BetterDesk/docs/features/MESH_REST_AUTOMATION.md

MeshCentral REST automation (BetterDesk)

BetterDesk operators and scripts should use the native REST API instead of meshctrl against a MeshCentral server.

Device operations

Action	Endpoint	Body
Run command	POST /api/peers/{id}/exec	{"command":"whoami","shell":true}
Mesh-only exec	POST /api/mesh/devices/{id}/exec	same
Power wake/sleep/off/reset	POST /api/mesh/devices/{id}/power	{"action":"wake","mac":"optional"}
Guest desktop link	POST /api/mesh/devices/{id}/share	{"ttl_minutes":60,"view_only":true}
TCP port relay tunnel	POST /api/mesh/devices/{id}/tcp	{"host":"127.0.0.1","port":3389}
UDP port relay tunnel	POST /api/mesh/devices/{id}/udp	{"host":"127.0.0.1","port":53}
Assign mesh group	POST /api/mesh/devices/{id}/group	{"group_id":"default"}

Inventory and settings

Action	Endpoint
Mesh status	GET /api/mesh/status
Server ID	GET /api/mesh/server-id
Mesh groups	GET/POST /api/mesh/groups
Download .msh	GET /api/mesh/download.msh?name=BetterDesk%20Mesh (optional &mesh_id= 64/96 hex; default = stable group MeshID)
Session recordings	GET /api/session/recordings
Download mesh recording	GET /api/mesh/recordings/{filename}

Authentication

Use panel session cookies, API keys, or JWT as for other BetterDesk REST endpoints. Mesh .ashx WebSockets (/agent.ashx, /meshrelay.ashx, /control.ashx) are proxied from the panel HTTPS listener.

Wake on LAN

When a mesh_agent is offline, POST /api/mesh/devices/{id}/power with {"action":"wake"} attempts Wake-on-LAN using:

1. Optional mac in the request body
2. MAC parsed from mesh agent telemetry (mesh_last_msg_*)
3. MAC from the linked RustDesk/CDAP peer (linked_peer_id)

Recording

Server-side mesh KVM capture: open web remote with mesh transport and toggle Record (sets record=1 on the desktop tunnel), or pass ?record=1 when opening remote. Files are stored under {data_dir}/mesh-recordings/*.mcrec.