Internal
Public Access
ksmithandClaude Sonnet 5
34c16cbfa8
Both docs still described VNC as unimplemented and required usernames up front for SSH/RDP -- neither has been true for a while. Brings them in line with the actual current feature set: VNC's encodings/clipboard/ cursor sync/display modes and honest Apple Screen Sharing auth status, blank-username connect-time prompting across all three protocols, profile Import/Export and mRemoteNG import, and the new prompt visibility behavior (issue #22). docs/USER_GUIDE.md also drives the in-app Help -> User Guide dialog and the PDF shipped with releases. Bump version to v2026.9.16.7. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
236 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
236 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
# OrbitHub
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OrbitHub is a cross-platform native desktop app for managing and launching remote sessions from one place.
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It is implemented in C++17 with Qt6 Widgets and built with CMake.
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Supported target platforms:
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- Windows
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- Linux
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- macOS
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## Current Status
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OrbitHub is in active development.
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- Milestones completed: M0-M9
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- Current milestone: Milestone 10 (v1.0 Stabilization)
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- Latest published release: `v2026.9.16`; a `v2026.9.16.6` release is
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drafted with several post-`.16` fixes and is pending a macOS installer
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before publishing
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- VNC (M6) is fully built out: Raw/CopyRect/Hextile/ZRLE/Tight encodings,
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bidirectional clipboard sync, remote cursor shape sync, and both
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scale-to-fit and actual-size display modes. Standard VNC Authentication
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and no-auth servers (TigerVNC, x11vnc, TightVNC, etc.) work end to end.
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macOS's built-in Screen Sharing uses two undocumented, reverse-engineered
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authentication schemes that are implemented but not yet confirmed working
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against a real macOS server — see
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[docs/PROGRESS.md](docs/PROGRESS.md) for details.
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Progress and milestone details:
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- [docs/PROGRESS.md](docs/PROGRESS.md)
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Latest published release (installers for Windows, Linux, and macOS):
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- [v2026.9.16](https://git.darksingularity.org/DarkSingularity/orbithub/releases/tag/v2026.9.16)
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User Guide:
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- [docs/USER_GUIDE.md](docs/USER_GUIDE.md) (also available as a PDF attached to each release, and in-app via `Help -> User Guide`)
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## Screenshots
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Profiles organized into folders, with protocol, host, and tags shown at a glance. (Sample data shown; not real hosts.)
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An interactive SSH terminal session in a tab, with the event log below.
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An embedded RDP session in a tab.
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## Implemented Features
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### Profile Management
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- SQLite-backed profile storage
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- Create, edit, delete profiles
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- Protocol-aware profile validation (SSH/RDP/VNC)
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- Username is optional on any protocol's profile — if left blank, OrbitHub
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asks for one inline at connect time instead of requiring it up front
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- Profile search and sorting
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- Tags support
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- Folder/subfolder support
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- `List` and `Folders` profile views
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- Right-click profile tree actions:
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- New Folder
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- New Connection
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- Drag-and-drop profile moves between folders with persistence
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- Import/Export of the whole profile list as JSON, and one-way import from
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mRemoteNG connection XML files (passwords are never imported)
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### Session Experience
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- Multi-tab session window
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- Auto-connect on tab open
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- Disconnect on tab close
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- Session state indicators on tabs, colored distinctly per state
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(connecting/connected/disconnected/failed)
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- A tab awaiting a username/password prompt is clearly marked — its title
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gets a "(Needs input)" suffix and its tab color changes — even when it
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isn't the tab currently in view, and the inline prompt itself uses a
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solid highlighted banner rather than blending into the rest of the tab
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- Timestamped event log with filtering and export
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### SSH
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- Embedded interactive terminal (in-app typing)
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- Theme support (`Dark`, `Light`, `Solarized Dark`)
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- Password and private-key auth flows
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- Known-hosts policy support
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### RDP
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- Embedded in-window RDP rendering surface (no external launcher)
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- Keyboard/mouse input forwarding
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- Resize handling and resolution renegotiation
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- Domain-aware authentication support
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- RDP security/performance profile options
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### VNC
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- Embedded in-window VNC rendering surface (no external launcher)
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- Raw, CopyRect, Hextile, ZRLE, and Tight rectangle encodings
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- Bidirectional clipboard sync
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- Remote cursor shape sync
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- Scale-to-fit and actual-size (scrollable) display modes, toggled
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per-tab and remembered across sessions
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- Standard VNC Authentication and no-auth servers (TigerVNC, x11vnc,
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TightVNC, etc.)
