Remote desktop in Lyre: keep your apps beside your agent

Your agent changes the code. You open the app, try the change and spot something the agent could not judge from the files alone. That back-and-forth is easier when the conversation and the app are both within reach.

Lyre's Remote Desktop brings computer screens and saved desktop-app windows into your workspace. Link the apps you use most as Quick Access targets, then keep one visible beside your agent. You can follow the work, check the result and give specific feedback without repeatedly searching for the right window.

This guide starts with that setup, then covers choosing the right view, working from another device and keeping the session useful.

Choose the view that fits the task

There are three related ways to see an app in Lyre:

For a web app your project already previews, start with Open app and its existing preview controls. For an installed editor, design tool or other desktop app, add a streamable app. Choose whole desktop when you need to move between windows, use the desktop or handle something outside one app.

The host reports which sources and controls are available. A saved shortcut does not make every application streamable, and a preview is separate from publishing or deploying the app.

Link your useful apps once

Configure the computer where the apps actually run:

1. Open Settings, select that computer, then choose Remote desktop.
2. Under Streamable apps, add an app. Choose App as its kind. Use Browse apps when the host offers it, or enter the app's target on that computer.
3. Give it a short Label you will recognize, such as “Game editor” or “Review browser.”
4. Under Projects, choose Selected projects for apps used with particular work, or All projects for a general tool.
5. Save, then return to the workspace.

The Projects choice organizes where the app appears in project preview pickers. It does not change streaming permissions or put the desktop app inside a project sandbox. The computer-wide Remote Desktop chooser still lists the saved apps your connection is allowed to see.

Good candidates are tools you already use to check results: a game editor for a scene, a browser for an existing site, or a desktop application your project extends. Keep the list small enough that the next useful app is easy to find.

Open an app from Quick Access

In the workspace, open New tab → Remote Desktop. The start view shows computer screens and Quick Access apps. Opening this chooser lists sources; it does not start capture or launch every saved app.

Choose View for an available app window. If it is closed, a supported host with owner launch authority may offer Start instead. Start asks that computer to launch the saved target and waits for a capturable window before opening the viewer.

If View is unavailable, check that the app is open on the host and that its saved target matches it. A command with no visible app window is not a useful window stream. Older hosts or connections without launch authority may need you to open the app on the host yourself.

Use Edit apps to return to the same saved-app editor. If an application has several windows or projects open, check the picture and title before interacting; the shortcut is not a promise that the app opened the project you intended.

Keep it beside the agent

On a desktop or in a browser workspace with enough room, use the pane's More actions menu and choose Split pane right or Split pane down. Keep the Agent conversation in one pane. In the other, open Remote Desktop and select your Quick Access app or a computer screen.

When it helps, add another pane for a second Quick Access app or a different screen, and select its source there. Each viewer keeps its own selected source; host permissions and source availability still apply. Keep the views you need for the task rather than filling every pane.

A useful arrangement is:

That is an example workflow, rather than an automatic connection between the agent's understanding and the picture. Linking an app does not automatically give the agent its screen contents or desktop-control permission. Attach a screenshot to the conversation when visual context will help.

In the desktop app, the tab's Move to new window action can give the view its own space on another monitor. Moving a desktop tab can briefly reconnect its selected source. Your app and agent keep their own running lifecycles.

Make the feedback concrete

Give the agent something you can check in the visible app. For example:

Add a filter to this list. Keep the change in this project and report the checks you ran. I'll try an empty result, a long search and clearing the filter in the app, then send you what I find.

While the agent works, use the other pane to understand the current behavior. After the change, reload or restart through the app's normal controls when needed, then repeat those checks. A desktop stream shows the app as it is; opening the stream does not rebuild the project or refresh its data.

When something goes wrong, describe the action, expected result and actual result. “Clearing the filter leaves the empty-state message visible” is easier to act on than “the screen is wrong.” Include a screenshot when the problem is layout or appearance, and review the changed files before merging.

View first, control when you need it

Use View only when you are observing. Select Control when you need to click, scroll or type, and the host permits it. A view-only session refusing input is working as intended.

Whole-desktop access belongs to authenticated owners and approved developers; pairing alone does not grant it. An app-only share gives access to its explicitly shared app, not the computer screen, your agent, files or terminals. Saving an app or selecting a project association does not broaden those permissions.

For native screen sharing on supported Windows and macOS hosts, Lyre supplies the capture and input path. You do not need to set up an RDP server or gateway to use that path. macOS recording and accessibility permissions, host access policy and the current source state still decide what works. An existing RDP/VNC gateway is a separate option for people who already use one.

Make the picture easy to use

Start with Fit so the app's controls remain visible. Use zoom when you need to read details. Fill can crop the edges, so check it before concluding a button has disappeared.

Where Video quality is available, native resolution is useful for text. If the connection struggles, try a lower frame-rate or quality ceiling. Quality changes can reconnect the view; they do not restart your agent. Raising a ceiling does not guarantee that frame rate or create detail the host never captured.

App size, where supported with control access, changes the real host app window. Fit and zoom change how you see it. Use presentation controls first if you only want the picture to fit your pane.

Work from another device

Keep the host computer awake, running Lyre and reachable. Choose the correct computer before opening a saved app; targets refer to apps on that host.

A wide desktop or browser workspace is best for seeing the agent and app concurrently. On a phone, use the available Agent or return controls to switch back to the conversation. The smaller layout keeps a return path rather than promising the same two-pane arrangement.

Individual saved-app streaming on iPhone and iPad currently requires a local network connection. Whole-desktop viewing has its own availability and controls. For supported off-network viewing, the media connection must work as well as the host connection: a computer showing Connected is not proof that video is arriving.

If the host is offline, the screen is in use or permission is missing, follow that specific recovery message. Reconnect a stalled view before assuming the agent or app has stopped. Closing or stopping the viewer disconnects that stream; it does not quit the host app or stop your agent. A viewer can also close after its idle period, so reopen it when you return to checking the result.

A setup worth keeping

Start with one project, one linked app and two panes. Ask for a small change you can test, keep the app visible, then give the agent concrete feedback. Add more saved apps when they remove a repeated interruption from your work.

For setup and recovery, see the Remote desktop guide, App preview guide and Files and changes guide. If several agents are involved, How orchestration works in Lyre explains how to keep their assignments and workspaces clear.