HyperDesk

Run your Hyper-V consoles and RDP sessions as real windows inside one app.

English · 한국어

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What it does

Most remote-desktop managers give you tabs. HyperDesk gives you the actual window.

mstsc.exe and vmconnect.exe are reparented into the app with the Win32 SetParent API, so a live RDP session or a Hyper-V console renders as a native child window inside a HyperDesk slot — not a screenshot, not a re-implemented protocol client. Four sessions stay alive at once; Alt+1–4 pages between them instantly and nothing disconnects.

It also does the boring parts: start/stop VMs, snapshots, per-VM telemetry, the Hyper-V event log, and a Ctrl+K palette to reach any of it.

Scope. Hyper-V (VMConnect) and RDP are the verified targets. VMware/Omnissa Horizon code exists (registry scan, launching the external client) but is unverified in practice, and grid embedding for Horizon is deliberately disabled — its MKS child windows are pinned to absolute monitor coordinates and do not follow a reparented frame. Connecting to a Horizon host outside the grid works.

Why you might want it

• No credentials stored. HyperDesk keeps a username at most. There is no vault, no password field, no secret at rest — Windows handles authentication. Nothing to leak.
• Sessions survive switching. Slots are hidden, never torn down.
• It is not a browser tab. The remote desktop is a real window with real input.
• Free. PolyForm Noncommercial — free for noncommercial use.

Key features

Window embedding — SwallowGrid™

• External process embedding. RDP and VMConnect windows are reparented into the HyperDesk UI and tracked as first-class slot content.
• Deadlock-free by design. AttachThreadInput is deliberately avoided. A credential or certificate dialog raised by the embedded process cannot freeze the host UI.
• Tight position sync. requestAnimationFrame on the front end plus delta filtering in Rust keeps the embedded window locked to its slot through layout changes and resizes.
• VMConnect ribbon masking. VMConnect's non-removable 30px client-area ribbon is clipped with SetWindowRgn so the slot shows only the guest.
• Four live, one visible. Up to four sessions run simultaneously; Alt+1–4 (or the slot header) pages between them without reconnecting.

Immersive mode

• Full-screen VM. The active slot fills the entire display with no app chrome. Push the cursor to the top edge and the header slides back in; Esc exits. Borderless, so there is no title-bar flash.
• Keyboard routing. While an embedded session holds focus, Win key and Alt+Tab are forwarded into the guest instead of being eaten by the host shell.

VM and remote asset management

• VM control. Start, stop, save, resume, pause; adjust memory and processor count in place.
• Snapshots. Create, restore and delete from the dashboard.
• Remote assets. RDP history auto-detected from the registry is merged with manually registered hosts. Auto-detected entries can be renamed, hidden or removed.
• Memos and tags. Attach a notepad-style memo and tags to any VM or remote asset, then filter by @tag from the command palette.
• Quick connect. Ctrl+K, type an address, Enter. No registration step.

Telemetry and recovery

• Live resource tracking. Per-VM CPU, memory, disk headroom, IP and uptime, plus host CPU/memory/disk sparklines beside the session rail.
• Crash detection. A watchdog notices when an embedded process dies and retries the connection with exponential backoff.
• Smart sizing. RDP smart sizing keeps the picture fitted when a slot changes size without renegotiating the session.

Network and events

• Network topology. Inspect Hyper-V virtual switches and adapter configuration.
• Event log. Hyper-V events as a live stream.

UX

• Command palette. Ctrl+K for search, navigation and actions.
• Three themes. Dark, light, and a Windows 9x retro skin.
• English and Korean. Detected from your OS locale, switchable in Settings.
• Safe exit. Closing the window asks: minimize to tray (sessions stay alive), quit completely (sessions are cleaned up), or cancel.
• Collapsible sidebar. Ctrl+B.

Tech stack

• Frontend — React 19, TypeScript, Vite, plain CSS, Framer Motion, Recharts, dotLottie
• Backend — Tauri v2, Rust
• System — Win32 (SetParent, SetWindowPos, EnumWindows, SetWindowRgn, …), PowerShell for Hyper-V automation, Windows Registry for RDP/Horizon host discovery
• CI/CD — GitHub Actions (stable Rust toolchain, Tauri v2 release)

Install

Install from the Microsoft Store — Microsoft signs, verifies and auto-updates it.

▶ Install from the Microsoft Store

⚠️ The .msixbundle attached to GitHub Releases is the unsigned Store submission artifact. It will not install directly; use the Store link above.

Requirements

• Windows 10/11 with the WebView2 Runtime (preinstalled on Windows 11)
• Hyper-V enabled. To manage VMs (Get-VM, Start-VM, …) your account must be in the local Hyper-V Administrators group — the app itself runs unelevated (asInvoker), and window embedding does not require admin.

Development

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.80+
• Node.js (LTS)
• WebView2 Runtime

Run

npm install
npm run tauri dev     # Rust backend + React with HMR

Other commands

npm run build         # TypeScript check + Vite bundle
npm test -- --run     # Frontend test suite
npm run tauri build   # Production build → NSIS installer

cd src-tauri
cargo test            # Rust unit tests
cargo clippy          # Rust lints

Architecture notes, Win32 constraints and the accumulated troubleshooting log live in CLAUDE.md.

License

Copyright © 2026 HyperDesk.

Licensed under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0 — free for noncommercial use; commercial use requires a separate license.