API
May not work on all GPUs
Falls back to CDP if initialization fails

Ozone Headless Mode (Experimental)

# Set in .env
STREAM_CAPTURE_OZONE_HEADLESS=true

Benefits:

GPU rendering without X11
May work when Xorg/Xvfb fails

Limitations:

Experimental
Requires GPU sandbox bypass
Not all GPUs support it

Support

Deployment Issues: Check scripts/deploy-vast.sh logs
Streaming Issues: See AGENTS.md for architecture details
WebGPU Issues: See WEBGPU-MIGRATION.md for migration guide
Bug Reports: GitHub Issues

AGENTS.md - GPU streaming architecture
CLAUDE.md - Development guide
WEBGPU-MIGRATION.md - WebGPU migration guide
packages/server/README.md - Server configuration
.env.example - Environment variables reference

47782ed - Enforce WebGPU-only mode
ff45217 - Add WebGPU initialization timeout
d5c6884 - Add WebGPU diagnostics and preflight test
47167b6 - Remove hardcoded secrets, add resolution tracking
4be263a - Use production client build for faster page loads
432ff84 - Proceed with capture after 5 consecutive probe timeouts
37ad042 - Add Playwright WebGPU test and DOM-based result capture

​Vast.ai GPU Streaming Deployment Guide

​Overview

​Requirements

​Hardware

​Software

​Architecture

​Rendering Pipeline

​GPU Rendering Modes

​Deployment Steps

​1. Create Vast.ai Instance

​2. Configure GitHub Secrets

​3. Deploy via GitHub Actions

​4. Verify Deployment

​Configuration

​Environment Variables

​PM2 Configuration

​Monitoring

​Health Checks

​Alerts

​Troubleshooting

​WebGPU Initialization Failed

​Browser Timeout on Page Load

​Resolution Mismatch

​No Audio in Stream

​CDP Capture Stalls

​RTMP Connection Failed

​High Memory Usage

​Performance Tuning

​Low Latency Streaming

​High Quality Streaming

​Stability Tuning

​CPU Optimization

​Monitoring

​Real-Time Monitoring

​Log Analysis

​Maintenance

​Update Deployment

​Restart Services

​Clean Up

​Security

​SSH Access

​Stream Keys

​Firewall

​Cost Optimization

​Instance Selection

​Resource Usage

​Advanced Configuration

​Custom Chrome Executable

​Custom RTMP Destinations

​WebCodecs Mode (Experimental)

​Ozone Headless Mode (Experimental)

​Support

​Related Documentation

​Related Commits

Vast.ai GPU Streaming Deployment Guide

Overview

Requirements

Hardware

Software

Architecture

Rendering Pipeline

GPU Rendering Modes

Deployment Steps

1. Create Vast.ai Instance

2. Configure GitHub Secrets

3. Deploy via GitHub Actions

4. Verify Deployment

Configuration

Environment Variables

PM2 Configuration

Monitoring

Health Checks

Alerts

Troubleshooting

WebGPU Initialization Failed

Browser Timeout on Page Load

Resolution Mismatch

No Audio in Stream

CDP Capture Stalls

RTMP Connection Failed

High Memory Usage

Performance Tuning

Low Latency Streaming

High Quality Streaming

Stability Tuning

CPU Optimization

Monitoring

Real-Time Monitoring

Log Analysis

Maintenance

Update Deployment

Restart Services

Clean Up

Security

SSH Access

Stream Keys

Firewall

Cost Optimization

Instance Selection

Resource Usage

Advanced Configuration

Custom Chrome Executable

Custom RTMP Destinations

WebCodecs Mode (Experimental)

Ozone Headless Mode (Experimental)

Support

Related Documentation

Related Commits