A virtual remote desktop and graphical server management toolkit
ShellDesk is built with Tauri 2, Rust, React 19, TypeScript, russh, and xterm.js.
It brings SSH and local host management, key management, terminals, SFTP, remote editing, code editing, AI assistance, browser and VNC access, databases, WebDAV sync, and operations tools into one desktop-style workspace.
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- Table of Contents
- Purpose
- Feature Overview
- Data and Security
- SSH Architecture
- Compatibility Notes
- Quick Start
- Scripts
- Project Structure
- License
- Acknowledgments
ShellDesk is designed for developers, operations engineers, and anyone who maintains multiple servers over time. It is not just a terminal replacement; it is a desktop-style workspace centered on an SSH or local connection. After connecting, you can open terminals, file management, code editing, databases, VNC, private-network browser access, system monitoring, logs, service management, network diagnostics, security auditing, AI assistance, and more in one window.
ShellDesk is useful for:
- Maintaining an SSH host library with groups, tags, notes, system type detection, and authentication settings
- Opening the same workspace against the local machine when you need local-mode tools without creating an SSH loopback host
- Opening multiple remote tools side by side inside one connection window instead of switching between terminal, SFTP, database, and browser clients
- Handling common server operations through a graphical interface while keeping a full terminal available as the fallback
- Storing hosts, keys, app settings, bookmarks, and logs in a local vault, with import/export and WebDAV sync for backup and migration
- Create, edit, delete, search, group, tag, annotate, and detect system types for SSH hosts
- Supports password login, private-key login, SSH agent login, proxy/jump-host settings, local mode, and credential prompts before connecting
- Quick connect parses inputs such as
ssh user@example.com -p 2222 - The Keys page can import key pairs, generate RSA keys, copy public keys, and search by name, algorithm, or fingerprint
- Settings control whether SSH passwords and key passphrases are saved by default, and known-hosts trust decisions are handled by the Rust backend through russh
- Each SSH or local connection opens in an independent connection window with the current host and local SOCKS port in the title bar when available
- Built-in SOCKS proxy, Tauri-backed browser proxy, and noVNC viewer cover remote web and desktop access through Rust-side SSH tunnels
- Remote desktop windows support drag, resize, maximize, minimize, z-order management, and a Dock
- File Manager, Terminal, and Browser are pinned to the Dock; other apps join the Dock dynamically while open
- Desktop icons support custom layout, folders, sorting modes, and custom wallpaper
- xterm.js terminal supports multiple sessions, title synchronization, scrollback, copy/paste, and theme presets
- Remote terminal sessions use russh PTY channels for shell/exec startup, resize, initial command, working directory, and auto-sudo flows
- Local terminal sessions stay on a separate local-shell path and do not require an SSH loopback host
- Terminal font family, size, weight, ligatures, line height, cursor, scrolling behavior, and contrast are configurable
- Font selection reads the local system font list instead of bundling font files
- SFTP file manager supports browsing, upload, download, transfer cancellation, create, delete, rename, compress, extract, permission edits, protected-write fallbacks, and copy path
- Remote Notepad supports tabs, remote read/write, find, go to line, syntax highlighting, language modes, and unsaved-change prompts
- Notepad uses a binary extension blacklist to avoid opening images, archives, databases, executables, and other binary files by mistake
- Code Editor adds a remote project tree, multi-tab editing, remote-change detection, embedded project terminals, and SD-Agent
- MySQL, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, MongoDB, Redis, and SQLite tools cover connection, browsing, querying, and common editing actions where the backend supports them
- Database access uses Rust-side SSH tunnels with request timeouts, cleanup for orphaned tunnels, bounded result previews, and sensitive-value redaction in diagnostic paths
- Elasticsearch / OpenSearch panel shows cluster health, indices, shards, and basic
_searchresults - RabbitMQ / Kafka panel shows queues, topics, consumer group lag, and raw diagnostic output
- System Monitor, Process Manager, Service Manager, Container Manager, Kubernetes Manager, Virtual Machine Manager, Port Listener, and Disk Analyzer help with daily checks
- Virtual Machine Manager uses remote
virshfor libvirt URI discovery, domain lifecycle and snapshots, virtual networks, storage pools, serial console, and VNC handoff - Disk Manager shows physical disks, partitions, and mounts, with mount/unmount, format, partition maintenance, and Linux LVM configuration
