Desktop shortcut
Last updated on May 21, 2026
When Desktop shortcut is on, the CLI writes a launcher to the station desktop. A double-click on the icon opens the operator UI in whichever mode the station is configured for (Terminal UI, Kiosk UI, or both).
Toggle the setting
Open Stations → Station name → Setup and flip Desktop shortcut. The dashboard pushes the new value to the bench, and the CLI writes the icon on receipt.
What the shortcut does
The shortcut points at the CLI binary with the bench's working directory baked in, so launching it is equivalent to opening a terminal, navigating to the station directory, and running tofupilot run. The bench then starts the configured UI:
- Kiosk UI opens a full-screen browser pointed at the operator UI.
- Terminal UI renders the procedure flow in the terminal that the shortcut spawns.
- With both off, the bench runs headless and the operator drives it from the dashboard.
Per-platform behavior
| Platform | File written |
|---|---|
| Linux | ~/Desktop/TofuPilot.desktop (XDG .desktop entry, marked trusted). |
| macOS | ~/Desktop/TofuPilot.command shell launcher with execute permissions. |
| Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\TofuPilot.lnk shortcut pointing at tofupilot.exe. |
Turning it off
When you flip the toggle off, the CLI deletes the shortcut from the desktop. Operators keep launching the bench from the terminal or from Launch on boot if it's enabled.
How is this guide?
Launch on boot
Configure a TofuPilot station to start the CLI in the background as soon as the machine boots so operators can run tests without launching anything manually.
Auto-update
Install TofuPilot CLI updates automatically on every station at launch and between tests so the fleet stays on the latest release without manual intervention.