11 · Command your PC from the train
At a glance
| Solves | You are away from your desk but there is work that could already be running |
| Needs | A bound Assistant (the WeChat customer-service account is easiest); the machine on with WorkBuddy running |
| Takes | 3 minutes to bind; a message thereafter |
| Risk | Medium to high — you cannot see what it is doing |
The situation
On the train in the morning you remember that yesterday's report still needs the data analysis section. Starting it when you get in costs you the whole morning.
Preparation
Bind the Assistant. The WeChat customer-service account route is the simplest — no open-platform app, no App ID or App Secret, all inside WorkBuddy:
Settings → Assistant settings → "WeChat customer-service integration" → Configure → wait for the QR code → scan with WeChat → confirm.
Full flows for the other platforms are in Assistant.
Three hard prerequisites
| Prerequisite | Note |
|---|---|
| Computer on | The Assistant is a remote control, not a cloud service |
| WorkBuddy running | A quit client receives nothing |
| Network working | Both devices online |
Check before you leave
The most common cause of an unresponsive Assistant is the computer going to sleep. Set the power plan before a trip or a commute.
Writing remote instructions
Remote differs from sitting at your desk in one fundamental way: you cannot course-correct.
So instructions need to be more specific, and actively lower the risk.
Good remote instructions
Summarise the newest meeting notes on my desktop, output as Markdown to
D:/minutes, and send me the top three conclusions when done.Specific: where to read, where to write, what to report back.
Find the PowerPoint file called "project review" on my computer, check the
version, tidy it into a folder that is easy to send, and tell me how to
transfer it across.Conservative: it only finds and tidies, deletes and changes nothing, and hands the last step back to you.
I am away from my computer. Keep investigating the error in this project,
starting with the most recent run log. Tell me the cause and your proposed
fix first, then we will decide whether to change code.Diagnose first, act second — a phrasing worth a great deal remotely.
Bad remote instructions
Tidy up my computerVague, and high-risk. You do not know what it will touch.
Delete the useless stuff in my downloads folderWho defines "useless"? You are not there to be asked.
Three remote principles
One: give clear goals
Avoid vague instructions remotely. At your desk you can watch and interrupt; remotely you only see the result.
Two: reduce high-risk operations
For deletes, overwrites and bulk moves, ask for a preview:
List the plan first and wait for my confirmation.Default permissions will send you a confirmation message before dangerous actions, but having it produce a list proactively is easier.
Three: name filenames precisely
Explicit names and directories markedly improve success rates across devices. "That report" remotely amounts to "pick something at random".
Approving from your phone
The Assistant is not just an instruction channel, it is an approval channel.
Once bound, in the chat window you can:
- Start a new task, or continue an unfinished session in the Assistant panel
- Send follow-ups, answer questions, steer work in progress
- Approve command execution, file modifications and other actions needing confirmation
- View output and diffs
- Get notified when something completes or needs attention
Which means default permission dialogs become chat messages when you are remote. You tap approve on your phone and the desktop continues.
Approving on a phone deserves more care
At your desk, the dialog shows the full operation, path and reason and you take it in at a glance.
A phone screen is small and chat messages are easy to skim. If you cannot read it clearly, do not approve. Reply and ask:
Explain which files this changes and why it is necessary before I decide.Continuing across devices
Assistant sessions and the desktop are joined — a task started on your phone continues in the Assistant panel, with history intact.
Start on the commute, finish at the office.
[phone] Read D:/project/requirements-v3.md and list every open question in it.
We will go through them when I get in.Open the Assistant panel on arrival; the context is there.
Set it going at the end of the day, collect in the morning.
[phone] Merge all the CSVs in D:/data from this week, aggregate by product
line, and put an analysis report in D:/reports. Take your time; tell me when done.Acceptance checklist
- [ ] Sending from your phone starts execution on the desktop
- [ ] Progress and results come back to the chat window
- [ ] You receive a confirmation request for high-risk actions
- [ ] Artifacts land in the directory you specified
- [ ] Back at your desk, the full conversation is in the Assistant panel
Assistant limitations
Three design constraints, not defects, but they shape how you use it:
| Aspect | Normal task | Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Working directory | Any you choose | Fixed dedicated folder, not changeable |
| New conversations | Multiple parallel tasks | One session only |
| Context | Can be cleared and restarted | Full history retained, not clearable |
Do not use the Assistant at your desk
Official guidance: normal tasks from the main window for local work; the Assistant for remote triggering or a unified record.
The specific trap: in the assistant workspace, only the task with the most recent conversation shows in the Assistant panel — the rest appear only in the workspace list. Choose the assistant as a workspace when creating a desktop task and your history will look like it disappeared.
Variations
Shared across a WeCom group
The WeCom assistant integration supports @-ing the bot in a group, with results shared with everyone. Good for teams — one person's task, everyone's result.
Have automations push to you
Rather than always asking, invert it: configure an automation that pushes to the mini program or WeCom on completion.
Create an automation for 18:00 daily:
Summarise files that changed under D:/projects today into a change summary
and push it to my WeCom.Read results in the mini program
Hover the mini-program icon on the left and scan to authorise. Automation results can then be pushed there.
FAQ
Sent a message and nothing happened.
In order:
- Is the computer on with WorkBuddy running?
- Is the connection still online?
- Switch model and test again — some non-response issues clear with a model switch
- On WeChat, disconnect and reconnect after prolonged silence
- If it worked once and then stopped, note the time and platform
HarmonyOS WeChat scan fails.
HarmonyOS 6 has a current incompatibility; HarmonyOS 4 works. Workaround: do the first scan on an Android phone and continue on HarmonyOS afterwards.
Uploading a desktop file to my phone says it cannot be done.
A known Windows limitation — device permissions, path access and platform capability constrain direct upload of local desktop files from a mobile instruction.
Workaround: have it tidy the files into a directory, then send them out via a cloud drive, Tencent Docs or email.
Can I bind several platforms?
Yes — WeChat, WeCom, QQ, Feishu and DingTalk. Assistant counts are capped by plan: free 3, standard 5, advanced 8, ultimate 10.
The bot is still in the group after unbinding.
Yes. Unbinding only cuts the WorkBuddy side; the bot or app on the platform still exists, it just receives nothing. Delete it there if you want it gone.