Question 1

What is an agentic development environment?

Accepted Answer

It is the workspace that grew up around coding agents. An editor is built for one person editing one file; an agentic development environment is built for delegated work, so it adds a board of tasks, a plan you approve before anything runs, isolation so two agents never edit the same tree, the agent runtime itself, and a review step that ends in a commit or a pull request. Deska is all of that on an infinite canvas: switch on worktree isolation for a task and it gets its own branch, its own checkout and its own place on screen, instead of another row in a list.

Question 2

Do I need to know how to code?

Accepted Answer

No. Deska is one workspace for anything you do with AI. If you write code, every tool you need is here. If you do not, you can still keep your AI agents, notes, and browser together in one place.

Question 3

Is it free?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and the free plan is not a countdown: Free is the whole product on one computer, with full write access, the phone and web companion, notifications and your own coding agent. Paid plans link the rest of your computers, and both of them start with 7 free days.

Question 4

What does it cost if I need more?

Accepted Answer

Deska Pro is $15 a month, or $144 a year, and links every computer you own. Deska Cloud is $29 a month, or $278 a year, and adds a dedicated computer of ours. Both start with a 7 day free trial, card up front and $0.00 charged today. A one-time Lifetime license is $500 and includes the seat forever.

Question 5

What is metered?

Accepted Answer

Only voice, and it is sold in minutes: 30 a month on Free, 300 on a paid plan, for dictation and spoken replies. Coding agents run on your own machine under your own CLI login, so nothing you do with them is billed by us. The allowance resets monthly and does not roll over.

Question 6

Can my agents keep working when my computer is off?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on Deska Cloud. It gives you a dedicated computer of ours, $29 a month, that arrives with Claude Code, Codex, opencode and the GitHub CLI already installed and signed in from your phone. It runs your tasks while your own machine is closed, it shows up beside your own computers, and it sleeps when nothing is running. Everything else in Deska keeps running on your machines, exactly as before.

Question 7

Which AI agents does it work with?

Accepted Answer

The ones you already use. Claude Code, Codex and opencode launch from the Panel Library today, and Deska also resumes Cursor and Gemini CLI sessions in a terminal. Each keeps its own sign-in and models.

Question 8

How is this different from Cursor, or from running an agent in a terminal?

Accepted Answer

An editor gives one agent a sidebar next to the file you have open. A terminal gives you one agent per window, and none of them know what the others are doing. Deska keeps the editor and the terminals and adds the layer above them: tasks, isolated checkouts, approvals, diffs and the agents themselves, arranged on one canvas so five of them in flight are five things you can see rather than five tabs you cycle through.

Question 9

Where do my files and data live?

Accepted Answer

On your own computer. Your repository, terminal sessions, layouts, notes and keys are written to your disk, there is no automatic cloud sync, and nothing is uploaded behind your back.

Question 10

What does it run on?

Accepted Answer

Desktop on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 11 and 10 on x64, and Linux as an AppImage or a .deb on Debian and Ubuntu. From a phone, the companion runs in any browser at app.deska.dev, with iOS and Android apps coming. One account, the same workspace on all of them.

Question 11

Can I use my own API keys?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on any paid plan. You add your own provider keys under Settings and every request goes straight from your machine to that provider, on your account and your budget, never through us. Your coding agent already works that way on every plan, free included: Deska drives the CLI you already installed.

Question 12

Do you train models on my code?

Accepted Answer

No. Deska does not use your prompts, audio, workspace files or AI output to train models. Coding agents never touch our servers at all, and a voice request only passes through on its way to the provider that transcribes or speaks it.

Question 13

Does it work offline?

Accepted Answer

The workspace does. Panels, terminals, the editor and git all run without a connection, because they run on your machine. Only the managed AI features and reaching your desk remotely need the network.

Question 14

What happens if I run out of voice minutes?

Accepted Answer

Dictation and spoken replies pause until the allowance resets at the start of the next month, or until you upgrade. Everything else keeps working exactly as before, including your coding agents, because they never drew on it.

Question 15

Can I cancel?

Accepted Answer

Any time, from the billing portal on your account page. Cancel during a free trial and you pay nothing at all. Otherwise cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you already paid for, and fees are non-refundable except where the law says otherwise. Write to us from the contact page with billing questions.

Question 16

Does this replace my editor?

