Troubleshooting

opendesk-js discover shows nothing.

The controlled machine must be running opendesk-js pair or opendesk-js serve with --no-mdns not set. mDNS is multicast UDP — it doesn’t cross routers, only the same LAN segment. Some Wi-Fi access points isolate clients (“AP isolation”) — check the AP settings.

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opendesk-js pair-with says “wrong_code”.

Make sure the code on the controlled machine matches what you typed. Codes change every opendesk-js pair run.

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opendesk-js serve says “no trusted peers yet”.

You haven’t paired anything. Run opendesk-js pair first; once one peer pairs, serve will start accepting connections.

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The agent gets “Multiple peers paired … and no default set”.

That’s deliberate. Run opendesk_use <name> from the agent (or pass peer: <name> on each tool call) so opendesk knows where actions should land.

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Permissions on macOS.

opendesk-js serve needs Accessibility + Screen Recording permission to drive mouse/keyboard and capture the screen — same as the local CLI. Grant them to the node binary (or the terminal running it).

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Same machine testing (loopback).

When running controller and controlled on the same machine, both share ~/.opendesk/trusted-peers.json. Use --home /tmp/ctrl on one side to keep the identity stores separate:

opendesk-js pair --home /tmp/ctrl --port 9000
# In another terminal:
opendesk-js pair-with 127.0.0.1 XXXXXX --home /tmp/ctrl --port 9000

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Looking for the Python/CLI equivalent? See Remote — Python →