_desktopdocs
guide

Introduction

What desktop is, why it exists, and what ships in the box.

desktop is a computer-use environment for agents. Most agents live in a chat box — desktop gives them an entire computer instead: a lightweight Linux desktop that runs entirely inside Docker (XFCE on Xvfb, served through noVNC), with an HTTP daemon and a TypeScript SDK so any agent can drive it — shell, GUI apps, browser, keyboard, mouse, screen. Small, fast, disposable.

Why

Building computer-use agents usually means choosing between bad options:

  • Full VMs (proprietary sandboxes, cloud browsers) — heavy, slow, locked in.
  • Automating your own machine — fragile and dangerous; one bad rm and it's your actual filesystem.
  • API-only agents — never touch the GUIs where real work actually happens.

desktop is the middle path: a real Debian 13 + XFCE + Chromium desktop in a container capped at 2 CPU / 3 GB, booted with one command, reset with docker compose down, and driven over plain HTTP by anything that can call an API — Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM, or a bash script. No vendor lock-in, no heavyweight runtime, nothing installed on your host but Docker.

What's in the box

PieceWhat it isWhere
Computer imageDebian 13 + XFCE + Chromium + automation tools in a containerDockerfile, docker-compose.yml
DaemonPython-stdlib HTTP API over xdotool / ImageMagick / bash on port 8095daemon/daemon.py
SDKThin TypeScript client: actions, cmd, create, kill, screenshot, live, framessdk/
ViewernoVNC browser view of the live desktop on port 6080novnc/
eveA complete operator agent built on this stack, with a Next.js chat UIweb/

Who it's for

  • Agent builders who want a safe, resettable environment their model can click around in.
  • Tool authors who want one clean HTTP surface (POST /api/actions) instead of shelling out to docker exec.
  • Humans who want to watch what the agent is doing — open http://localhost:6080/vnc.html and see every keystroke in real time.

Next steps

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