Conduit 7.3.0 (Chrome Handoff Preview)

Conduit 7.3.0 (Chrome Handoff Preview)

Conduit 7.3.0 introduces bidirectional Cross-Machine Browser Window Handoff for Google Chrome, enabling you to seamlessly drag tabs and windows across connected computers, alongside High-DPI per-monitor bounds scaling, maximized window drag restoration, Ctrl+W window cut/move support, and clean KVM fallback.

Note

Chrome Browser Handoff Status:
Browser window handoff is currently available as a preview for Google Chrome. It requires loading the unpacked developer extension from ConduitBrowserHandoff-v7.3.0.zip or the repository's build/browser-handoff-extension/ directory.

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🚀 What's New in 7.3.0

🌐 Cross-Machine Browser Window Handoff (Chrome Preview)

• Bidirectional Tab/Window Drag: Drag active Google Chrome tabs or windows across physical displays between Server and Client machines.
• Copy vs. Move (Cut) Keybinds:
  • Ctrl + Drag Tab to Edge: Duplicates/opens the tab list on the target PC while preserving the source window.
  • Ctrl + W + Drag Tab to Edge: Moves the tab list to the target PC and automatically closes the source window.
• High-DPI Per-Monitor Bounds Scaling: Seamless correlation across displays with disparate DPI scaling factors (e.g. 150% Surface Laptop to 100% Desktop PC) by converting Chromium DIPs to physical screen coordinates.
• Maximized Window Drag Restoration: Smoothly handle dragging windows directly from a maximized state without invalidating move tracking.
• Persistent Extension Auto-Reconnect: Gentle exponential backoff ensures the Chrome extension automatically reconnects to Conduit upon app launch or restart without requiring manual extension reloads.
• Extension-Free KVM Fallback: If the browser extension is not installed or connected, Conduit gracefully falls back to standard mouse/keyboard KVM edge switching with zero disruption.

🛡️ Clean Antivirus Heuristics

• Custom MSVC Bootloader: Built using Microsoft Visual C++ (cl.exe) with Control Flow Guard (/guard:cf) enabled to eliminate false-positive heuristics.
• Windows Defender Scanned: 0 threats found on standalone executable, installer, and extension packages.

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🔌 Chrome Extension Setup

🔌 Chrome Extension Setup (Step-by-Step)

Chrome requires loading the extension as an unpacked folder (not uploading the .zip file directly):

If Using the Downloaded Release:

1. Download ConduitBrowserHandoff-v7.3.0.zip from the release assets below.
2. Right-click the .zip file and select Extract All... to extract it into a folder (e.g., Downloads\ConduitBrowserHandoff-v7.3.0).
3. In Google Chrome, go to:

   chrome://extensions
   

4. Turn ON the Developer mode toggle in the top-right corner.
5. Click the Load unpacked button in the top-left toolbar.
6. In the folder picker dialog, select the extracted folder (the directory containing manifest.json) and click Select Folder.

If Running from Source / Git:

1. In chrome://extensions with Developer mode ON, click Load unpacked.
2. Select the repository folder path:

   build\browser-handoff-extension
   

   (This folder is built automatically by scripts\build_browser_extension.ps1 or run.bat).

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📦 Downloads & Artifacts

• Installer: Conduit-v7.3.0-Setup.exe
• Standalone: Conduit-v7.3.0.exe
• Chrome Extension Package: ConduitBrowserHandoff-v7.3.0.zip
• Source Code: Conduit-v7.3.0-source.zip
• Checksums: SHA256SUMS.txt
• Third-Party Notices: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt

Conduit 7.2.2

Conduit 7.2.2

• Adds stable error codes for every problem shown in the status console.
• Distinguishes failures that share the same message but have different causes.
• Adds Client initials to Client-specific codes, such as Error Code 14.X.
• Displays Error Code XX when a problem reaches the console without a valid assigned code.
• Includes a concise error-code reference table in docs/error-codes.md.

Normal status and progress messages remain unchanged.

Conduit 7.2.1

Conduit 7.2.1

• After a successful manual topology Apply, Conduit now sends the Server and connected Clients into the same synchronized background mode used by Ctrl+Shift+Alt+B.
• The Server briefly shows a reminder that Ctrl+Shift+Alt+B brings Conduit back.
• Windows Firewall setup now permits TCP ports 28903-28905 and the native-video UDP port 28906. Rules remain limited to Private networks, the local subnet, and the installed Conduit executable.

