RemotePad

Use your tablet or phone as a drawing pad for any application window on your Linux or Windows desktop.

RemotePad is a Linux/X11 (sorry wayland) and Windows tool that lets you draw over an application window from a tablet/phone browser connected on the same network.

Features

• App input priority mode: local app remains interactive while overlay is visible
• Tablet drawing via web interface (works on iPads, Android tablets/phones)
• Screen capture with drawing overlay
• Image resizing for optimal tablet viewing
• Single-binary deployment (client files embedded at build time)
• Hotkeys for quick actions (color change, screenshot, clear, undo, quit)

Usage

Linux

remotepad                   # Click to select a window
remotepad current           # Use the focused window
remotepad list              # Print selectable windows
remotepad <window-id>       # Use window by X11 ID (decimal or hex)
remotepad stop              # Stop running instance
remotepad current -p 8080   # Use custom port

Windows

remotepad.exe               # Click to select a window
remotepad.exe current       # Use the foreground window
remotepad.exe list          # Print selectable windows
remotepad.exe <hwnd>        # Use window by handle (decimal or hex)
remotepad.exe stop          # Stop running instance
remotepad.exe current -p 8080  # Use custom port

The binary selects the window and goes to background automatically on both platforms. The server runs on port 50005 by default. Access the drawing interface from your tablet at http://<your-ip>:50005.

Tablet UI

Button	Action
Refresh (↻)	Capture/refresh the screen from the target window
R / G / B dots	Switch drawing color (red, green, blue)
Color picker	Choose a custom drawing color
F / M / B	Brush size preset (fine, medium, bold)
Pen toggle (✎)	Toggle pen-only / hand-pen mode
Undo (↩)	Undo last stroke
Clear (×)	Clear all drawings (tap twice to confirm)
Screenshot (camera)	Save a screenshot to disk
Fullscreen (arrows)	Toggle tablet fullscreen mode
End (square)	End session and disable overlay

Hotkeys

• CTRL+SHIFT+Q to quit remotepad on desktop and tablet
• CTRL+SHIFT+, to clear screen on desktop and tablet

Configuration

Port priority (highest to lowest):

1. -p command-line flag
2. SERVER_PORT environment variable or .env file
3. Default: 50005

Optional .env file or environment variables:

• SERVER_PORT=50005

Building

Linux

make

Or with CMake:

mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j"$(nproc)"

Dependencies: X11, Xfixes, Xext, libjpeg, zlib, pthreads.

To build without embedded client files (serve from client/ directory at runtime):

make EMBED_CLIENT=0

Windows (Visual Studio 2022)

Requirements:

• Visual Studio 2022 with Desktop development with C++
• CMake (bundled with VS is fine)

cmake --preset vs2022-x64
cmake --build --preset vs2022-x64-release

VS Code Integration

Add a keyboard shortcut (e.g. CTRL+Shift+9) via Preferences > Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON):

[{
    "key": "ctrl+shift+9",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.sendSequence",
    "args": { "text": "remotepad current\u000D" }
}]

License

MIT License - Carlos Segura 2023-2026 s(@romheat)

The author condemns war and armed aggression, and does not support the use of this software for military aggression, war crimes, or attacks on civilians.