A lightweight RDP client built on FreeRDP with hardware-accelerated decoding.

Connects to RDP servers using SDL3 for rendering on Wayland, with VAAPI/FFmpeg hardware video decoding. Passwords are stored in the system keyring via libsecret.

Requirements: clang, lld, cmake, SDL3, libsecret, and FreeRDP's build dependencies (openssl, ffmpeg, libusb, cups, jansson, etc.).

./build.sh

Or manually:

git submodule update --init --recursive
cmake -B build -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++ -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --target fiRDP -j$(nproc)

The binary is at build/fiRDP.

When making changes, run clang-format -i src/*.cpp src/*.hpp to apply formatting.

fiRDP [options] <file.rdp>

Options:
  -c, --connect    Connect immediately (skip confirmation)
  -q, --quiet      Suppress connection info output
  -h, --help       Show this help

Settings are loaded from the .rdp file. The password is retrieved from the system keyring if previously saved, otherwise prompted on the terminal. After a successful connection, the password is stored in the keyring for next time.

Embedded passwords in .rdp files are rejected as insecure.

# Interactive (shows settings, prompts for password, waits for Enter)
fiRDP session.rdp

# Auto-connect (no confirmation prompt)
fiRDP -c session.rdp

# Quiet auto-connect
fiRDP -qc session.rdp

Config file: ~/.config/freerdp/sdl-freerdp.json (created automatically on first run).

By default, all key presses are forwarded to the remote session. The host_keys option lets you specify key combinations that should be kept for the host OS instead:

{
    "SDL_KeyModMask": ["KMOD_NONE"],
    "host_keys": ["Super+Q", "Super+Tab", "Alt+F4"]
}

Supported modifiers: Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Super (aliases: Win, Cmd, Gui). Key names use SDL naming (e.g. Q, Tab, F4, Escape, Return, Space).

The config also controls FreeRDP's SDL hotkey system. By default, FreeRDP hotkeys are disabled (only the hardcoded shortcuts above work). To enable additional FreeRDP hotkeys:

{
    "SDL_KeyModMask": ["KMOD_SHIFT"]
}

fiRDP reuses FreeRDP's SDL3 client code (client/SDL/SDL3/) for connection management, rendering, input, clipboard, and display handling. The SDL dialog system is replaced with stub implementations since all user interaction happens before connecting.

src/
  main.cpp              CLI, argument parsing, password prompt, config
  rdp_file.hpp/cpp      .rdp file parser and validator
  password_store.hpp/cpp  libsecret/Keychain keyring integration
  rdp_connection.hpp/cpp  SDL/FreeRDP session manager
  host_keys.hpp/cpp       Host key passthrough config and matching
  fi_dialogs.cpp          No-op dialog callbacks
  fi_dialog_stubs.cpp     Stub connection dialog wrapper
  sdl_config.hpp          Client metadata constants

FreeRDP is built as a static subdirectory via cmake. The FreeRDP/ directory is only needed at build time.

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later - see the LICENSE file for details.

This software includes code from FreeRDP, which is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See FreeRDP's LICENSE for the Apache 2.0 license terms and attributions.