What do I need on the machine I want to stream?

Sunshine, the open-source host, on Windows, macOS or Linux — or GeForce Experience on an older NVIDIA setup. Tempest launches the host's Desktop entry, so you land on the whole desktop rather than a single game.

Does the stream carry sound?

No. Tempest's Moonlight sessions are video and input only — the audio stream is negotiated and then discarded. This is a remote desktop that happens to be fast, not a couch gaming setup; gamepads are not forwarded either.

Why Moonlight instead of RDP or VNC?

Because of how the pixels get to you. Moonlight uses the host's hardware video encoder and UDP with forward error correction, which is what keeps motion smooth on a link where VNC turns into a slideshow. RDP is still the better answer for Windows servers, and both live in the same host list.

Which platforms can run it?

The desktop app on Windows (Intel and Arm), Linux (Intel and Arm) and macOS on Apple Silicon. It is not available on Android or iOS, and the Mac App Store build cannot load it — that sandbox forbids running downloaded native code, so use the direct download from this site instead.

Where do I get the component?

From the addon's GitHub releases page; gotempest.app/download/moonlight redirects there. Take the package matching the machine, then Settings › Components → install from file. Signature and version are checked on install, and a package built for another version or another machine is refused.

Is Moonlight in the free plan?

No — it is Pro, alongside RDP, VNC, Kubernetes, Telnet, RCON and serial. The free plan covers SSH, Mosh, SFTP, FTP, S3 and WebDAV on one synced device.

Moonlight client

Your workstation, streamed at 60 fps, in the same window as your servers

Moonlight is the fastest way to reach a machine you own — hardware-encoded H.264 or HEVC over UDP, not a screenshot loop. Tempest speaks it as a connection type, so the gaming PC in the study or the Mac mini in the rack opens as a tab beside the SSH session, the SFTP pane and the RDP console.

Download Tempest See pricing

Pro feature. Windows, macOS & Linux, via the Moonlight component.

Frames, not screenshots

The difference a still picture cannot show

That clip is TestUFO running on a Mac M4, streamed into a Tempest tab on a Windows machine over Moonlight. All three rows keep pace — which is the whole reason to use this protocol instead of VNC. The host's hardware encoder produces H.264 or HEVC, Tempest decodes it in the same video path RDP and VNC already use.

1080p60 by default, up to 20 Mbps, with H.264 or HEVC chosen per host.

Mouse, scroll, keyboard and clipboard text go back up the stream. Keys travel as physical codes, so a Dvorak or AZERTY layout on the host behaves.

Tiled beside terminals and file panes like any other session. Split screens

One component

Install it once, from the releases page

Moonlight ships as a separate component rather than inside the app: it is GPL-3.0 and it carries a native streaming stack. Download the package for your machine, install it in Settings › Components, and the connection type comes to life — Tempest checks the signature before it will load anything.

Windows and Linux on Intel and Arm, macOS on Apple Silicon — one package per machine. Download the component

It runs as its own process with a bare environment — no vault, no cloud session, no tokens. A streaming stack has no business holding your credentials. Where credentials live

Setup, ports and troubleshooting, step by step. Moonlight & Sunshine guide

Pair once

A PIN, then never again

The first connection prints a PIN; you type it into Sunshine's web interface and the two ends exchange certificates. Tempest keeps that client identity on the saved host, encrypted the same way your SSH keys are, so every device you sync to is already paired.

Client certificate stored per host, zero-knowledge encrypted and synced. How E2EE works

"Forget pairing" in the edit form, the same gesture as forgetting an SSH fingerprint.

For a host that is not on your network, tunnel it through the bastion you already have. Port forwarding guide

Frequently asked questions

What do I need on the machine I want to stream?: Sunshine, the open-source host, on Windows, macOS or Linux — or GeForce Experience on an older NVIDIA setup. Tempest launches the host's Desktop entry, so you land on the whole desktop rather than a single game. Setup guide
Does the stream carry sound?: No. Tempest's Moonlight sessions are video and input only — the audio stream is negotiated and then discarded. This is a remote desktop that happens to be fast, not a couch gaming setup; gamepads are not forwarded either.
Why Moonlight instead of RDP or VNC?: Because of how the pixels get to you. Moonlight uses the host's hardware video encoder and UDP with forward error correction, which is what keeps motion smooth on a link where VNC turns into a slideshow. RDP is still the better answer for Windows servers, and both live in the same host list.
Which platforms can run it?: The desktop app on Windows (Intel and Arm), Linux (Intel and Arm) and macOS on Apple Silicon. It is not available on Android or iOS, and the Mac App Store build cannot load it — that sandbox forbids running downloaded native code, so use the direct download from this site instead.
Where do I get the component?: From the addon's GitHub releases page; gotempest.app/download/moonlight redirects there. Take the package matching the machine, then Settings › Components → install from file. Signature and version are checked on install, and a package built for another version or another machine is refused. Releases
Is Moonlight in the free plan?: No — it is Pro, alongside RDP, VNC, Kubernetes, Telnet, RCON and serial. The free plan covers SSH, Mosh, SFTP, FTP, S3 and WebDAV on one synced device.

Keep exploring

RDP client VNC client RDP client for Mac SSH client for Mac SSH client for Windows SSH tunneling

The machine under your desk, wherever you are.

Download Tempest Read the docs