Automatic reconnect topology restoration remains in the background without toggling the app back into view.

Conduit 7.2

Conduit 7.2

Conduit 7.2 introduces a high-performance native C++ video streaming engine with DXGI desktop capture, hardware-accelerated H.264 encode/decode, AES-GCM encrypted UDP transmission, and Direct3D 11 presentation alongside 1:1 synchronized hardware cursor coordinates.

Note

Video Stream Transfer Status:
Native video streaming is in active development. While fully functional, hardware-accelerated, and providing real-time 1:1 synchronized cursor tracking, video transfer is not yet 100% perfect under all network conditions and complex multi-adapter configurations. It is in a solid, usable state for local network setups.

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🚀 What's New in 7.2

🎥 Native Hardware-Accelerated Video Streaming

• DXGI Desktop Duplication: High-speed, zero-copy desktop frame capture direct from the Windows Desktop Window Manager (DWM).
• Hardware H.264 Codec: Direct integration with Windows Media Foundation Hardware MFTs for low-latency encoding and decoding.
• Encrypted UDP Transport: High-throughput AES-256-GCM packet-level authenticated encryption over dedicated UDP stream lanes.
• Direct3D 11 Presentation: Hardware swapchain rendering with automatic aspect-ratio letterboxing and viewport coordinate scaling.

🖱️ 1:1 Synchronized Cursor Projection

• Absolute Coordinate Mapping: Bidirectional projection maps mouse coordinates accurately between client letterboxed viewports and server physical monitors.
• Hardware Cursor Injection: Directly updates the remote hardware cursor position without synthetic event lag or teleportation.

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Installation

• Installer: Run Conduit-v7.2.0-Setup.exe on the Server and each Client PC.
• Standalone: Conduit-v7.2.0.exe is available for zero-install portable execution.

All machines must run the same Conduit version.

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Source & Licensing

• License: GPL-3.0-only
• Exact corresponding source: https://github.com/parm2006/Conduit/tree/v7.2.0
• Third-party notices: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt
• Checksums: SHA256SUMS.txt
• Build provenance: RELEASE_MANIFEST.txt

Conduit 7.1

Conduit 7.1

Conduit 7.1 delivers a major low-latency hardware input pipeline overhaul, full support for auxiliary gaming mouse buttons and extended macro keys, a polished antialiased topology editor grid, and custom MSVC-compiled binaries with zero antivirus false positives.

🚀 What's New in 7.1

🖱️ Hardware Input Pipeline Overhaul & Zero-Latency Gaming Support

• Native Hardware Injection: Upgraded input routing to use Windows native SendInput with hardware scan codes (KEYEVENTF_SCANCODE, KEYEVENTF_EXTENDEDKEY) and raw relative/absolute mouse events (MOUSEEVENTF_MOVE), indistinguishable from a physical USB mouse and keyboard.
• Mouse Auxiliary Buttons (X1 & X2): Full native capture and injection for mouse buttons 4 and 5 (browser forward/back), side gaming keypads, and macro auxiliary buttons.
• No Cursor Teleportation: Layout reconfiguration (clicking the checkmark button) no longer jumps the local mouse cursor to the center of the primary display; cursor position remains seamlessly under your hand.

🎨 Antialiased Topology Editor Grid

• Smooth Quarter-Circle Rounded Corners: Grid cells in the machine layout editor are now rendered with Pillow 4x supersampling and Lanczos downsampling, eliminating Tkinter's non-antialiased stair-stepping and jagged chamfers.
• Symmetric Pixel-Perfect Fit: Sized the machine cells to 39x39 px within the 40x40 grid, providing an exact 1px symmetric border without overflowing or leaving asymmetrical margins.
• Remote Map Preserved: Live remote map squircle and saturation remain intact.

🛡️ Clean Antivirus Heuristics

• Custom MSVC Bootloader: Built using Microsoft Visual C++ with Control Flow Guard (CFG) enabled to eliminate PyInstaller machine-learning false-positive trojan detections.
• Windows Defender Scanned: 0 threats found on both standalone executable and installer.

Installation

• Installer: Run Conduit-v7.1.0-Setup.exe on the Server and each Client PC.
• Standalone: Conduit-v7.1.0.exe is available for zero-install portable execution.

All machines must run the same Conduit version.

