Run Codync on a remote server

Set up the VM#

On your computer, create a VM and connect. Pick any free name; if you've already clicked Deploy or have a VM, skip the first command and use its name:

ssh exe.dev new --name=my-codync
ssh my-codync.exe.xyz

On the VM, connect the agents to the LLM integration. Claude Code and Codex get a setting each; for Pi, the file holds the answer to the question it asks the first time it starts, Use exe.dev LLM integration:

exeuntu configure claude
exeuntu configure codex
mkdir -p ~/.pi/agent
[ -e ~/.pi/agent/exe-dev-llm-integration.json ] || echo '{"version": 1, "useExeIntegration": true}' > ~/.pi/agent/exe-dev-llm-integration.json

Still on the VM, install the host with Codync's installer, which downloads the release binary into ~/.local/bin and checks its SHA-256. The link puts it on the PATH of one-off SSH commands too. Codync then adds its own Node.js, which the Claude Code, Codex and Pi adapters run on, and saves a copy of the ACP agent registry: without one, the first bot Codync makes, your lead bot, can't pick Claude Code and starts on another agent. Last, the service:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/leepokai/Codync/main/packaging/install.sh | sh -s -- --host-only
sudo ln -sf ~/.local/bin/codync-host /usr/local/bin/codync-host
codync-host node
curl -fsSL https://cdn.agentclientprotocol.com/registry/v1/latest/registry.json -o ~/.codync/registry.json
codync-host install
sudo loginctl enable-linger "$USER"
git init ~/project

Check it. The host takes a few seconds to start; then it's installed and running, it's connected to Codync's relay (connected: true, in no account yet), and your lead bot, Codync, answers OK through Claude Code:

sleep 10
codync-host status
codync-host cloud | grep -E '^(connected|account)'
codync-host send --bot Codync --wait "Reply with exactly: OK"

Meet your bots in the terminal#

The terminal UI needs no account and works from any SSH client, your phone's included. On your computer:

ssh -t my-codync.exe.xyz codync-host tui

Press n to make a bot and give it a name. It starts on Claude Code in a folder of its own; press e for its settings, where Agent switches it to Codex or Pi and Workspace → Choose project folder… points it at ~/project. Press i, type a task, and Enter:

Write index.html in this folder: a one-page site for a very opinionated cat.

If the agent wants approval, a card appears: y allows it once, a always, n rejects it. q quits the UI; the bots keep going. ? lists every key.

Scripts and other agents can message bots too, and wait for the answer:

ssh my-codync.exe.xyz codync-host send --bot Codync --wait "What's in ~/project?"

Pair your iPhone#

Install Codync from the App Store (iOS 26 or later) and sign in with Apple, Google or GitHub. On your computer, show a pairing code; it lasts 10 minutes:

ssh -t my-codync.exe.xyz codync-host pair

On the phone, scan the QR code, or type the short code printed under it. The VM isn't in an account yet, so the terminal asks whether to let the phone in, and both show a 6-digit code: if they match, answer y within 90 seconds. The VM joins your Codync account and its bots appear on the phone, listed under my-codync.

The phone reaches the VM through Codync's relay, which passes only encrypted traffic; nothing on the VM is opened to the internet. Lock the phone mid-task, and a notification says when the bot is done or wants approval. To add a second phone later, sign in with the same account, tap Ask for access under Manage computers, and approve it on the VM:

ssh my-codync.exe.xyz codync-host access
ssh my-codync.exe.xyz codync-host access approve 123456

Use the 6-digit code the phone shows; codync-host devices lists the devices that can use the VM, and codync-host devices revoke <key> removes one.

Add it to the desktop app#

Codync's desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux runs the VM's bots next to your computer's, over SSH with your exe.dev key. It also asks you to sign in to Codync. Run ssh my-codync.exe.xyz once in a terminal first, so the VM's host key is saved, then open Settings → Computers, choose Add SSH computer under Over SSH, enter my-codync.exe.xyz, and Trust and connect. The host is already installed, so there's nothing to install. Add to account on its card puts the VM in your Codync account if you haven't paired a phone yet.

What keeps running#

• Laptop closed, phone locked, app quit: the bots keep working on the VM. Messages you send from the iPhone while the VM can't be reached wait, encrypted, at the relay for up to a day.
• The VM restarts: systemd starts the host again and it reconnects to the relay. Chats and bots are on disk; each bot resumes its agent's session on its next message.
• Updates: the host checks for a new release once a day and installs it while no bot is working. Releases wait until the iPhone app that goes with them is in the App Store.

Make yourself at home#

• Bring your code: connect a GitHub repo and clone it with git clone https://github.int.exe.xyz/<owner>/<repo>.git, then make it a bot's workspace. The VM pushes and pulls without a token or SSH key on it.
• Preview what it builds: ask a bot to serve the app on 0.0.0.0:8000, then open https://my-codync.exe.xyz/. It's private until you share it.
• A direct connection: put the VM on your Tailscale network with Tailscale identity federation, then pair again: the code lists the Tailscale address first, and a phone on your tailnet connects directly instead of through the relay. With Tailscale, codync-host cloud --disable takes the VM off the relay entirely; phones that asked for access through your account then can't connect, but those paired with a QR code can.
• Shelley is there too: exe.dev's own agent, at https://my-codync.shelley.exe.xyz/, can hand work to your bots with codync-host send.

Back up and restore#

Your bots, chats, memory and the VM's Codync identity are in ~/.codync. For a copy of the whole VM, run this on your computer (choose a free backup name):

ssh exe.dev cp my-codync my-codync-backup

codync-host stop
tar -czf ~/codync-$(date +%F).tgz -C ~ --exclude=.codync/node --exclude=.codync/agents .codync
systemctl --user start codync-host

codync-host stop
tar -xzf ~/codync-2026-11-02.tgz -C ~
systemctl --user start codync-host

Update#

The host updates itself. To check now, or to turn that off:

codync-host update --check
codync-host update --auto off

Rerunning the installer updates it too. Update the agents on the VM with sudo exeuntu update claude, sudo exeuntu update codex and exeuntu update pi; the iPhone and desktop apps update from their stores.

Troubleshooting#

• codync-host: command not found over SSH. The link in "Set up the VM" is missing; rerun the sudo ln -sf line.
• The lead bot uses OpenCode, or another agent. The host started before it had the agent registry. Press e on the bot in the terminal UI and set Agent to Claude Code.
• A bot says the agent couldn't start. On the VM, claude -p "Reply with exactly: OK", codex exec "Reply with exactly: OK" and pi -p "Reply with exactly: OK" show whether the agents work on their own; rerun exeuntu configure claude or exeuntu configure codex if not. Pi failing with Cannot call write after a stream was destroyed is waiting for its first-run question: create the file from "Set up the VM".
• An agent Codync can't find. Agents installed after codync-host install may be missing from the service's PATH; run codync-host install again.
• The phone can't pair. The code expires after 10 minutes and works once: run codync-host pair again. A phone turned away with someone else's masked email is signed in to a different Codync account than the one the VM joined (Apple's Hide My Email and Google count as two). codync-host cloud shows the VM's account and whether the relay is connected.
• Logs: journalctl --user -u codync-host -f.

For everything else, see Codync's Linux server guide and remote access docs.