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Desktop App

The Contop desktop app is a lightweight Tauri v2 application (Rust + HTML/CSS/JS) that manages the Python server and provides a settings interface.

Server Lifecycle​

The desktop app manages the Python FastAPI server as a sidecar process:

  • Start — Launches uv run uvicorn main:app automatically on app startup
  • Stop — Kills the entire process tree (uv → uvicorn → Python) on app exit
  • Restart — Available via the settings panel for configuration changes

[SCREENSHOT: Desktop app main window]

Process group management ensures clean shutdown — on Windows, the entire process tree is terminated; on Unix, setpgid group kills are used.

QR Code Display​

The main window displays the pairing QR code:

  • Permanent QR — Always available for devices on the same LAN
  • Temporary QR — Generated on demand with a Cloudflare Tunnel URL for remote access (4-hour TTL)

The QR code auto-refreshes when network conditions change (new LAN IP, Tailscale connection, tunnel URL).

Device Monitoring​

The Devices tab shows all paired devices with live status:

  • Device name and connection type (permanent/temporary)
  • Connection status (connected/disconnected) with 5-second polling
  • Connection path (LAN, Tailscale, or Cloudflare Tunnel)
  • Location — city and country via reverse geocoding (if location permission granted on phone)
  • Last seen timestamp
  • Revoke button to disconnect and invalidate a device's pairing token

[SCREENSHOT: Device management panel]

OS notifications fire on device connect, disconnect, and token replacement events.

CLI Proxy Controls​

The desktop app manages CLI proxy processes for subscription mode:

  • Start/Stop buttons per provider (Anthropic, Gemini, OpenAI) — manually control each proxy process
  • Port inputs — Configure the local port for each proxy (defaults: Anthropic 3456, Gemini 3457, OpenAI 3458)
  • Status indicators — Shows running, starting, stopped, or degraded per provider
  • Watchdog — Auto-restarts crashed proxy processes unless the user explicitly stopped them
  • Auto-start — When proxy_auto_start is enabled in settings, proxies start automatically with the server

Proxy logs are written to ~/.contop/proxy-{provider}.log.

Settings Panel​

Configure all Contop settings through the desktop GUI:

  • API Keys — Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter (stored in plaintext in settings.json)
  • Subscription Auth — Per-provider toggle between "API Key" and "Subscription" mode
  • Security — Restricted paths, forbidden commands, destructive patterns
  • System Prompts — Custom conversation and execution agent prompts
  • Skills — Enable/disable skills, create custom skills, edit SKILL.md files
  • Away Mode — Set PIN, configure auto-engage timeout, emergency PIN

[SCREENSHOT: Settings panel]

Related: Mobile App · Away Mode · Configuration