Accepted Answer

Only if you want it to. The editor is Monaco with a git-aware file tree, and the terminals are real shells with your own config, so plenty of work happens entirely inside Deska. Others keep their editor open and use Deska for the agents, terminals and browser around it.

Question 17

Do panels keep running when I switch workspace?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Terminals hold their session and a Pomodoro keeps counting while you are somewhere else. Each workspace restores its own layout when you come back to it.

Question 18

How do I keep a big layout navigable?

Accepted Answer

Group related panels into a labelled region with Cmd/Ctrl + G, use the minimap in the bottom-right cluster, and jump anywhere by name from the command palette.

Question 19

Can I split panels instead of floating them?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Drag a tab onto a split divider to split the node, onto the centre to merge it into a stack, or out of the frame to pop it into its own floating node or window.

Question 20

Does the terminal use my own shell setup?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Panels open a real shell through a native pty, so your prompt, aliases, environment and dotfiles load exactly the way they do in any other terminal.

Question 21

Can I have more than one project open?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each workspace holds its own project, layout and colour, and you switch between them without closing anything. The workspace overview shows every board at once, filtered by what is active or has agents running.

Question 22

What happens to my layout when I quit?

Accepted Answer

It is written to your own disk against that project: panel positions, open files, regions, spaces and which panels were running. Reopen the project and it comes back the way you left it.

Question 23

Do I need an account to use the canvas?

Accepted Answer

No. The workspace runs on your machine without signing in. An account only matters for the managed AI features, billing, and reaching your desk from your phone.

Question 24

Can I use Deska without an account?

Accepted Answer

The workspace runs on your machine without one. An account is only needed for managed AI, billing, and reaching your desk from the phone.

Question 25

What exactly is sent when I use voice or Dex?

Accepted Answer

Your prompt, the audio for voice, and a snapshot of relevant context: project name, relative file paths, open panel titles and terminal status. Not your repository contents.

Question 26

Does Deska keep a copy of my code?

Accepted Answer

No. There is no automatic cloud sync of workspaces today. If an optional sync is ever added, you will be told what it involves and asked before it applies.

Question 27

Deska Cloud runs a computer for me. Is that still local-first?

Accepted Answer

Yes, because nothing about your own machines changed: your files, layouts and keys are written to your disk, and there is still no workspace sync. A Deska Cloud machine is one you asked for and can cancel, whatever you put on it is what is on it, and if you never subscribe none of it touches you.

Question 28

Can I turn telemetry off?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Crash reports and anonymous usage data each have a toggle in Settings, Privacy. Crash reports are scrubbed of home-directory paths and common secrets first, and usage data never includes file paths or project names.

Question 29

Do you train models on my code?

Accepted Answer

No. Deska does not use your prompts, audio, workspace files or AI output to train models.

Question 30

Who processes a managed AI request?

Accepted Answer

It runs on our servers, which forward the request to the model that answers it and keep no copy of your workspace. With your own key on a paid plan, nothing passes through us at all.

Question 31

Where are my API keys kept?

Accepted Answer

On your machine, in the operating system secure storage when it is available. On some Linux setups without it, the desktop falls back to base64 encoding, which is not encryption, so treat that machine accordingly.

Question 32

Does the app phone home when I am not using AI?

Accepted Answer

It checks for updates, and it sends crash reports or anonymous usage events while those toggles are on. Nothing about your project, your files or your terminals is part of that.

Question 33

Can I delete my data?

Accepted Answer

The local half is yours already: it lives in your file system, so deleting the folder deletes it. For account data, the privacy policy sets out your rights and how to ask.

Question 34

Do I need an API key to start?

Accepted Answer

No. Coding agents run on the CLI you already installed, under your own login, on every plan including free. Provider keys you store in Deska are a paid feature, and then those requests go straight from your machine to the provider without passing through us.

Question 35

Do I have to use the terminal?

Accepted Answer

No, and you do not have to give it up either. The same three CLIs run both ways: as a panel, where you get the agent’s own TUI in a real shell, or as a task, where it comes back as a thread with its tool calls, diffs and plan steps rendered and its permission prompts answerable in one click. The terminal path keeps every flag and keybinding the CLI has; the thread path is the one your phone can answer.

Question 36

Can I run several agents at once?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and they do not have to be the same one. Claude Code can be fixing a test while Codex reviews the diff and opencode waits in the queue, each on its own git worktree so they never edit the same file. Deska marks the one that has stopped to ask you something.