- Git Repository Manager shows remote branch trees, remote branches, changed files, diffs, recent commits, branch create/delete/track, stage/unstage, commit, fetch, pull, push, and checkout
- Nginx Manager, Caddy Manager, and Apache Manager are separate apps for site discovery, templates, config editing, config test, reload, and restart flows
- Certificate Manager discovers TLS certificates, checks expiry, manages Certbot renewal state, and handles trusted root certificates
- MinIO / S3 Browser uses remote
mcorawsCLI to browse buckets, prefixes, objects, delete objects, copy object URLs, and download to a remote directory - FRP Client and FRP Server managers cover frpc/frps detection, installation, TOML config editing, service control, logs, autostart, and runtime status
- Firewall, iptables, Network Diagnostics, Package Manager, Scheduled Tasks, Login Sessions, and Security Audit support operations troubleshooting
- System Settings provides views for system information, network interfaces, DNS, mirrors, updates, Hosts, routes, disks, and mounts
- Log Viewer supports journalctl,
/var/log, Windows Event Log, and related sources - API Debugger sends HTTP requests from the remote host, which is useful for validating private-network services
- AI Assistant uses the configured provider and model to help with remote server management, code analysis, and component handoffs
- Supports dark, light, and system themes
- Supports accent color, system fonts, default host view, desktop wallpaper, and remote desktop layout
- Supports AI provider, API format, base URL, API key, and model discovery settings for the AI Assistant and Code Editor
- UI language supports English and Simplified Chinese; first launch follows the system language
- Logs record connection, host, key, config, and system operations with search, filters, and clearing
- Config import/export covers hosts, keys, settings, and browser bookmarks
- WebDAV sync can back up and restore the local vault across machines, and the updater checks GitHub releases through Tauri's update flow
ShellDesk stores local data in the Tauri app data directory. The Settings page shows the config path and vault path.
- Hosts, keys, app settings, and browser bookmarks are stored in the local vault
- Sensitive data is encrypted with system credentials when platform support is available
- When system encryption is unavailable, the vault falls back to local file-permission protection
- Logs are stored separately in the user data directory
- Exported config JSON may include hosts, passwords, private keys, and key passphrases, so it should only be stored in trusted locations
- The React renderer accesses controlled backend APIs through the
window.guiSSHTauri bridge - Native dialog limitations around
prompt,confirm, andalertare handled with custom modals - SSH protocol operations are implemented in Rust with
russh; ShellDesk does not requireopenssh-client,sshpass,ssh-keyscan,ssh-keygen, orportable-ptyon the client machine
ShellDesk's remote SSH paths are pure Rust:
russh_client.rsowns SSH connection setup, host-key verification, password/private-key/agent/keyboard-interactive authentication, jump-host/proxy transports, and command exec channelsterminal.rsowns remote terminal PTY sessions through russhrequest_pty, shell/exec startup, terminal input, and resize eventsssh_tunnel.rsownsdirect-tcpiptunnels used by database tools, browser proxy, VNC, and HTTP tunnel flows, without an OpenSSH fallbackconnection/host_keys.rsscans and classifies host keys through russh instead ofssh-keyscanvault/ssh_keys.rsimports and generates key pairs without callingssh-keygen
See SSH Architecture for the backend module map, security boundaries, and maintenance rules.
See Compatibility Matrix for tested systems and per-environment reports.
Requirements: Node.js 20+, pnpm 11+ (the repo pins pnpm@11.8.0), Rust stable, and the Tauri 2 platform prerequisites for your OS. ShellDesk does not require a system OpenSSH client for its SSH protocol paths.
pnpm install
pnpm devpnpm install configures local Git hooks through prepare. pnpm dev starts Vite on 127.0.0.1:5173 and opens the Tauri development window.
If Vite remains on port 5173 after exit, stop only the PID occupying that port:
netstat -ano | findstr :5173
Stop-Process -Id <PID>| Command | Description |
|---|---|
pnpm dev |
Starts the Tauri development window with Vite |
pnpm typecheck |
Runs TypeScript type checking |
pnpm build |
Runs tsc --noEmit and then the Vite production build |
pnpm test |
Runs contract checks, frontend build, Playwright UI smoke tests, Rust fmt/clippy/tests, and cargo check |
pnpm check:contracts |
Runs IPC, desktop app, i18n, runtime-boundary, Tauri, default-settings, and release-script contract checks |
pnpm check:ui |
Runs Playwright UI smoke tests for mocked database error flows |
pnpm check:rust |
Runs Rust format checks, clippy with -D warnings, and tests |
pnpm check:rust:coverage |
Runs Rust coverage with cargo-llvm-cov |
pnpm preview |
Previews the Vite frontend build without Tauri backend capabilities |
pnpm release |
Builds installer |
More platform packaging scripts are available in package.json. See docs/testing.md for the testing layers and optional live smoke checks.
