One-time Setup

On the controlled machine

pip install 'opendesk[core,remote]'
opendesk pair

You’ll see something like:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  opendesk pairing                            │
│  port:        8423                           │
│  fingerprint: 9c2f:1abc:b3d4:8870            │
│                                              │
│   pairing code:   428901                     │
│                                              │
│  Run on the controller:                      │
│    opendesk pair-with <host> 428901          │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Leave this terminal open while pairing. Once a controller successfully pairs, the process exits.

On the controller

pip install 'opendesk[remote]'
opendesk discover

This lists _opendesk._tcp.local services on the LAN:

NAME                              ADDR                    FINGERPRINT
mac-mini-9c2f1a                   192.168.1.42:8423       9c2f:1abc:b3d4:8870

Now pair (using the code shown on the controlled machine):

opendesk pair-with mac-mini.local 428901 --name mini

Output:

✓ Paired with mini (9c2f:1abc:b3d4:8870)
  Now reachable as: opendesk connect mini

Both machines now have each other’s static public keys stored in ~/.opendesk/trusted-peers.json.

---

Pairing done. Next: start the daemon →