Disclaimer: This is an AI-assisted project developed using OpenAI Codex.

Headless LinkDev

Headless Remote Play device pairing for PlayStation 5
Generate the PIN and Account ID entirely through an elfldr terminal.

A small PS5 payload that initializes the system Remote Play service, generates a real eight-digit pairing PIN, reads the foreground user's Base64 Account ID, and returns everything through the same elfldr connection used to launch it.

Headless LinkDev is a focused fork of LinkDev. It preserves the original project history while replacing the graphical BigApp with one direct, terminal-only payload.

No web page, TV output, SDL application, hbldr stage, notification, or separate logging connection is required for pairing.

Note

Firmware 12.70 has been paired successfully with chiaki-ng. Other firmware versions are currently unverified by this project.

Example session

$ make send PS5_HOST=192.168.1.100
[RemotePlayPair] Initializing Remote Play...
[RemotePlayPair] READY | PIN: 12345678 | Account ID: AbCdEfGhIjk= | Timeout: 300s
[RemotePlayPair] Pairing completed successfully

What is included

• One PS5 payload source file: main.c.
• One build artifact: headless-linkdev.elf.
• A host self-test for Account ID encoding and registry slot calculations.
• A GitHub Actions workflow for checks, builds, artifacts, and tagged releases.
• No vendored SDK, Sony binaries, UI framework, or runtime dependency bundle.

Status

Capability	Status	Notes
PS5 firmware 12.70	Verified	Hardware pairing completed successfully
PIN generation	Verified	Uses sceRemoteplayGeneratePinCode
Account ID output	Verified	Base64 value accepted by chiaki-ng
elfldr stdout	Verified	Upload and payload output share port 9021
Pairing completion	Verified	Success is detected before the payload exits
Other firmware	Unverified	Hardware reports are welcome

Requirements

• A jailbroken PS5 with elfldr listening on port 9021.
• The target user logged in and active in the foreground.
• socat on the sending computer.
• PS5 Payload SDK when building from source.

Build and test

Run these commands from WSL or Linux at the repository root:

export PS5_PAYLOAD_SDK=/opt/ps5-payload-sdk
make test
make format-check
make

The PS5 build produces headless-linkdev.elf. Generated ELF files are ignored by Git.

Run on PS5

Replace <PS5-IP> with the console's address:

make send PS5_HOST=<PS5-IP>

The equivalent direct command is:

socat -t 99999999 - TCP:<PS5-IP>:9021 < headless-linkdev.elf

Keep the terminal connected while pairing. The PIN expires after 300 seconds; send the payload again to generate a new one.

Pair with chiaki-ng

Open the discovered console or manually register a PS5 using the values printed in the terminal:

Field	Value
Host	PS5 IP address
Console	PS5
PSN Account-ID	Base64 Account ID printed by the payload
Remote Play PIN	Eight-digit PIN printed by the payload

Complete registration before the timeout. See the chiaki-ng registration guide for the current client UI flow.

Behavior and safety

The payload sets the global Remote Play registry flag and, when available, the foreground user's Remote Play flag to 1. It reads the user's Account ID but does not replace it, fake-activate the account, or modify save data.

The payload runs for one registration attempt and exits after success, a pairing error, or the five-minute timeout.

Troubleshooting

Output or symptom	Meaning
Nothing appears	Keep socat connected and confirm elfldr is listening on port 9021
Failed to identify the foreground user	Log into the intended PS5 user and leave it active
Incorrect PIN	Send the payload again and enter all eight digits of the new PIN
Incorrect Account ID	Copy the Base64 value exactly, including a trailing =
Pairing expired	Send the payload again to start a new five-minute attempt

Repository layout

Path	Purpose
main.c	Payload and bounded host self-test
Makefile	Test, format, PS5 build, and elfldr send targets
.github/workflows/build.yml	CI artifact and tagged release workflow
CONTRIBUTING.md	Validation and pull-request checklist
THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md	Upstream attribution

Project references

Project	Role
LinkDev	Parent project and original PS5 pairing implementation
ActRemoteLink	Direct Remote Play API implementation used for the headless payload
ps5-remoteplay-get-pin	Earlier headless PIN-generation research
OffAct	Offline account and registry research
PS5 Payload SDK	Prospero compiler, linker, headers, and ELF runtime
chiaki-ng	Open-source Remote Play client used for pairing validation

The SDK is a build-time prerequisite and is not copied into this repository. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md before redistributing modified builds.

CI and releases

The build workflow runs formatting, the host self-test, and the PS5 build on every push and pull request. Successful builds upload the ELF as a workflow artifact.

Tags beginning with v build the tagged commit, create a GitHub Release with generated notes, and attach headless-linkdev.elf:

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

Rerunning a tag workflow replaces the existing ELF asset.

Forks with automatic tag workflows disabled can publish the same existing tag manually:

gh workflow run build.yml --ref master -f release_tag=v1.0.0

Leaving release_tag blank runs the checks and uploads a workflow artifact without creating a release.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the development checks and PS5-validation expectations.

License

Headless LinkDev is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. Third-party work retains its respective attribution; see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

This project is not affiliated with Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation, or chiaki-ng. Use it only with hardware and accounts you own.