Question 37

Which agent should I pick?

Accepted Answer

Whichever you already pay for. Deska does not resell them: each CLI keeps its own sign-in, its own models and its own permission prompts. The workspace is what they have in common.

Question 38

What happens to a run if I quit the app?

Accepted Answer

The terminal process ends with the app, but the conversation is not lost. Reopen the project and Deska resumes the agent session where it left off.

Question 39

Where do the agents actually run?

Accepted Answer

On your machine, in a real terminal, with your project as the working directory. Deska does not copy your repository anywhere to run them.

Question 40

Do they ask before changing files?

Accepted Answer

Each CLI keeps its own permission prompts and Deska surfaces them in the panel, marking the agent that is waiting. The auto-approve toggle at launch skips them for a run you already trust.

Question 41

Ca Dex answer an agent for me?

Accepted Answer

It can clear the routine approvals and pass along your reply, so a long run does not stall on a yes or no while you are away from the desk.

Question 42

Which models do I get?

Accepted Answer

On managed plans the ladder goes up with the tier, and the higher ones reach frontier models. With your own key on a Lifetime license you reach whatever your provider account allows.

Question 43

Does using an agent cost me twice?

Accepted Answer

No. A CLI you already pay for signs in on its own account and never touches your Deska allowance. The only thing we meter is voice, in minutes.

Question 44

Does it work when Deska is in the background?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The dictation shortcut is registered globally, so you can capture a thought or fire off a task without switching windows first.

Question 45

What does it actually know about my work?

Accepted Answer

What is on the canvas: the project you are in, the panels that are open, what the terminals are doing, and your notes. A managed request sends that context snapshot, your prompt and, for voice, the audio. Not your repository.

Question 46

Is it a coding agent?

Accepted Answer

It drives the workspace and hands heavy work to one. A quick spoken question runs on a fast, inexpensive model; a real task goes to a coding agent and Dex reports back when the turn closes.

Question 47

What does it cost?

Accepted Answer

Dictation and spoken replies both draw on the same monthly allowance of minutes: 30 on Free, 300 on a paid plan. It is the only thing we meter, and a paid plan can use its own transcription key instead.

Question 48

Which languages can it reply in?

Accepted Answer

Auto matches whatever you speak, or you can pin the reply to English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Japanese or Chinese.

Question 49

Where does my audio go?

Accepted Answer

Managed transcription runs on our servers, which forward the audio to the model that transcribes it and keep no copy. On a Lifetime license you add your own key under Settings and it never passes through us at all.

Question 50

Can I undo something it did?

Accepted Answer

Edits it makes in an editor land as unsaved, undoable changes, so Cmd/Ctrl + Z puts the file back. Anything it runs in a terminal is a normal command you can see and stop with Esc.

Question 51

Does it keep what I dictated?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in the Voice panel: a timeline of every dictation grouped by day, where you can copy it, insert it into whatever has focus, or delete it.

Question 52

Does my computer have to be on?

Accepted Answer

For one of your own machines, yes: the phone reaches the computer that is running Deska with Remote Access enabled. If you would rather not depend on that, Deska Cloud gives you a machine of ours that stays on when yours is off, and the phone reaches it exactly the same way.

Question 53

Do I have to open ports or set up a VPN?

Accepted Answer

No. Traffic flows over an encrypted relay that forwards it without opening anything on your network, and every device on your account is visible and revocable from your account page.

Question 54

What can I really do from a phone?

Accepted Answer

Drive any terminal on that machine, read the code on it file by file, watch a build, tunnel a local port to check a preview, talk to Dex by voice, and answer an agent that is blocked on your reply.

Question 55

Can someone else reach my machine?

Accepted Answer

Only if you share it. Sharing is a one-time code that expires quickly, the person appears with the role you granted, and you can revoke them at any time.

Question 56

Do I still need the desktop app?

Accepted Answer

On your own computer, yes: it is the machine that does the work, and the phone and the web companion drive it rather than being a second copy of your workspace. On a Deska Cloud machine the work already runs there, so the phone on its own is enough to reach it.

Question 57

What if my computer goes to sleep?

Accepted Answer

The connection drops and the app reconnects on its own once the machine is awake and online again. Deska cannot wake a sleeping computer for you, so leave it awake if you plan to work from the phone, or add a Deska Cloud machine, which wakes by itself when you reach for it.

Question 58

Does mobile cost extra?

