What this message means
ShoMetrics is a Node.js based Stream Deck plugin, like many others in the Marketplace. The first time you install a plugin of this kind, the Stream Deck app downloads a small Node.js runtime in the background and shares it across all Node.js plugins. This is a normal part of how Stream Deck runs these plugins.
You see the “plugin engine is not responding” message when the Property Inspector does not receive a response from the ShoMetrics plugin during startup. An unavailable shared Node.js runtime is a common cause, but a plugin startup failure can produce the same message.
A few things worth knowing:
- This runtime is not the ShoMetrics Windows helper, and it is not something ShoMetrics downloads. The Stream Deck app downloads it, for plugins in general.
- Because the Stream Deck app fetches it over the internet, your computer needs to be online the first time you install any Node.js plugin.
Searching in another language? This page covers: 中文 “ShoMetrics 插件引擎暂时没有响应 / 没有数据显示”，日本語「ShoMetrics プラグインエンジンが応答していません / センサーが表示されない」.
The rest of this page walks through fixing it.
What should I do?
First, make sure your computer has a stable internet connection. Then try these steps in order.
Uninstall the ShoMetrics plugin from the Stream Deck app. See Elgato’s guide to uninstalling plugins.
On Windows, if you already installed the ShoMetrics helper, you do not need to uninstall the helper. Only the plugin in the Stream Deck app.
Fully quit the Stream Deck app. If you are not sure it is fully closed, restart your computer, or close it from the system tray and open it again.
Reinstall ShoMetrics from the Elgato Marketplace. After installing, do not immediately quit or restart the Stream Deck app. Give it time: the Stream Deck app downloads the runtime on its own. Most computers finish within a few seconds, but we suggest waiting one to three minutes to be sure it has completed.
Open the Stream Deck app again. ShoMetrics should now work. If it still does not, please open a GitHub issue or join the Discord to report it. If you are comfortable with a terminal, the Advanced section below collects useful details to include.
Advanced
This section is for users who are comfortable checking files and running a terminal command. If it does not make sense to you, that is completely fine, you can skip it. But if you are reporting a problem, including the report below is a big help.
Background
Because ShoMetrics is a Node.js based plugin, it needs a Node.js runtime, and the Stream Deck app installs one automatically the first time such a plugin is added. That step is usually quick, a few seconds, but occasionally the Stream Deck app cannot complete it. This is a common cause of the message.
Check whether the runtime is present
Look for a 24.x.y runtime folder with a Node binary inside:
- Windows:
%APPDATA%\Elgato\StreamDeck\NodeJS - macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/com.elgato.StreamDeck/NodeJS
When it is present, you should see something like:
- Windows:
%APPDATA%\Elgato\StreamDeck\NodeJS\24.13.1\node.exe, about 85 MB - macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/com.elgato.StreamDeck/NodeJS/24.13.1/node, about 120 MB
A 20.x.y folder on its own is not enough: ShoMetrics needs a 24.x.y runtime.
If there is no 24.x.y folder, or the Node binary is missing, the download did
not complete.
Collect a report
Run the one-line command for your system. It writes a report to a temporary file and opens it, so you can attach the contents to your issue. It only reads files, it does not change anything.
Windows (Windows PowerShell or Terminal, not Command Prompt):
$out = "$env:TEMP\sho-metrics-nodejs-diag.txt"; $nodeDir = "$env:APPDATA\Elgato\StreamDeck\NodeJS"; $logDir = "$env:APPDATA\Elgato\StreamDeck\logs"; "=== NodeJS runtimes ===" | Set-Content $out; if (Test-Path $nodeDir) { Get-ChildItem $nodeDir -Recurse -Filter node.exe | ForEach-Object { "{0} {1:N1} MB" -f $_.FullName, ($_.Length / 1MB) } | Add-Content $out; "--- folder entries ---" | Add-Content $out; Get-ChildItem $nodeDir | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name | Add-Content $out } else { "NodeJS folder not found: $nodeDir" | Add-Content $out }; "" | Add-Content $out; "=== manifest.json ===" | Add-Content $out; if (Test-Path "$nodeDir\manifest.json") { Get-Content "$nodeDir\manifest.json" | Add-Content $out } else { "manifest.json not found" | Add-Content $out }; "" | Add-Content $out; "=== Stream Deck log matches ===" | Add-Content $out; Select-String -Path "$logDir\*.log" -Pattern 'node|environment is not yet ready|runtime|failed|error|sho-metrics' | ForEach-Object { "{0}:{1}: {2}" -f $_.Filename, $_.LineNumber, $_.Line.Trim() } | Add-Content $out; ii $out
macOS (Terminal):
out="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/sho-metrics-nodejs-diag.txt"; nodeDir="$HOME/Library/Application Support/com.elgato.StreamDeck/NodeJS"; logDir="$HOME/Library/Logs/ElgatoStreamDeck"; { echo "=== NodeJS runtimes ==="; if [ -d "$nodeDir" ]; then find "$nodeDir" -type f -name node -exec ls -lh {} \;; echo "--- folder entries ---"; ls "$nodeDir"; else echo "NodeJS folder not found: $nodeDir"; fi; echo; echo "=== manifest.json ==="; if [ -f "$nodeDir/manifest.json" ]; then cat "$nodeDir/manifest.json"; else echo "manifest.json not found"; fi; echo; echo "=== Stream Deck log matches ==="; if [ -d "$logDir" ]; then grep -aiE 'node|environment is not yet ready|runtime|failed|error|sho-metrics' "$logDir"/*.log 2>/dev/null; else echo "log folder not found: $logDir"; fi; } > "$out"; open "$out"
If the runtime download keeps failing
- Confirm your computer is online and can reach the internet reliably.
- Check that a firewall is not blocking the Stream Deck app from connecting.
- Check your antivirus logs for anything that blocked the Stream Deck app while it was downloading the Node.js runtime. Look for activity by the Stream Deck app itself, not by ShoMetrics, since the Stream Deck app is what downloads the runtime.