Since ShellDesk packages are unsigned / unnotarized, macOS Gatekeeper may block the application and display a warning like "ShellDesk is damaged and cannot be opened."
If you see this message, run the following command in Terminal to remove Apple's quarantine attribute:
sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ShellDesk.appAfter that, open ShellDesk again — it should launch normally.
Yes. Releases provide both macos-x64.dmg (Intel) and macos-arm64.dmg (Apple Silicon). Intel Mac users should download the x64 package, and Apple Silicon users should download the arm64 package.
ShellDesk/
├── src-tauri/
│ ├── tauri.conf.json # Tauri app, bundle, icon, and updater artifact config
│ ├── Cargo.toml # Rust backend dependencies
│ └── src/
│ ├── main.rs # Thin Rust entrypoint
│ ├── bootstrap.rs # Tauri builder, state, updater plugin, and command registration
│ ├── ipc.rs # Channel dispatcher used by window.guiSSH
│ ├── state.rs # Shared application state, active sessions, and UI prompt channels
│ ├── connection.rs # SSH/local connection lifecycle and profile normalization
│ ├── connection/host_keys.rs # Host-key scanning, classification, trust, and known_hosts sync
│ ├── russh_client.rs # Pure Rust SSH client, auth, host-key verification, exec, jump/proxy transport
│ ├── ssh_transport.rs # High-level runCommand wrapper, privilege handling, retry, host-key refresh
│ ├── ssh_tunnel.rs # russh direct-tcpip tunnels for DB, browser, VNC, and HTTP tools
│ ├── terminal.rs # Remote russh PTY terminal and local shell terminal lifecycle
│ ├── remote_fs.rs # SFTP and remote file operations
│ ├── database/mod.rs # MySQL / PostgreSQL / ClickHouse / MongoDB / Redis / SQLite handlers
│ ├── database/tunnel.rs # Native database tunnel sessions, timeout, and cleanup helpers
│ ├── browser_proxy.rs # Remote browser URL parsing and local reverse proxy
│ ├── http_tunnel.rs # Remote HTTP request tunnel over SSH forwarding
│ ├── vnc.rs # VNC probing, russh tunnel, and noVNC WebSocket proxy
│ ├── ui_prompts.rs # Window-backed keyboard-interactive prompt routing
│ ├── system.rs # System fonts and known_hosts helpers
│ ├── vault.rs # Local vault, settings, bookmarks, and import/export normalization
│ ├── vault_storage.rs # Split config/secrets storage and platform secret protection
│ ├── vault/normalize.rs # Vault settings, host, key, proxy, and known_hosts normalization
│ ├── sync_backend.rs # WebDAV sync backend
│ └── updater.rs # GitHub release checks and Tauri updater install path
├── src/
│ ├── App.tsx # Host library, keys, logs, settings, and connection entry
│ ├── RemoteDesktopShell.tsx # Remote desktop, multi-window manager, Dock, layout
│ ├── i18n.ts # UI language selection and translation helpers
│ ├── components/
│ │ ├── navigation/ # Main navigation icons
│ │ └── remote-desktop/ # Built-in remote desktop apps
│ ├── pages/
│ │ ├── KeysPage.tsx # SSH key management
│ │ ├── LogsPage.tsx # Logs page
│ │ └── SettingsPage.tsx # App settings
│ ├── styles/
│ │ ├── index.scss # Global style entry
│ │ ├── _tokens.scss # Fonts, CSS variables, and theme tokens
│ │ ├── foundations/ # Reset, base elements, global behavior
│ │ ├── layout/ # App shell, title bar, side navigation
│ │ ├── pages/ # Hosts, keys, logs, settings styles
│ │ ├── remote-desktop/ # Remote desktop and built-in app styles
│ │ └── themes/ # Light theme overrides
│ └── vite-env.d.ts # window.guiSSH and global type definitions
├── docs/
│ ├── remote-desktop-component-roadmap.md # Remote desktop app catalog and docs index
│ └── remote-desktop-components/ # Per-component design and implementation notes
├── index.html
├── package.json
├── src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── vite.config.ts
This project is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3). See LICENSE for the full license text.
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