freerdp-tk

A small launcher window for the FreeRDP remote desktop clients. It runs on Linux, Windows and macOS and needs nothing beyond Python and its built-in Tkinter.

• Saved connections: a list you can filter. Double-click one to connect, or select several and connect them all at once.
• Picks a client for you: it finds the FreeRDP clients on your PATH and in local build trees. "(auto)" prefers the SDL client, then X11, Wayland and Windows.
• Form instead of flags: display, graphics codec (including AV1), clipboard, sound, microphone, drive sharing, log level, plus a box for extra arguments.
• Live command preview: shows the exact command line, with the password hidden, and copies it for you.
• Session log: runs several sessions at once and shows each client's output.

Install

uv tool install freerdp-tk   # or: pipx install freerdp-tk
freerdp-tk

You also need a FreeRDP client, for example:

On Linux, a system Python may need its Tk package (sudo apt install python3-tk). The Pythons that uv installs already include Tk.

Passwords

• Passwords are never written to disk. They are asked for once and kept in memory until the window closes.
• With FreeRDP 3, all arguments are passed to the client through standard input (/args-from:stdin). The password therefore never appears in the process list (ps, Task Manager).
• FreeRDP 2 has no such option, so the password goes on the command line, and the log warns you about it.

Where things are kept

Limitation

The client runs without a terminal, so it cannot ask questions while connecting, such as whether to trust a new certificate. Pick a certificate policy (tofu, ignore or deny) on the Connection tab instead. The default, tofu, trusts a server's certificate the first time you connect.

Development

uv run --with-editable . python -m freerdp_tk   # run from the checkout
uv build                                         # build the sdist and wheel into dist/

The screenshot above is rendered from demo data in a virtual X server, so no real hosts end up in it. Regenerate it after changing the UI:

xvfb-run -s "-screen 0 1400x1000x24" \
    uv run --with pillow --with-editable . python scripts/screenshot.py docs/screenshot.png

Releasing to PyPI

Releases are published by GitHub Actions through trusted publishing, so no API token is needed. The version is taken from the git tag.

One-time setup:

1. On PyPI, open Your projects → Publishing → Add a new pending publisher and enter: project freerdp-tk, owner congzhangzh, repository freerdp-tk, workflow release.yml, environment pypi.
2. On GitHub, create an environment named pypi (Settings → Environments).

Each release after that:

git tag v0.1.0
git push origin v0.1.0

The workflow builds the package, checks that it installs on Linux, Windows and macOS, and then uploads it to PyPI.

License

Apache-2.0, the same license as FreeRDP.