A new space for remote work

Your machines.
One canvas.

Turn a headless system into a virtual desktop. Files, terminals and apps, together in one graphical interface.

Get ShellCanvas Explore the canvas View on GitHub

Free and open source · Available for Windows, Linux and macOS · SHA-256 checksums in every release

The power of a shell.
The clarity of a desktop.
Built on SSH. Open to more.Meet ShellCanvas
Get ShellCanvas

Choose your desktop.

The latest public preview has downloads for Windows and Linux on x64, and macOS on Intel and Apple silicon. Choose your package on the release page.

Compare your download with the release's SHA-256 checksums. Windows installers are not code-signed and macOS builds are not notarized. Linux and macOS desktop workflows still need broader hands-on testing. Installation guide

01 / The workspace

Your headless system.
Now with a desktop.

The desktop runs on your computer, connected to the remote system over SSH. Browse files, edit text and open terminals in a familiar graphical workspace.

The ShellCanvas desktop on a connected server: a Files window listing a project folder, a terminal running docker compose ps and git log, and compose.yaml open in the editor.
Your tools. Your layout. Your way of working.The desktop on a connected server · Sample hosts and data
01

More than a terminal.

Browse files, open an editor and run commands side by side. Arrange your windows around the work in front of you.

02

Every host, its own space.

Move between connected machines while keeping each workspace’s windows, folders and terminal sessions in place.

03

Connect. Feel at home.

Use your machine’s existing SSH server, with SFTP for files. No ShellCanvas agent to install on the remote host.

ShellCanvas runs on your computer and connects to your servers over an encrypted SSH connection. The host key is checked first, SFTP carries files and a PTY carries terminals. Nothing is installed on the servers.
02 / Built to extend

Your workspace.
With room to grow.

Add apps for the way you work. Bring an assistant into your canvas. Make it yours with themes, or build something new with the developing app and adapter SDKs.

Explore the project

Apps

Tools that fit your work

Canvas Assistant

AI, inside your workspace

Themes

A space that feels like you

Developer SDKs

Build beyond the built-in

The app launcher with a search field and app icons, including installed apps.
Open anything from the launcher.
App Manager listing installed apps as tiles with versions and an Open button.
Install apps from GitHub or a package file, and review what each one may access.
The same desktop split diagonally between the dark and light Canvas theme.
Light or dark, your wallpaper, your scale.
03 / Trust

Every connection
starts with a check.

A host key you have not seen before is shown in full, with its fingerprint, before you sign in. ShellCanvas checks it against your OpenSSH known_hosts and its own trust store, and refuses a server whose key has changed.

Passwords and key passphrases are never saved. Saved hosts keep only the connection details you typed.

The host verification dialog: the address and port, the SHA-256 fingerprint with a copy button, a confirmation checkbox, and Cancel connection or Trust and connect.
Just the beginning

Remote machines.
A familiar feeling.

ShellCanvas is an open-source project in active development. We’re building a more natural way to work with the machines you depend on.

Choose a download Follow the project

Public preview · Built with Tauri & Rust · MPL-2.0