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Glossary

Crash cart

The rolling monitor-and-keyboard station technicians wheel up to a machine that cannot be reached any other way. Controll3r performs the same job from the operator's desk.

KVM

Keyboard, Video, Mouse — hardware that lets one console control another computer at the hardware level. Controll3r is a software-driven hardware KVM with automation on top.

Capture device / capture card

The USB device or PCIe card that receives the target computer's video (and optionally audio) output and makes it available to the operator computer.

HID

Human Interface Device — the standard USB class for keyboards and mice. The target accepts the Controll3r Interface as ordinary HID hardware, which is why no software is needed on the target.

Operator computer

The Windows computer running Controll3r. It owns the capture device, Controll3r Interface control connection, local UI, files, and optional API.

Target computer

The computer being controlled. It receives ordinary USB keyboard/pointer input and sends video/audio to the capture device. It does not run Controll3r.

Controll3r Interface

The hardware bridge that receives commands from the operator computer and presents keyboard and pointer devices to the target computer.

Capture

Depending on context:

  • video capture means receiving the target's video signal
  • input capture means routing the operator's keyboard and mouse to the target until the release chord is pressed

Release chord

A configurable modifier-only key combination that toggles target-input capture. The fresh-install default is Left Ctrl + Left Alt.

UVC

USB Video Class, a standard Windows capture-device path. Actual formats and latency depend on the device and driver.

Blackmagic Design capture hardware accessed through the native Desktop Video runtime. It is an alternative to the UVC capture path.

Session

A named set of operator-side video, audio, input, and display choices that can be saved and reopened.

Paste

Typing local text into the target as keyboard input. It does not use the target clipboard.

Paste Snippet

A named reusable plain-text entry that can be typed into the target, optionally through an assigned hotkey.

Shortcut

A saved key combination sent to the target as one deliberate action.

Visual Anchor

A small image captured from the target screen and used to locate an element during macro playback.

Fixed position

An exact target-image coordinate. It does not search for screen content before acting.

Confidence

How closely the current target image must match a Visual Anchor before it is accepted. Higher values are stricter.

Await Anchor

A macro block that continues when a Visual Anchor appears.

Wait Until Clear

A macro block that continues when a Visual Anchor is no longer present.

Wait For Operator

A macro block that pauses automation and deliberately returns control to a person before resuming.

.c3rm

The Controll3r macro bundle format. It contains the macro document and embedded Visual Anchor images in one portable file.

Headless mode

Controll3r running without its desktop UI, controlled through the REST API.

Loopback mode

API access from the operator computer only, through 127.0.0.1.

LAN mode

API access over the local network using HTTPS, a local self-signed certificate, and bearer authentication.

Bearer token

A secret value sent in the API Authorization header. Anyone with the token and network access can call authenticated Controll3r endpoints.

OCR

Optical character recognition. Controll3r uses Windows OCR on a selected target image region and copies the result to the operator clipboard.

Loudness leveling

Automatic gain control that raises quiet target audio toward a useful level while limiting boost and protecting against excessive output.

Diagnostics

The in-app operational overlay showing video, audio, interface, recording, and Visual Anchor matcher status and performance.