Quick Start

Quick Start

Get Deskbrid running in 10 minutes.

1. Install

bash <(curl -fsSL https://deskbrid.patchhive.dev/install.sh)

Recommended for most systems: auto-detects distro + desktop environment, installs dependencies, configures uinput, and installs the latest binary.

Manual install is also available from the releases page.

2. Start the daemon

deskbrid daemon

If you want it to start with your session, use the included systemd user unit:

cp ../../deploy/deskbrid.service ~/.config/systemd/user/
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now deskbrid

3. Run common commands

# List windows
deskbrid windows list

# Read the clipboard
deskbrid clipboard read

# Take a screenshot
deskbrid screenshot

# Get system info
deskbrid system info

4. Try agent control

# Focus a window
deskbrid windows focus --app code

# Type text
deskbrid input keyboard type "Hello, world!\n"

# Send a notification
deskbrid notify send "Deskbrid" "Setup complete!"

5. Use structured control

# Inspect the accessibility tree
deskbrid a11y tree --app code --max-depth 2

# Jump to an element
deskbrid a11y do --element "Submit" --action click

# Dump desktop settings for the current desktop
deskbrid settings dump

6. Connect AI tools

For Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, or another MCP client:

deskbrid mcp

Configure the client with:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "deskbrid": {
      "command": "deskbrid",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Next steps

• Features — feature map with links
• Protocol — JSON-over-socket protocol
• Python Client — Python SDK
• AI Agents — agent integration patterns