4 ms·

> Would an email interface to Claude code work better? No. > What is the downside to using email? Email is clunky and feedback is not immediate. > seems eas

by runjake 9mo ago

> Would an email interface to Claude code work better? No. > What is the downside to using email? Email is clunky and feedback is not immediate. > seems easier then getting a vpn working. Tailscale is easy for a dev to get going and very reliable. The author uses the Termius SSH app with Mosh, so it keeps the same SSH session going across device sleeps and disconnects. Tmux is helpful, too. I do exactly what the author is doing, except I use a $5 Linode VPS, instead of a Mac at home. He doesn't seem to be credited on this page, but I believe Pieter Levels (@levelsio) actually popularized this scheme. The author documents a nearly identical scheme.

godelski 9mo ago
While I don't use the AI part I have a very similar scheme and it is one of the reasons I encourage people to live in the terminal. The idea is to create a modern "terminal"[0] My main computer is a Macbook Air, which I carry around with me. It's purpose is for: internet, using Microsoft products when I'm forced to, Zoom/meetings, and SSH (or Mosh). Most of my work is not done on this Macbook, instead I use it mostly as a terminal. I have a desktop that's sitting behind my TV so that it can be my TV and gaming system (yeah I know Monitor > TV. I'm a filthy casual and I don't care). I have a mouse connected to that computer and instead of using a keyboard I use ydotool (Wayland xdotool) with a shortcut on my iPhone or a script on my android phone or from my Macbook. I don't have to get up from the couch and I don't need a clunky wireless keyboard to clutter my livingroom. Additionally I have a few pis and an old android phone with Tailscale installed on them. That's come in handy before as a machine's been disconnected and so I couldn't ssh from outside. Also makes it really easy to do a jump if you want to keep a machine off Tailscale or you don't have full control (like my 3D printer). This setup is very natural feeling if you live in the terminal. I actually started doing this when I started doing HPC work. In a setting like that you're never sitting in front of the computer you're doing most of your work on so it kinda clicked "why was I restricting myself outside work?" Plus there's the side benefits of I always have access to my media, tools, and other stuff. You can do exactly the same thing with a phone but I like having a keyboard and the air is very lightweight and has a long battery life. Any netbook would have done the job tbh. [0] There's a reason they're called "terminal emulators" rather than just "terminals".
- fragmede 9mo ago
  If you've got a Mac in the mix, you should be aware that it can use an Apple TV as a monitor, so you can have a wireless extended desktop to anything that takes HDMI.
  - godelski 9mo ago
    Are there any benefits besides a nice GUI? I'm fairly comfortable with my linux desktop as an interface. TBH the most frustrating part is the iPhone shortcut app I made which I strongly believe is less about me and more than Apple is actively trying to be annoying (I recently had an update that required a minor change because the dictionaries in Shortcuts is idiotic) Also, I heard that you can install Tailscale on it[0], so that can act as a gateway which is nice. [0] https://tailscale.com/kb/1280/appletv https://tailscale.com/kb/1280/appletv
    - fragmede 9mo ago
      It's something to be aware of if you already have the mac. It's nice to be able to have people over and they can share what's on their laptop with everybody without everybody having to huddle around one machine.
- mkoubaa 9mo ago
  Things are trending this way. I call it the PC counter-revolution.
- efskap 9mo ago
  Yeah thin clients [0] make a lot of sense with this kind of workflow. If you only really need text, living in the terminal and browser, it might make sense to use eink for eye comfiness and outdoor readability, something like this hack: https://maxogden.com/kindleberry-wireless https://maxogden.com/kindleberry-wireless. Or one of those eink android tablets. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client
  - godelski 9mo ago
deanputney 9mo ago
It wouldn't shock me if multiple people came up with this idea independently. I've certainly experimented with it over the last couple years.
stavros 9mo ago
I'm fairly sure that levelsio didn't popularize SSHing into a computer from your phone to run a program. We were all doing it before LLMs.
- bigfishrunning 9mo ago
  I agree, I'm failing to see what's novel here... Running an ssh client from a phone has been a thing forever
  - mr_toad 9mo ago
    RDP clients as well.
  - yeasku 9mo ago
    The LLM crowd kind of likes hype.
- elemdos 9mo ago
  New ideas build on existing ideas. He said SSH into a computer to run Claude Code on that computer.
  - stavros 9mo ago
    Yeah, I've never read anything levelsio wrote and I sshed into my computer to run Claude Code five minutes after I installed Claude Code and had to leave the house for a bit. It's not such a crazy idea.
    - RobotCaleb 9mo ago
      No, somebody famous had to influence you for it to exist. The real progenitors are always other people.
  - ehnto 9mo ago
    The whole point to SSH into a computer is to run the programs on it.
johnnyanmac 9mo ago
>Email is clunky and feedback is not immediate. You're vibe coding on a smartphone into an external computer. You already abandoned "Immediate feedback" and "cohesion".
- worthless-trash 9mo ago
  People have all kinds of bad experiences with tech. The kids write off any thing they didn't invent or adopt as inadequate. It usually comes from the bad experience or poor exposure. Its hard to hate on them when it comes from a position of limited exposure.
  - duggan 9mo ago
    Yeah, any outright dismissal of a perfectly reasonable idea like this smells of market opportunity.
postalcoder 9mo ago
> Tmux is helpful, too. Yes. tmux is essential. It's great to be able to monitor a session from desktop, or to pick up an existing conversation i'm having on the computer on my phone. In my shell, I have gemini flash wrapper that I use to manage my sessions so I can quickly connect to an existing one, or create a new one with natural language. > He doesn't seem to be credited on this page, but I believe Pieter Levels (@levelsio) actually popularized this scheme. The author documents a nearly identical scheme. I've been doing this (tailscale + termius + tmux + ssh) for at least a year and a half. First with Aider in this exact setup, and now with Claude Code and Codex.
runjake 9mo ago
I can no longer edit this comment but it wasn’t meant to criticize the author. This is a great post. They are sharing their experiences and more importantly, teaching others. Sorry if anyone, especially the author, took it this way.
deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]
dpoloncsak 9mo ago
So what about setting up a discord server for you and your LLM? Gets the notification benefit of E-mail but retains the immediate-resposne, no? That's how all my UptimeKuma notifs are setup atleast...