Source & Licensing

• License: GPL-3.0-only
• Exact corresponding source: https://github.com/parm2006/Conduit/tree/v7.1.0
• Third-party licenses: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt
• Checksums: SHA256SUMS.txt
• Build provenance: RELEASE_MANIFEST.txt

Conduit v7

Conduit v7.0.0

Conduit v7 introduces Remote Mode for high-quality, low-latency encrypted monitor streaming and remote viewing, alongside a persistent live topology map overlay, exclusive Windows network binding, and custom MSVC-compiled bootloaders free of antivirus false positives.

🚀 What's New in v7

🖥️ Remote Mode (Encrypted Monitor Viewing)

• Direct Remote Monitor Viewing: View and control a Client monitor fullscreen on the Server's primary display, preserving the remote display's native cursor and aspect ratio with automatic aspect-fit letterboxing.
• Dedicated Paired TLS Data Lane: Video streams securely over the existing authenticated TLS connection with bounded, high-quality 4:4:4 JPEG frames (targeting up to 20 fps). Input routing remains responsive on the separate control lane.
• Automatic Fallback Watchdog: If a remote stream is interrupted or unavailable for more than one second, control and cursor automatically return to the Server's primary display.
• Toggle Locking & Restart Persistence: The Remote Mode switch locks while the Server is running to prevent accidental state changes, and preserves its configuration across reloads.

🗺️ Live Topology Map Overlay

• Always-on Top-Left Squircle Map: Displays a 70% opacity, non-activating, click-through monitor map in the upper-left corner of the Server's primary display.
• Vibrant Color Grouping: Visualizes Server and Client displays with rich, saturated machine colors (Server in grey, Client 1 in blue, Client 2 in green).
• Active Window Distinction: The actively controlled display expands by 15% with a prominent 3px white outline.
• Cursor Proximity Auto-Hide: Moving the cursor near the map temporarily hides the overlay so it never blocks your work, reappearing automatically when the cursor moves away.

🛡️ Network & Reliability Enhancements

• Exclusive Socket Binding: Added SO_EXCLUSIVEADDRUSE socket binding on Windows to prevent background or installed duplicate processes from hijacking ports 28903–28905.
• Display Capture Resilience: Native display capture handles locked screens and non-interactive sessions without crashing.
• Clean Antivirus Heuristics: Compiled with custom Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC) bootloaders with Control Flow Guard (CFG) enabled, avoiding machine-learning false-positive trojan detections.

Installation

• Installer: Run Conduit-v7.0.0-Setup.exe on the Server and every Client PC.
• Standalone: Conduit-v7.0.0.exe is available for zero-install portable execution.
  All machines must run the same Conduit version.

Source & Licensing

• License: GPL-3.0-only
• Exact corresponding source: https://github.com/parm2006/Conduit/tree/v7.0.0
• Third-party licenses: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt
• Checksums: SHA256SUMS.txt
• Build provenance: RELEASE_MANIFEST.txt

SHA-256 Checksums

c435801a8247970b3285f876d5d679e4f165f580c17d9db4aa6b0943b9ff4859  Conduit-v7.0.0.exe
605dca2bda19ea2467fd2f9c28bc96b9913140cbceeb3ab3f9f9656e61df95da  Conduit-v7.0.0-Setup.exe
1851c09a862138f7b341446c011ee61f0b921f13aca477219593897daf32ddb1  Conduit-v7.0.0-source.zip
cb86bb8eba0400d40be30ac6cdf256b379827c3001b230b9e0f0f808ec90218e  THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt
d61ea5de2e1d8b62852c95b66225a5dcf73e596b78e86a24751e459d02ff67e1  RELEASE_MANIFEST.txt

Conduit 6.0.1

Conduit v6.0.1

Conduit v6.0.1 fixes the Server cursor-return shortcut introduced in v6.0 and packages clean, false-positive-free Windows binaries compiled with MSVC.

Fixes

• Remote cursor-return: Ctrl+Space, Space now works from the physical Server keyboard while the roaming cursor is on either Client, not only while it is on a Server screen.
• Ordered release: Recovery runs outside the suppressing Windows keyboard-hook callback, then releases forwarded keys and returns the cursor to the Server's primary display center.
• State reset: Partial shortcut sequences are cleared whenever remote keyboard capture stops.
• Antivirus mitigation: Executable and installer bootloaders are compiled from source using MSVC with Control Flow Guard (CFG) enabled, avoiding default PyInstaller false-positive heuristic flags.
• Clean docs: Removed SignPath references and streamlined setup, topology, hotkeys, firewall scope, and source use.

Installation

• Installer: Run Conduit-v6.0.1-Setup.exe on the Server and every Client.
• Standalone: Conduit-v6.0.1.exe is also available for portable, zero-install use.
  All machines must run the same Conduit version.

