> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/freerdp/freerdp/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> FreeRDP is a free, open-source implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), providing both ready-to-use client applications and an embeddable C library.

## What is FreeRDP?

FreeRDP is a free implementation of Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), released under the Apache 2.0 license. It provides:

* **Client applications** — ready-to-use RDP clients for Linux (X11, Wayland), Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS
* **libfreerdp** — an embeddable C library for building custom RDP clients and servers
* **libwinpr** — a Windows Portable Runtime library providing cross-platform Win32 API compatibility
* **Server support** — an RDP server-side peer API, shadow server, and RDP proxy

FreeRDP is widely used in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) products, thin clients, and remote access solutions worldwide.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Connect to a remote desktop in minutes using xfreerdp or sdl-freerdp
  </Card>

  <Card title="Installation" icon="download" href="/installation">
    Install pre-built packages for your platform
  </Card>

  <Card title="Building from Source" icon="hammer" href="/building/overview">
    Compile FreeRDP with custom options and dependencies
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Reference" icon="code" href="/api/client-context">
    Embed libfreerdp into your own application
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Key features

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Multi-platform clients" icon="display">
    Native clients for X11, Wayland, SDL2/SDL3, Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS
  </Card>

  <Card title="Modern RDP protocol" icon="shield-check">
    Full support for RDP 10.x, NLA (NTLM, Kerberos), TLS, and CredSSP
  </Card>

  <Card title="Hardware-accelerated graphics" icon="bolt">
    RDP GFX pipeline with H.264/AVC, RemoteFX (RFX), and NSCodec support
  </Card>

  <Card title="Rich virtual channels" icon="plug">
    Clipboard, audio, drive redirection, USB (URBDRC), smartcard, printing, and more
  </Card>

  <Card title="Server & proxy" icon="server">
    Build RDP servers with the peer API, or deploy the built-in RDP proxy
  </Card>

  <Card title="Embeddable library" icon="blocks">
    Integrate libfreerdp into any C/C++ application with a clean public API
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Repository structure

| Directory          | Description                                                      |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `libfreerdp/`      | Core RDP protocol library                                        |
| `include/freerdp/` | Public C headers                                                 |
| `winpr/`           | Windows Portable Runtime (WinPR)                                 |
| `client/`          | Client frontends (X11, SDL, Wayland, Android, iOS, Mac, Windows) |
| `server/`          | Server peer, shadow server, and RDP proxy                        |
| `channels/`        | Virtual channel plugins (clipboard, audio, drive, USB, etc.)     |
| `cmake/`           | CMake build system modules                                       |

## License

FreeRDP is released under the [Apache License 2.0](https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0). Contributions are welcome via GitHub.

## Resources

* **Project website**: [freerdp.com](https://www.freerdp.com/)
* **GitHub**: [github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP](https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP)
* **Issue tracker**: [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/issues)
* **Wiki**: [GitHub Wiki](https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/wiki)
* **API docs**: [pub.freerdp.com/api](https://pub.freerdp.com/api/)
* **Matrix**: `#FreeRDP:matrix.org`