Linux
Clutch runs on 64-bit Linux, on Wayland or X11. It comes as one AppImage file that contains FFmpeg and the browser source’s Chromium runtime.
What you need
Section titled “What you need”| What | For | Usually |
|---|---|---|
| A distribution from 2024 or newer (glibc 2.39+) | running at all | Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13, Fedora 40, current Arch |
| PipeWire | sound, app sound and screen capture | the default on current distributions |
| xdg-desktop-portal with your desktop’s backend | screen and window capture, global hotkeys | installed with GNOME, KDE and wlroots desktops |
| A Secret Service (GNOME Keyring, KWallet) | remembering stream keys | installed with GNOME and KDE |
| A Vulkan or OpenGL driver | the preview and video | installed with the desktop |
v4l2loopback |
the virtual camera (optional) | see Virtual camera |
What works differently
Section titled “What works differently”- Screen and window capture go through your desktop’s picker. Clutch remembers your choice, so it only shows once; Choose again… in the source’s settings opens it again.
- Game capture isn’t available: use window or display capture. Setups made on Windows keep their game capture sources, shown as not available.
- App sound lists the apps currently playing sound, and reattaches when an app plays again.
- Global hotkeys go through your desktop’s shortcut settings (KDE, GNOME 48 and later), where you can change them; your desktop may ask once. On X11 without that, Clutch grabs the keys itself. Elsewhere hotkeys work while Clutch is in front, and the settings say so.
- “A window comes to the front” triggers work on X11. Wayland doesn’t tell apps which window is in front.
- Stream keys are kept in your desktop’s keyring. Without one, a key lasts until Clutch closes, and the Go Live box says so.
On first start Clutch adds a hidden desktop entry pointing at the AppImage, because desktops only give permissions like global hotkeys to apps they can find.