One-Click Start: Auto-Start Sunflower AI Translation with a Stream Deck or Companion

Pair Sunflower with a Stream Deck (or Bitfocus Companion) and your translation session begins with a One-Click button.

What you'll need

• A Sunflower AI account with at least one room configured (you can sign up for a free month at sunflowerai.io).
• A computer at the AV desk with a modern browser.
• Either an Elgato Stream Deck (any model) with the official Stream Deck software, or Bitfocus Companion (free, open source) running a Stream Deck-compatible surface.

Step 1 — Get your One-Click Start URL

1. Sign in to your dashboard at beta.sunflowerai.io.
2. In the left sidebar, click One-Click Start.
3. Choose the room you want the button to start.
4. Copy the URL that appears. It looks like: https://beta.sunflowerai.io/speaker/ABC123?StartSession=True

That StartSession=True parameter is the magic — it loads the speaker interface for the room and starts the session automatically the moment the page opens. Bookmark it, share it, or — better — wire it to a physical button. That's what the next two sections cover.

Step 2A — Wire it to a Stream Deck (the simple path)

If you have an Elgato Stream Deck, this takes about ninety seconds.

1. Add a Website action. Open the Stream Deck software and drag the Website action (under the System category) onto an empty button.
2. Configure the button. Fill in the fields: Title = Sunflower Start; URL = paste the One-Click Start URL from Step 1; Open with = Default Browser.
3. Test it. Press the button. Your default browser should open to the speaker interface and start the session immediately.

That's it — your AV volunteer's Sunday-morning checklist just got one item shorter. We recommend customising the icon and labelling the button clearly so anyone covering the booth knows what it does.

Step 2B — Wire it to Bitfocus Companion (the AV-pro path)

If you're driving your Stream Deck through Bitfocus Companion (common in larger churches running multi-screen setups, ProPresenter, or video switching from the same surface), the setup looks slightly different. Companion doesn't have a one-click "open URL" action the way the Stream Deck app does, so we use a system action that runs your browser with the URL.

1. In Companion, open the Buttons view and pick an empty button on your surface.
2. Click + add the action and choose Internal → System → Run shell path (local). Labels can vary slightly by Companion version, but you're looking for the action that runs a local executable.
3. In Path, set the full path to your browser executable, followed by the One-Click Start URL. For example, on Windows: C:/Path/To/Chrome/chrome.exe https://beta.sunflowerai.io/speaker/ABC123?StartSession=True
4. On macOS, the executable path differs (something like /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome). Quote any paths that contain spaces.
5. Use Companion's Test button to fire the action and confirm the browser opens to the right URL with the session starting.

Important: shell path runs on this machine only

Companion's Internal: System: Run shell path (local) action only works on the computer that is running the Stream Deck surface directly — not on a satellite device. If your physical Stream Deck is plugged into a different machine over Companion's satellite protocol, the shell action will fire on the host computer that has Companion running, not on the satellite. For most church setups (one PC, one Stream Deck, one Companion install) this is exactly what you want, but it's worth knowing if you're running a more complex topology.

Need a hand?

Contact support@sunflowerai.io if need help.