oriel Guides Updated

Use a Windows PC from your Mac with Claude Code

Run Claude Code on the Mac and start oriel on the Windows PC over SSH, with one claude mcp add line. The PC needs OpenSSH Server with key login. Turning it on needs admin once; oriel itself needs no admin rights. oriel passes each call to its copy in your desktop session, so Claude reads and acts on the real desktop.

What you need

  • A Windows PC you own, signed in to your account. The screen may be locked, with limits (see below).
  • Claude Code on the Mac.
  • The Mac can reach the PC over SSH, for example on the same network.

1. Install oriel on the PC

Download oriel.exe on the PC and, in PowerShell in the download folder, run:

.\oriel.exe install

It installs for your Windows account only. Add --autostart to start it at every sign-in; without it, the first call over SSH starts it.

2. Turn on OpenSSH Server (admin, once)

In PowerShell run as administrator on the PC, these are Microsoft's commands:

Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0
Start-Service sshd
Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType 'Automatic'

Setup also adds a firewall rule for port 22. Microsoft's guide has the Settings route and the checks.

3. Set up key login

Put the Mac's public key (for example ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub, made with ssh-keygen) on the PC:

  • For a standard account, in C:\Users\<you>\.ssh\authorized_keys.
  • For an account in the Administrators group, in C:\ProgramData\ssh\administrators_authorized_keys, which only Administrators and SYSTEM may read. Microsoft's key guide has the commands.
  • Microsoft Entra ID accounts don't support key login; use a local or domain account.

Check it from the Mac. This should print your Windows account without asking for a password:

ssh '<you>@my-windows-pc' whoami

4. Add oriel to Claude Code on the Mac

claude mcp add --scope user oriel -- ssh '<you>@my-windows-pc' 'C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Programs\oriel\oriel.exe' mcp

Use your Windows user name for <you>, and the PC's name or IP address for my-windows-pc. oriel install prints this line with your user name, path and PC name filled in.

Use this line, not the Claude Code plugin: the plugin starts the exe on the machine Claude Code runs on, so it can't start on a Mac.

5. Try it

Which windows are open on the PC? Then open Character Map there and put hello in its Characters to copy field.

How it works

  • An SSH session has no desktop. So oriel mcp passes each call over loopback to oriel's copy in your desktop session, and starts that copy with a one-time scheduled task, oriel-start, if it isn't running.
  • Authentication and encryption are SSH's. The copy on the PC listens on 127.0.0.1 only and checks a per-user key, so only your own clients can reach it.
  • Anyone who can sign in to the PC over SSH as you can also use your desktop through oriel. Keep your private key to yourself, and the SSH port on your own network.
  • On a locked PC, reading windows and element actions work. keys, focus, click and drag are refused, and Windows suspends Store apps such as Calculator and Settings until you unlock.

Try oriel

Free and open source, one exe under 200 KB, no admin rights. Tested with Claude Code on Windows 11.

Download for Windows Set-up steps

Not code-signed yet, so Windows will warn. Why, and how to check the file

Sources