Remote access — Deska on the web & mobile

Deska is a desktop app, but the work does not have to stay at your desk. The companion app — on the web at app.deska.dev and as a phone app — gives you a window into a Deska environment from anywhere: drive a terminal, watch a build, check a preview, or ask Deska to do something while you are away from the keyboard.

It is a companion, not a replacement. The heavy lifting still happens on a real machine — your own computer, a Deska-hosted cloud environment, or a server you bring. The companion simply connects to it over a secure relay and mirrors what is happening, with controls sized for a small screen.

Open app.deska.dev in any browser, or install the mobile app, and sign in with the same Deska account you use on the desktop. Once you are connected to a computer, the companion gives you:

• Computers — every machine on your account (plus any shared with you), with a live status dot for which are online right now.
• Terminals — open any terminal running on that machine in a full, interactive view, complete with a special-keys bar (Esc, Tab, Ctrl, arrows, the pipe) so the keys a shell needs are one tap away on a phone.
• Web preview — type a local port (say 3000) and the dev server running on the remote machine is tunneled to your screen, so you can check a preview from the couch.
• Ask Deska — the same canvas-aware assistant, reachable from every screen, by typing or by voice.

Your own computers need no pairing at all: turn on Remote Access on the desktop, sign into the companion app with the same account, and the machine appears in your Computers list automatically. From then on it reconnects on its own whenever it is online.

Sharing a computer with someone else is a one-time, code-based handshake:

1. On the desktop, choose Share this computer and Deska shows a short, single-use code.
2. In their companion app, they choose Connect a shared computer and enter that code.
3. Your machine appears in their Computers list with the role you granted — and you can revoke their access at any time.

“The machine on the other end” can be one of three kinds, and the companion reaches all three the same way — you sign in and connect. They differ only in where the environment lives and whether it keeps running when you walk away:

• Your own computer (Personal) — your Mac, Windows or Linux desktop running Deska. It is reachable while that machine is on and Remote Access is enabled. Nothing extra to host, nothing extra to pay; it is part of the app.
• A Deska-hosted environment (Managed) — a cloud development environment Deska runs for you. Because it lives in the cloud, it keeps working in the background even with your laptop closed, and its compute is metered against your credits.
• A server you bring (BYO) — your own VPS or a shared team box. You run a small Deska host agent on it once, pair it, and it behaves like any other computer in your list. You own the server and its cost.

The companion carries the same voice experience as the desktop: tap the mic, speak, and your words are transcribed and handed to Ask Deska, which streams its reply back. It is the easiest way to nudge a long-running task or ask “did the build pass?” without typing on a phone. Voice draws from your monthly credits like the rest of the managed AI features.