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- No dynamic remote-desktop resizing (VNC has no real equivalent of RDP's
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MS-RDPEDISP)
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- macOS Screen Sharing's two undocumented Apple auth schemes are
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implemented but not yet confirmed working against a real macOS server —
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see [docs/PROGRESS.md](docs/PROGRESS.md)
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### App UX
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- App icon and themed About dialog
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- In-app User Guide (`Help -> User Guide`), matching
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[docs/USER_GUIDE.md](docs/USER_GUIDE.md)
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- `File` menu:
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- New Profile
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- New Folder
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- Import Profiles...
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- Export Profiles...
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- Import from mRemoteNG...
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- Quit
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- `Help` menu:
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- User Guide
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- About OrbitHub
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## Build and Run
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Detailed platform instructions:
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- [docs/BUILDING.md](docs/BUILDING.md)
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Quick start (Linux/macOS with Ninja):
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```bash
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cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja
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cmake --build build
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./build/orbithub
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```
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## Packaging
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Detailed packaging instructions for all platforms:
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- [docs/BUILDING.md](docs/BUILDING.md)
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Linux (`.deb`):
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```bash
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./packaging/linux/build-deb.sh
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```
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Linux (Flatpak):
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```bash
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./packaging/flatpak/build-flatpak.sh
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```
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Windows (Inno Setup installer):
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```powershell
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.\packaging\windows\build-installer.ps1
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```
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macOS (`.dmg`):
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```bash
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./packaging/macos/build-dmg.sh
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```
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## Dependencies
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Core dependencies:
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- Qt 6 (Widgets, SQL)
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- CMake 3.21+
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- C++17 toolchain
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- OpenSSL (RDP/VNC transport security and Apple VNC auth)
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- zlib (VNC's ZRLE and Tight encodings)
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- libjpeg-turbo (VNC's Tight encoding's JPEG sub-mode)
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Protocol/runtime dependencies:
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- SSH client (`ssh`) available on `PATH` for SSH sessions
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Bundled/vendored third-party components:
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- KodoTerm
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- libvterm
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- FreeRDP/WinPR
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## Licensing
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Project license:
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- MIT (see [LICENSE](LICENSE))
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License links:
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- MIT License: <https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT>
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- GNU LGPLv3: <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.html>
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- Apache License 2.0: <https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0>
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Important third-party license notes:
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- Qt6 is dynamically linked in this project build setup.
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- Qt6 is used under LGPLv3 terms in this project build setup.
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- KodoTerm and libvterm are MIT-licensed.
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- FreeRDP/WinPR is Apache-2.0 licensed.
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Repository license files:
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- Project: [LICENSE](LICENSE)
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- KodoTerm: [third_party/KodoTerm/LICENSE](third_party/KodoTerm/LICENSE)
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- FreeRDP: [third_party/FreeRDP/LICENSE](third_party/FreeRDP/LICENSE)
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See in-app `Help -> About OrbitHub` for license links and third-party inventory.
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## Repository Structure
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- `src/` - application source code
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- `docs/` - build guide, spec, and progress tracking
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- `packaging/` - per-platform installer/package build scripts
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- `tests/` - CTest unit/integration tests and fixtures
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- `tools/` - standalone build-time tools (e.g. the User Guide PDF generator)
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- `third_party/` - vendored third-party dependencies
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- `build/` - local build output (generated)
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- `dist/` - packaged installer/deb/flatpak/dmg output (generated)
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## Notes
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- Passwords are requested at connect time and are not stored in the profile database.
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- A profile's username is optional for every protocol; if left blank,
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OrbitHub asks for one inline the first time you connect that profile.
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- VNC support covers standard VNC Authentication and no-auth servers (e.g. TigerVNC, x11vnc,
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TightVNC). macOS's built-in Screen Sharing server uses two undocumented, reverse-engineered
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authentication schemes that are implemented but not yet confirmed working against a real
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macOS server (see docs/PROGRESS.md, Milestone 6).
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