Source and licensing

• License: GPL-3.0-only
• Exact corresponding source: https://github.com/parm2006/Conduit/tree/v6.0.1
• Third-party licenses: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt
• Artifact hashes: SHA256SUMS.txt
• Build provenance: RELEASE_MANIFEST.txt

Code Signing

Conduit release binaries are unsigned open-source community builds. Always verify downloaded files against the release's SHA256SUMS.txt.

Conduit 6.0

Conduit v6.0

Conduit v6.0 expands one Server and one Client into one Server with up to two
simultaneous Client PCs. Each machine may use multiple Windows displays, and
the Server arranges the detected machine groups in a compact topology editor.

This release and all attached artifacts were built from commit
70ec81f0e039caa39ebb27be1bcb4b6beeea001a.

License and source

• License: GPL-3.0-only
• Exact corresponding source: https://github.com/parm2006/Conduit/tree/v6.0
• Third-party licenses: attached THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt
• Artifact hashes: attached SHA256SUMS.txt
• Build and dependency provenance: attached RELEASE_MANIFEST.txt

Changes since v5.1.1

• Connects two Client PCs to one Server through the existing three-port TLS
  transport.
• Detects each machine's physical displays and preserves its Windows monitor
  arrangement as one topology group.
• Routes the Server-controlled mouse and keyboard across Server-to-Client,
  Client-to-Server, and Client-to-Client boundaries.
• Stops routing safely when a Client disconnects and requires an authoritative
  topology reset before roaming resumes.
• Shares the newest clipboard item among all three machines.
• Relays Explorer file and folder pastes between either Client through the
  Server without permanent Server storage.
• Returns the roaming cursor to the Server's primary-display center when the
  user holds Ctrl and taps Space twice within 750 milliseconds.
• Uses compact ✓ and ✕ topology controls with Apply/Reset and Cancel hover
  descriptions.

Install Conduit-v6.0-Setup.exe on the Server and every Client. All machines
must run Conduit 6.0 for the multi-client topology and routing protocol. See
the README for setup and firewall details.

Conduit 5.1.1

Conduit v5.1.1

Conduit v5.1.1 replaces v5.1. The earlier v5.1 installer was published from a
release whose automatic source archive pointed to the older pre-rename tree.
Use v5.1.1 so the installer and corresponding source refer to the same commit.

This release and all attached artifacts were rebuilt from commit
831ae4cddee35c360ebeca156381957f1badfe08. The source records that the current
Conduit icon was generated with Google Gemini's Nano Banana model and supplied
by Parth Mohnot for Conduit.

License and source

• License: GPL-3.0-only
• Exact corresponding source: https://github.com/parm2006/Conduit/tree/v5.1.1
• Third-party licenses: attached THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt
• Artifact hashes: attached SHA256SUMS.txt
• Build and dependency provenance: attached RELEASE_MANIFEST.txt

Changes since v5.1

• Completes the DeskFlow-to-Conduit rename in the published source.
• Replaces the inherited CustomTkinter icon with Conduit artwork.
• Records the Gemini Nano Banana provenance of the current icon.
• Pins the complete Python release dependency graph.
• Adds explicit Roboto, CustomTkinter, and NSIS LZMA licensing information.
• Signs the inner executable before installer assembly when signing is enabled.
• Requires clean, exactly tagged source for public release builds.
• Produces an explicit corresponding-source archive and SHA-256 checksums.

Install Conduit-v5.1.1-Setup.exe on both Windows PCs. See the README for
setup and firewall details.

Conduit 5.1

Conduit 5.1 — superseded

This release has been superseded by Conduit v5.1.1.

The v5.1 installer was removed because its published source tag did not match the Conduit binary. Download v5.1.1 instead; its installer, corresponding source, license notices, release manifest, and checksums refer to the same tagged commit.

What Conduit does

Conduit lets you control two Windows PCs with one mouse and keyboard over your local network.

• Move the pointer between screens from any configured edge, with resolution scaling and full keyboard forwarding.
• Copy text, HTML, RTF, browser content, images, files, and folders in either direction.
• Copy and paste normally on either machine.
• Cancel file conflicts from Explorer or Conduit and continue transferring without reconnecting.
• Pair securely with TLS, remember successful connections, and configure or repair the Windows Firewall from the app.
• Upgrade through the installer without losing settings or trusted devices.

Requires Windows 10 or 11.