The project is intentionally separate from rdclient-desktop. It does not load the web console as its runtime UI and does not depend on RustDesk source code or binaries. RustDesk-compatible interoperability is implemented from the protocol specifications maintained in this repository:

../betterdesk-server/protos/rendezvous.proto
../betterdesk-server/protos/message.proto
../docs/cdap/PROTOCOL.md

Current implementation

The first implementation slice provides:

a Rust core crate with bounded frame parsing/encoding;
BetterDesk/RustDesk-compatible protobuf generation;
strict server URL and public-key validation;
automatic HTTPS/HTTP API probing without a compatibility toggle;
deploy-string parsing compatible with BetterDesk's RustDesk deployment format;
CDAP authentication, registration, heartbeat and media event models;
durable device ID, rotating session password and Ed25519 identity storage;
RustDesk-compatible registration, input, clipboard, audio and file messages;
bounded Windows primary-screen capture, mouse/keyboard injection and operator-approved file-transfer roots;
a safe settings policy separating user settings from administrator-only machine settings;
a Flutter desktop shell with quick connect, durable peer history, local identity, UAC-gated settings, desktop-session canvas and tray state;
a release build orchestrator for Windows and Linux packages.

The protocol/session modules are deliberately layered so that media, input, clipboard, and file-transfer implementations can be added without coupling the UI to the wire protocol.

Development

Requirements:

Rust stable;
Flutter stable with Windows and Linux desktop support;
protoc;
Windows: WebView2 and WiX 4 for MSI packaging;
Linux: GTK/WebKitGTK development packages, dpkg-deb, rpmbuild, appimagetool and tar.

From this directory:

python build.py check
python build.py test
python build.py build --target windows-x64
python build.py build --target linux-x64

For a Flutter-only development run:

cd flutter
flutter pub get
flutter run -d windows

Configuration

The client can be configured without the panel Generator:

enter a BetterDesk/RustDesk-compatible server configuration in the setup screen;
import a deploy string or QR payload;
set BETTERDESK_SERVER_URL before first launch; or
pass --server-url and --server-key on the command line.

The application never disables TLS verification in release builds. HTTPS is preferred automatically when no scheme is entered; explicit HTTP is supported for RustDesk-compatible deployments and is clearly reported as plaintext.

Background and elevation model

Closing the main window sends the client to the system tray. The process can be terminated explicitly from the tray menu. Autostart is opt-in.

Theme, language, window layout and local peer history are per-user settings. Machine-wide endpoints, server keys, unattended access, system proxy, autostart/service installation and updates are administrator-controlled. Connection fields remain hidden until a successful UAC/polkit authorization. The full UI is never run elevated; privileged operations use a narrowly scoped platform helper.

Licensing and provenance

BetterDesk Desktop is an original BetterDesk component. It uses the project license and only declares third-party dependencies with compatible licenses. Protocol interoperability does not include copying RustDesk implementation code, UI assets, branding or proprietary material.