Forum Discussion
Feature request: allow setting web client features from direct-launch-url
We use the "direct launch URL" feature of the AVD web client to deep link users to a session desktop (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-app/direct-launch-urls?tabs=avd). One of the reason we use the web client is because we use AVD in exam halls on Chromebooks in kiosk-mode. The ChromeOS kiosk-mode only supports websites.
Students are faced with a connection dialog in which they can toggle IME and Special Keys. The students have to enable IME, but since these are university-owned devices, they do not know and just click "Connect".
We would like to be able to configure these client options automatically. For example, as query parameters in the direct-launch-url.
Ideally, we would also skip the "Connect" dialog entirely and just go strait into the session once the direct-launch-url is loaded.
2 Replies
Hi,
Thank you for raising this. Based on current product specifications and official documentation, here is the technical assessment of your request:
Current Status: Product Limitation
At this time, pre-configuring web client features (such as IME, Special Keys, or bypassing the Connection Dialog) via query parameters in the "Direct Launch URL" is not supported.
The current implementation of Direct Launch URLs for Azure Virtual Desktop is designed for resource targeting (deep linking to a specific desktop or app) rather than client-side configuration injection.
Technical Breakdown:
Client-Side State: Features like IME and Special Keys are currently handled as user-specific browser states. Microsoft’s documentation indicates that these must be toggled interactively in the web client settings before the session is established.
Connection Dialog: The "Connect" dialog serves as a final gateway for the browser to request necessary permissions (like clipboard or printer access). Currently, there is no documented parameter to automate or "silent-pass" this stage via the URL.
Documentation Alignment: As per official Microsoft guidance, the URL structure is strictly for resource identification, not for session behavior pre-configuration.
The Path Forward:
This is clearly a feature gap rather than a configuration error. For high-stakes environments like exam halls on managed Chromebooks, having URL-based flags (e.g., &ime=true&autoconnect=true) would significantly reduce user friction.
Recommendation:
I highly recommend submitting this as a formal feature request via the Azure Feedback Portal (AVD Category). Microsoft’s product teams closely monitor requests that impact the Education (EDU) and Kiosk-mode sectors.
In the meantime, the only "soft" workaround is ensuring that your RDP Properties at the Host Pool level are optimized to reduce other prompts, though this will not solve the specific IME toggle issue in the web player itself
The suggestion of using query parameters is just a suggestion. Other options like pre-set localstorage flags or post messages, etc would be options as well