Accepted Answer

No. Reaching your own computer is part of the app. Only voice draws on your monthly minutes, exactly as it does at your desk.

Question 59

Is there a web version?

Accepted Answer

Yes. app.deska.dev opens the same companion in any browser with the same account, which is handy on a machine where you cannot install anything.

Question 60

Do I still need my own computer?

Accepted Answer

No, and you do not have to give yours up either. The cloud computer stands beside your own machines, so most people use both: the laptop while they are at it, the box for everything that has to keep running after they close it. With only a phone, the companion at app.deska.dev opens terminals, reads the code and answers agents on the box on its own.

Question 61

How is this different from a VPS?

Accepted Answer

A VPS hands you an empty machine and a shell prompt. This one arrives as a computer inside Deska: your agents already installed and signed in from your phone, your terminals, files and Git in the panels you already use, a notification when something needs you, and sleeping and waking handled for you. There is nothing to provision, nothing to patch and no port to open.

Question 62

Is the machine shared with other customers?

Accepted Answer

No. Each subscription creates its own machine with its own disk, and nothing else runs on it. It is a dedicated computer, not a slot on a shared runner.

Question 63

Can I have more than one?

Accepted Answer

Yes, up to five. The plan includes one, and each extra machine is a real, separate computer with its own disk and its own agent sign-ins, so it costs another $29 a month rather than making the first one bigger. You add it from the computers menu, the part of the period you have already paid is prorated before anything is charged, and removing one turns the unused part into a credit on your next invoice. The one moment you cannot add one is during the free trial, because raising the count while a trial runs would double the first invoice instead of charging anything today.

Question 64

What happens while it sleeps?

Accepted Answer

It sleeps when nothing is running and nobody is connected, and it wakes when you reach for it. An agent still working keeps it awake, because sleeping is decided by whether something is happening, not by whether you are watching. The disk survives, so it comes back as the same computer with your files where you left them.

Everything else,answered.

The rest, grouped by what you are asking about.

About the canvas

About your data

About the agents

About Dex

About mobile

About Deska Cloud

One canvas for everything you build.Free to start.

Mac

Linux

Windows

Everything else,answered.

What is an agentic development environment?

Do I need to know how to code?

Is it free?

What does it cost if I need more?

What is metered?

Can my agents keep working when my computer is off?

Which AI agents does it work with?

How is this different from Cursor, or from running an agent in a terminal?

Where do my files and data live?

What does it run on?

Can I use my own API keys?

Do you train models on my code?

Does it work offline?

What happens if I run out of voice minutes?

Can I cancel?

The rest, grouped by what you are asking about.

About the canvas

Does this replace my editor?

Do panels keep running when I switch workspace?

How do I keep a big layout navigable?

Can I split panels instead of floating them?

Does the terminal use my own shell setup?

Can I have more than one project open?

What happens to my layout when I quit?

Do I need an account to use the canvas?

About your data

Can I use Deska without an account?

What exactly is sent when I use voice or Dex?

Does Deska keep a copy of my code?

Deska Cloud runs a computer for me. Is that still local-first?

Can I turn telemetry off?

Do you train models on my code?

Who processes a managed AI request?

Where are my API keys kept?

Does the app phone home when I am not using AI?

Can I delete my data?

About the agents

Do I need an API key to start?

Do I have to use the terminal?

Can I run several agents at once?

Which agent should I pick?

What happens to a run if I quit the app?

Where do the agents actually run?

Do they ask before changing files?

Ca Dex answer an agent for me?

Which models do I get?

Does using an agent cost me twice?

About Dex

Does it work when Deska is in the background?

What does it actually know about my work?

Is it a coding agent?

What does it cost?

Which languages can it reply in?

Where does my audio go?

Can I undo something it did?

Does it keep what I dictated?

About mobile

Does my computer have to be on?

Do I have to open ports or set up a VPN?

What can I really do from a phone?

Can someone else reach my machine?

Do I still need the desktop app?

What if my computer goes to sleep?

Does mobile cost extra?

Is there a web version?

About Deska Cloud

Do I still need my own computer?

How is this different from a VPS?

Is the machine shared with other customers?

Can I have more than one?

What happens while it sleeps?

Can you see what is on it?

Is Deska still local-first with this?

Does the free trial include the computer?

What happens to it if I cancel?

I have a Lifetime license. Can I add one?

One canvas for everything you build.Free to start.

Mac

Linux