PC Control Center · Desktop app & remote agent

Case study Personal project

A computer you can check on, and switch off, from a chat.

Client: Personal project
Type: Desktop app & remote agent
Role: Design & full-stack development
Year: 2026

01Overview

A desktop app and a local agent that put a computer within reach of a Telegram chat: an Electron panel that sets everything up, and a Node.js agent that answers 37 commands from one authorised chat.

02The problem

Checking on a machine you are not sitting at usually means remote-desktop software, open ports or a VPN. And a bot that can run commands on your computer is only as safe as the worst message it will accept.

02The approach

Use a chat app the owner already carries, and keep the computer in charge. The agent polls Telegram outbound, so nothing listens on the network; it answers one configured chat and ignores every other; and anything that changes the machine has to be confirmed first.

03The build

What was actually built

01
An Electron setup panel: paste the bot token and chat ID, and it validates them against Telegram (getMe and a test message), installs the agent, starts it at boot and shows each step as it completes.
02
A Node.js agent with no runtime dependencies: long polling with a persisted offset, so old messages are never replayed, and 37 commands across system, network, processes, files, media and power, each implemented per platform, with a plain “not available yet” wherever there is no safe implementation.
03
Guard rails on every sensitive path: shutdown, reboot, suspend, lock, cleanup and upgrade need a six-digit code within 30 seconds, chosen from four inline buttons; generic sudo is blocked in /cmd, destructive patterns are refused, and privileged actions run only through fixed wrapper scripts allowed by a scoped sudoers file, never NOPASSWD: ALL.
04
Installers for a systemd service on Linux, a scheduled task on Windows and a LaunchAgent on macOS. The configuration is stored with 600 permissions, and the token is masked in the interface and stripped from error messages.

Technology

Electron
Node.js
JavaScript
Telegram Bot API
systemd
Bash
PowerShell

04The experience

Telegram setup screen with BOT_TOKEN and CHAT_ID fields and five completed steps, from “Configuração salva” to “PC conectado”. — Setup: two values in, and the app validates Telegram, installs the agent and starts it.

Chat with the bot showing the /help reply, the full command list and an eight-button category menu. — /help: every command, plus a button menu by category.

Agent status screen with a “Conectado” badge, repair, restart and logs buttons, and the computer's hostname, system, CPU, cores, RAM and disk. — Status: the computer as the agent sees it, with repair, restart and logs one click away.

Chat showing the Sistema category buttons and the bot's replies for CPU, RAM, disk, swap and uptime. — System category: one tap per reading.

Chat where a sudo command is blocked, rm -rf / is refused, and /desligar asks for a six-digit code with four code buttons. — Guard rails: generic sudo blocked, destructive commands refused, shutdown behind a 30-second code.

05Where it stands

A working prototype (v0.1.0), developed on Linux, where support is most complete. Windows and macOS are partial, and the README still lists unresolved issues. Managing several PCs from one panel is on the roadmap, not built.

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