rdc Gives AI Agents Remote Desktop Control Over Tailscale

Summary

rdc is a Rust-based remote desktop control tool for AI coding agents. It lets an agent on one machine connect to another macOS, Linux, or Windows desktop over a Tailscale network, capture screenshots, move and click the mouse, type, send keyboard shortcuts, focus windows, and read or write the clipboard. The project exposes these functions as MCP tools for Claude Code or other MCP clients, and also provides a CLI and daemon in the same binary. Its intended use is handling graphical tasks that a terminal cannot perform, such as dismissing a dialog on a headless Mac mini while an agent continues a coding task. The daemon accepts connections only through the machine's Tailscale address, identifies callers through Tailscale's local `tailscaled whois` information, and checks logins, device names, or tags against an allowlist. Access can be limited to viewing, input, or clipboard operations, while requests and rejections are recorded in a JSON-lines audit log. rdc does not provide shell access; SSH remains the mechanism for command execution. The repository documents verified support for Wayland on Hyprland and other wlroots compositors, macOS 15 or later on Apple silicon, and Windows 11 with a single display. GNOME and KDE Wayland currently support screenshot capture, while synthetic input is not yet wired up; X11 compiles but is untested, and multi-monitor Windows support is implemented but untested. Setup requires installing rdc on both machines, configuring the controlled host's allowlist, checking permissions with `rdc doctor`, and starting `rdc serve`. The project also includes service installation, MCP configuration, platform-specific setup guides, and security documentation. Release binaries are not code-signed, and the software is licensed under GPLv3 or later.