weblink

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A WebRTC workspace for chat, file sharing, voice, video, and remote control. Use it in your browser or with the desktop app.

Open Weblink · Documentation · 中文

Connect to the desktop app from a browser on your phone or computer to view the remote screen, use the mouse and keyboard, and transfer files. Weblink also provides chat, a local file library, voice and video calls, and screen sharing, with devices connected over WebRTC.

The Web app works without installing a native client. The desktop app reuses the same interface and application code, adding native screen capture, remote input, system clipboard access, and desktop window controls.

1. Open webl.ink or launch the desktop app.
2. Choose a display name and room ID, and optionally set a room password.
3. Join the same room from another device using the same password. Invite others with a room link or QR code.
4. Open room chat or a private conversation, send files, or enable your microphone, camera, or screen share.

To control a remote computer, run the desktop app there and request control from its participant or shared-display actions on another device. The host approves the request or uses a previously saved allow rule. A request can start display sharing after approval; window shares remain view-only.

Windows x64 installers are produced as the weblink-windows-x64-installer artifact in successful stable-tag CI runs. Development runs produce a weblink-windows-x64 executable artifact. See desktop setup and builds for prerequisites and source builds.

The supported desktop target is Windows 10 22H2 / Windows 11 on x64 with WebView2 120 or newer. Native system audio and input features depend on OS capabilities. Browser media capture, clipboard access, notifications, and PWA integration depend on browser support and permissions; use HTTPS or localhost for browser capture.

• Private conversations and online room group chat with text, file attachments, forwarding, delivery status, and locally stored history.
• Conversation search, labels, and activity ordering, alongside recent-room selection with saved connection details.
• Per-client and per-room settings for remote-control requests, access to shared files, and automatic downloads.
• Message, control-request, speed-test, and completed-transfer notifications, with configurable previews and sound. Windows notifications support inline replies and request approval.

• Import files or folders through a picker or drag and drop, and send or forward files from chat or the library. Folders are packaged as ZIP archives.
• Track progress, pause, resume, retry, or cancel transfers, reusing cached chunks and already available content.
• Keep a content-deduplicated local library with explicit sharing controls and a shared file list available across rooms.
• Browse a connected member's shared files with search, sorting, previews, and batch downloads. Downloads enter the library and task list without adding chat messages.
• Room attachments are downloaded on request by default. Enable small-file automatic downloads per room with a shared size limit in Transfer settings.

Importing or receiving a file does not automatically share it. Newly sent files are shared automatically; sharing can be turned off in the library. Peers can browse only complete, shared content when their file-list permission allows it.

• Share a camera, microphone, and multiple screens with grid or featured layouts, pinning, fullscreen, picture-in-picture, and independent audio controls.
• Adjust resolution, frame rate, and bitrate during a session, and choose audio formats supported by the current device and runtime.
• On Windows, select displays or windows with previews, use DXGI or Windows Graphics Capture, and choose available software encoders or H.264/HEVC hardware encoding. High-refresh options follow connected displays.
• Inspect stream statistics, ICE routes and connection state, and run peer throughput tests from the application.

HEVC requires a compatible hardware encoder and a receiver with H.265 support in WebRTC. Native screen streams currently use 8-bit SDR YUV 4:2:0. Capture and codec availability are reported by the application; see native media details.

• Control a shared Windows display with a mouse and keyboard, including cursor appearance synchronization and configurable input-release and host emergency shortcuts.
• Use mobile trackpad gestures or direct multi-touch, soft-keyboard and IME input, configurable sampling, and optional keyboard visibility following remote text focus.
• Enable remote clipboard synchronization for text, rich text, images, and files. Copied files can go to the local clipboard or file library, depending on client capabilities; folders are transferred as ZIP archives.
• Enable file drag-and-drop onto the remote screen to copy local files into compatible Windows applications. This copies files into the remote computer; dragging files out into the controller's operating system is not supported.

Clipboard synchronization and remote file drop are off by default and require an active control grant. Their file transfers share a per-operation size limit of 64 MiB by default, configurable from 1 to 512 MiB. Hosts can approve or decline requests, remember a client's permission, and revoke control locally. See remote-control behavior.

flowchart LR
    A[Client A] -->|Join room / SDP / ICE| S[Signaling]
    B[Client B] -->|Join room / SDP / ICE| S

    A <-->|WebRTC Data / Media| B

Both browser and desktop clients use WebSocket signaling for room membership, peer discovery, and WebRTC negotiation. Messages, files, remote input, and media use WebRTC channels. When a direct route is unavailable, TURN can relay the encrypted traffic.

Room passwords protect signaling payloads during negotiation. Display names and avatars are exchanged over WebRTC rather than published in signaling presence. The signaling service does not store chat history or files.

Room messages reach currently connected members; there is no server-side offline message delivery. History, cached files, and preferences stay in the local browser or desktop WebView profile. Browser and desktop storage are separate and are not automatically synchronized. Access to a peer's shared files requires that peer to be connected.

The SolidJS + TypeScript application lives in apps/web. The Tauri app in apps/desktop builds that same frontend with a desktop adapter, shared contracts in packages/platform, and native capture/input implementations in crates.

Web and desktop use one application version from apps/web/package.json. About, copied version information, build metadata, and desktop installers all use this version. Desktop updates currently require installing a newer package.

Host the static Web build or use the included Docker setup, then configure a WebSocket signaling backend:

• weblink-ws-worker: Cloudflare Workers + Durable Objects, used by the public service.
• weblink-ws-server: Bun server for self-hosting and LAN use.

Configure STUN/TURN for your network as needed. Signaling servers must support the v2 join acknowledgment. See deployment for hosting, environment variables, managed TURN credentials, and LAN HTTP behavior.

Use the Bun version pinned in root package.json (currently 1.4.2). Clone the repository with its signaling submodules:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/99percentpeople/weblink.git
cd weblink
bun install --frozen-lockfile
cp .env.example .env
bun dev

This starts the Web app and local Bun signaling. Configure ports and the local signaling URL in .env. For an existing checkout, initialize submodules with git submodule update --init --recursive before installing dependencies.

For desktop development, install the Windows prerequisites in desktop development. If bun dev is already running, reuse its signaling server; otherwise, start local signaling in one terminal:

bun --env-file=.env run dev:server

Then start the desktop app in another terminal:

bun --env-file=.env run dev:desktop

Common checks and builds, also from the repository root:

bun run lint
bun run test:unit
bun run test:integration
bun run build
bun run check:desktop
bun run build:desktop --bundles nsis

The NSIS installer build runs on Windows. See workspace development for the repository layout and testing for focused checks.

• Documentation
• Architecture
• Desktop behavior and development
• P2P protocol
• File-transfer protocol
• Deployment
• Changelog