Desktop

The desktop app hosts createNyte in its main process. The renderer calls SDK operations over window.nyte.

pnpm --dir packages/desktop dev

Workspaces

Desktop and the TUI share one store per workspace at ~/.nyte/workspaces/<path-hash>/sessions.db. On first open, a client imports an existing <workspace>/.nyte/sessions.db with a SQLite backup and leaves the original intact. NYTE_HOME overrides ~/.nyte. Missing folders stay in the sidebar with dimmed names, and their saved chats remain available.

Trust grants live in ~/.nyte/workspaces.json, so a folder you trusted in the terminal stays trusted here. Opening a workspace loads local history without checking trust. Sending resolves the folder and requests trust before loading project code. A missing path fails the send, which stays in the outbox for retry. Runners attach per session, and switching workspaces keeps earlier sessions and their jobs open.

The IPC bridge

The renderer never imports @nyte-ai/core. One nyte:call channel carries an operation path and one input object, across the same namespaces as the in-process SDK (sessions, messages, jobs, runs, heads, workspace, provider, plugins). watch cannot be an AsyncIterable across IPC, so it is a start/stop pump with the same afterSeq and live cursors.

Subagent models

Delegated tasks default to openai-codex/gpt-5.6-sol with high thinking. Tell the parent to use another model or thinking level when needed, and it passes that exact choice for the task call. An unavailable explicit choice or default fails before child creation, and Nyte does not substitute another model or provider.

Child sessions stay out of the sidebar and chat search. Inspect their progress and results from the parent task or the jobs panel.

Web search

TUI and desktop share the web-search plugin and saved search credentials. In auto, search prefers providers with keys and keeps the selected route for the session, including after a restart. HTTP 429 can switch to another eligible provider, once per provider per call. Keyed searches never fall back to anonymous access. Explicit provider selections never fail over.

Before the first anonymous request, the run waits for a choice. Allow automatic search, pick an installed provider, or turn search off. Desktop shows consent controls above the composer. Escape, ordinary messages, and closing the client do not approve search. The choice is remembered for that session. Headless clients reply through runs.reply.

Search results identify the provider, credential source, and any rate-limit failover, without exposing keys. /websearch-key <provider> [key] saves a key. Omitting the key removes the saved credential. Environment keys still apply, and a terminal-only environment variable may not reach the desktop app.

Jobs

Each chat has a Jobs panel above the composer. It lists commands and subagents, their foreground or background mode, state, and expandable output. Running foreground jobs have Run in background and Cancel job buttons. Background jobs keep Cancel job, and finished jobs keep their output. These buttons stay available while the parent run is parked, and they target a job, not the whole run.

Jobs panel -> window.nyte.jobs -> validated IPC -> owning workspace SDK
job event  -> refresh jobs list

The panel refreshes on job events and polls every two seconds while mounted. Closing it or switching chats does not cancel work. Closing the owning host interrupts live jobs, and recovery retains their records without rerunning them. Finished background results stay available in Jobs. They can join an active run, but never start another run on their own. When the parent is idle, they wait for user input. Background agents inherit workspace trust and are not offered tools marked availability: "foreground".

GitHub account

Accounts uses the installed GitHub CLI, including at Home without an open workspace. Browser sign-in copies the CLI's one-time code to the clipboard. Sign-out removes the shared CLI login, so it also affects terminal commands and other apps using that login. Local Git does not require it.

Desktop startup recovers POSIX PATH from a bounded login-shell probe before starting the host. Windows keeps its inherited environment. Recovery reads only PATH, so shell-only GitHub tokens and configuration overrides are not imported. Use gh auth login for stored CLI credentials.

Set NYTE_OTEL_ENDPOINT in the app's launch environment to enable the OTLP exporter. GitHub commands emit desktop.github.command spans with an allowlisted operation, outcome, exit code, and duration. They never include command output, arguments, credentials, device codes, repository paths, or environment values. Export is off when the endpoint is unset.

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