DevDesk

A persistent browser terminal for Claude Code, at https://dev.lotusguild.org.

• Persistent sessions: closing the tab, restarting the web service or upgrading the package never stops Claude.
• Survives reboots: after a reboot, every named session resumes its own conversation.
• Styling: uses the LotusGuild Terminal Design System (web_template).
• Packaging: ships as a .deb from Gitea's apt registry.

Browser ─https─▶ NPM (wildcard cert, Authelia two_factor, injects ttyd credential)
        ─http─▶ ttyd :7681  [devdesk.service]   ── /ws?arg=<name> → `devdesk attach <name>` (tmux client)
                tmux server [devdesk-tmux.service] ── one session per project:
                   window "claude": devdesk-claude-run → claude --resume <recorded id>
                   window "shell"

Why two units

The tmux server runs in its own unit, so every Claude process lives in that unit's cgroup.

• ttyd (devdesk.service) only starts tmux clients (tmux -N never starts a server). It can restart freely, and does so on package upgrades.
• devdesk-tmux.service is installed with --no-stop-on-upgrade, so apt never touches it.
• Only systemctl stop devdesk-tmux (or removing the package) ends the sessions.

Sessions

• How the session is chosen:
  • https://dev.lotusguild.org/?arg=<name> opens session <name> and creates it on demand in $DEVDESK_PROJECTS_ROOT/<name>. main uses the root itself, and folders with spaces are reached by slug (test code → test-code).
  • With no ?arg=, an fzf picker opens, listing running (●), dormant (○) and new (+) sessions.
• Windows: each session has a claude window (0) and a shell window (1).
• Conversation tracking: a Claude SessionStart hook records each session's conversation ID in /var/lib/devdesk/registry.json. After a reboot the session resumes that conversation, even when other Claude instances, such as code-server, use the same directory.
• SSH: devdesk attach <name>, devdesk ls, devdesk pick, devdesk end <name>.

Keys

Key	Action
Shift+Enter	Newline in Claude's prompt (sends Ctrl+J)
Esc	Interrupt Claude
Ctrl-b 0 / 1	Claude window / shell window
Ctrl-b s	Switch session (the URL follows)
Ctrl-b d	Detach (the session keeps running)
Shift+drag	Native browser selection (plain drag goes to tmux copy-mode, which copies via OSC 52)
Ctrl+Shift+C / V	Copy selection / paste

Use the Full button for fullscreen. In Chromium it also captures Ctrl+W/Ctrl+T, which browsers otherwise keep for themselves.

Configuration

• /etc/devdesk/env (conffile):
  • port, bind address and projects root
  • CLAUDE_BIN and CLAUDE_ARGS
  • DEVDESK_REMOTE_CONTROL=1, which also starts each session with Claude Remote Control so it can be continued from the Claude app
• /etc/devdesk/secret.env is generated on install. It holds the ttyd credential that NPM must inject; see docs/DEPLOY.md.
• /etc/devdesk/tmux.local.conf is optional and is sourced after the packaged tmux.conf.

Build

Needs Node ≥ 18, debhelper, bats, tmux, jq, shellcheck:

make            # dist/index.html (single inlined page) + build/ttyd (pinned, sha256-verified)
make lint test
dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -b && lintian ../devdesk_*_amd64.deb
apt install ../devdesk_*_amd64.deb

CI (.gitea/workflows/build-deb.yml):

• Every push lints, tests, builds and smoke-tests the package and uploads it as an artifact.
• A v* tag also publishes to https://code.lotusguild.org/api/packages/LotusGuild/debian and creates a release.

Roadmap

• v1.1: devdesk-api sidecar for the Repo/CI and Claude Context panels, Matrix notifications when you're away, and auto-deploy.
• v2: Ops Alerts (Grafana) with "Ask Claude" prompts, and file drop.