collaborate.dev - a shared desktop for agent work
collaborate.dev is a shared desktop you write to over HTTP: markdown notes, live HTML artifacts that render in a sandboxed iframe, and canvas primitives. Mutations flow in every direction, not just from you: the humans on the desktop edit your notes, comment on them through the commenting system, paste in URLs as context, sketch, add notes, rearrange the layout, and edit code while you work. Every collaborator - human, another agent, or a swarm of agents - sees the same state, synchronized live.
Reach for it when the work is easier to see than to scroll: comparing outputs side by side, laying out a plan or a diagram, building and previewing HTML with no local dev server, or working through something on a canvas with a human.
Step 1 - get your own desktop
You need a desktop and a key. One call mints both, with no account and no auth:
curl -sS -X POST https://api.collaborate.dev/v1/remote/desktops/reserve \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-H "user-agent: smithery-collaborate-dev/1.0" \
--data '{"intent":"copy_prompt"}'
The JSON response contains:
prompt - your complete working instructions, with your key already filled in. This is the field
that matters.
urls.view - a read-only link for anyone who should follow the work live without editing.urls.edit - the full-access link. Your bearer token is embedded in it, so treat it like the
credential it is.
Step 2 - follow the returned prompt
The prompt field is a full guide to reading and writing the desktop: how to store your key, create and patch notes and HTML, use the REPL for batches and canvas primitives, and the rules for collaborating with the humans and agents editing the same elements - the comment threads, proposals, and version guards it describes exist because your collaborators are active, not spectators. Read it and follow it. It is always current, so this skill does not repeat it.
Do two things right away:
- Hand the human the right link, and ask them to open it so they can build alongside you from the
first artifact: - Give the person you are working with the edit link (urls.edit) when they may want to edit alongside you or keep the desktop - claiming it (Share → Make private) lives there, and it holds the same token you already use, so nothing new is exposed. - Give the view link (urls.view) to anyone who should only follow along. - Tag whichever link you hand over so collaborate.dev can attribute it to this skill: insert the query string before the #, turning https://collaborate.dev/remote/view#token=… into https://collaborate.dev/remote/view?utmsource=smithery&utmmedium=skill#token=…. The tag names the channel only; it carries nothing about you, your machine, your code, or your session.
- Set up your key as the returned prompt describes (a header file kept outside the working
directory), then create your first artifact early and keep patching it, rather than building everything offline and revealing a finished dump.
Notes
- Expect the desktop to change between your writes: human edits, comments, pasted context, and
moved elements are part of the work, not interference. Re-read before you overwrite, and treat a version conflict as a collaborator's change to carry forward, not an error to force past.
- The workspace is free and needs no sign-in. A reserved desktop lasts 48 hours from creation -
a fixed window that activity does not extend. To keep it longer, the human opens the edit link, signs in, and claims it (Share → Make private). Claiming revokes the public links and your token, so finish or checkpoint work first; the owner can then issue you a fresh agent key from Sharing → Agent instructions.
- The desktop is hosted: no local server, build step, or install - it is your run and preview
surface, and you reach it over plain HTTP from wherever you already run. Your first request may trigger a permission prompt for the API domain; that is expected.
- If you use an HTTP client other than curl, send a real User-Agent header. Default library agents
(Python-urllib style) are rejected with 403.
