Desktop.
Every box can show a full Linux desktop, or a single Chrome window, in your browser. It streams over VNC inside the private tunnel; nothing is opened to the internet.
Open
On the box page, open the Desktop tab. Pick Desktop for a 1920x1080 XFCE desktop or Browser for one Chrome window, then click open. From the terminal:
prized desktop
prized browser --url https://example.comA desktop is up in a few seconds; a box created before September 2, 2026 installs the packages on its first open (about two minutes, once).
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
prized desktop [BOX] | Start the desktop, forward its VNC port to 127.0.0.1, and open the dashboard tab. Runs until Ctrl-C; wakes a suspended box. |
prized browser [BOX] | The same with one Chrome window. --profile NAME picks the profile, --url URL the start page. |
--no-open | Print the vnc://127.0.0.1:PORT address and the password for a native VNC client instead of opening the dashboard. |
--stop | Stop the desktop (or browser) on the box and exit. Never wakes a paused box. |
--json | Print {"ok":true,"box":"…","mode":"desktop","localPort":…,"password":"…","dashboardUrl":"…"} once the forward listens, open nothing, keep forwarding. |
What you get
- Desktop: XFCE with a terminal, a file manager and Chrome, on a fixed 1920x1080 screen scaled to your window.
xdotoolandwmctrlare installed for scripts. - Browser: one maximized Chrome window and nothing else. Sign in to a site once and tools on the box can reuse the profile.
- Keyboard and mouse work as in a native window. The tab's header has full screen and two clipboard buttons, paste to the box and copy from it.
- The desktop keeps running when you close the tab. Open it again and you land on the same windows. Stop desktop in the tab, or
prized desktop --stop, ends it.
Browser profiles
A profile is Chrome's user data directory at ~/.prized/browser/<name> on the box (default when you name none): sign-ins, cookies and extensions persist across restarts and ride a snapshot. Names use letters, digits, - and _, up to 64 characters.
- Starting the browser with a different profile replaces the running window.
- Starting it again with the same profile and a URL opens that page as a new tab.
Pause and resume
The desktop is processes, not disk: Nano through Small boxes hibernate and bring it back as it was; Medium and larger stop clean, so the tab starts a fresh desktop on resume. Files, packages and profiles survive either way (Pause and resume).
A running desktop may count as activity for auto-pause even with nobody connected. If you rely on auto-pause, stop the desktop when you are done.
Security
- Loopback only. The VNC server listens on the box's loopback; nothing new is reachable from the internet.
- A random password per start, kept only on the box in a file only your user can read. The dashboard uses it for you;
--no-openand--jsonprint it, the default output shows only the forwardedvnc://address. - The VNC port (5910 for the desktop, 5911 for the browser) appears in
prized portslike any listener, but needs no mirroring: the desktop command forwards it itself.
Limits
- VNC, not video: a responsive desktop for editors, terminals and browsing, not full-motion video. No audio.
- Fixed 1920x1080, scaled to your window. No GPU on any box size.
- No GUI automation agent. For scripts,
DISPLAY=:10 xdotool …targets the desktop,DISPLAY=:11the browser window. - One desktop and one browser window per box.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | What to do |
|---|---|
desktop install failed | On the box, cat ~/.prized/desktop/install.log names the cause (network, or a held apt lock); open the tab again. |
| A black screen after connecting | The session is still starting; if it stays black, Stop desktop and open again. |
the box refused the VNC password | A stale password after a restart; open the tab again. |
| No Chrome window in browser mode | cat ~/.prized/desktop/browser-session.log on the box; a profile in use by another Chrome blocks a second one. |
| Shortcuts go to your own browser | Use full screen; Cmd/Ctrl+W, Cmd/Ctrl+T and the like always stay with your browser. |
prized desktop says the box is unreachable | Same tunnel as prized ssh: run prized doctor. |
Something unclear or out of date?
Run commands and files
Run a command on your box and get its exit code back, leave one running and check on it later, and copy files in either direction, from the CLI or from any script that holds a CLI token. Nothing to install on the box.
Agents
Start a coding agent, close the laptop, and let it work. An agent is an ordinary process on a machine you already pay for, so nothing it does is metered.