by runjake 9mo ago

godelski 9mo ago

While I don't use the AI part I have a very similar scheme and it is one of the reasons I encourage people to live in the terminal. The idea is to create a modern "terminal"[0] My main computer is a Macbook Air, which I carry around with me. It's purpose is for: internet, using Microsoft products when I'm forced to, Zoom/meetings, and SSH (or Mosh). Most of my work is not done on this Macbook, instead I use it mostly as a terminal. I have a desktop that's sitting behind my TV so that it can be my TV and gaming system (yeah I know Monitor > TV. I'm a filthy casual and I don't care). I have a mouse connected to that computer and instead of using a keyboard I use ydotool (Wayland xdotool) with a shortcut on my iPhone or a script on my android phone or from my Macbook. I don't have to get up from the couch and I don't need a clunky wireless keyboard to clutter my livingroom. Additionally I have a few pis and an old android phone with Tailscale installed on them. That's come in handy before as a machine's been disconnected and so I couldn't ssh from outside. Also makes it really easy to do a jump if you want to keep a machine off Tailscale or you don't have full control (like my 3D printer). This setup is very natural feeling if you live in the terminal. I actually started doing this when I started doing HPC work. In a setting like that you're never sitting in front of the computer you're doing most of your work on so it kinda clicked "why was I restricting myself outside work?" Plus there's the side benefits of I always have access to my media, tools, and other stuff. You can do exactly the same thing with a phone but I like having a keyboard and the air is very lightweight and has a long battery life. Any netbook would have done the job tbh. [0] There's a reason they're called "terminal emulators" rather than just "terminals".

fragmede 9mo ago
If you've got a Mac in the mix, you should be aware that it can use an Apple TV as a monitor, so you can have a wireless extended desktop to anything that takes HDMI.
- godelski 9mo ago
  Are there any benefits besides a nice GUI? I'm fairly comfortable with my linux desktop as an interface. TBH the most frustrating part is the iPhone shortcut app I made which I strongly believe is less about me and more than Apple is actively trying to be annoying (I recently had an update that required a minor change because the dictionaries in Shortcuts is idiotic) Also, I heard that you can install Tailscale on it[0], so that can act as a gateway which is nice. [0] https://tailscale.com/kb/1280/appletv https://tailscale.com/kb/1280/appletv
  - fragmede 9mo ago
    It's something to be aware of if you already have the mac. It's nice to be able to have people over and they can share what's on their laptop with everybody without everybody having to huddle around one machine.
mkoubaa 9mo ago
Things are trending this way. I call it the PC counter-revolution.
efskap 9mo ago
Yeah thin clients [0] make a lot of sense with this kind of workflow. If you only really need text, living in the terminal and browser, it might make sense to use eink for eye comfiness and outdoor readability, something like this hack: https://maxogden.com/kindleberry-wireless https://maxogden.com/kindleberry-wireless. Or one of those eink android tablets. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client
- godelski 9mo ago

deanputney 9mo ago

It wouldn't shock me if multiple people came up with this idea independently. I've certainly experimented with it over the last couple years.

stavros 9mo ago

I'm fairly sure that levelsio didn't popularize SSHing into a computer from your phone to run a program. We were all doing it before LLMs.

bigfishrunning 9mo ago
I agree, I'm failing to see what's novel here... Running an ssh client from a phone has been a thing forever
- mr_toad 9mo ago
  RDP clients as well.
- yeasku 9mo ago
  The LLM crowd kind of likes hype.
elemdos 9mo ago
New ideas build on existing ideas. He said SSH into a computer to run Claude Code on that computer.
- stavros 9mo ago
  Yeah, I've never read anything levelsio wrote and I sshed into my computer to run Claude Code five minutes after I installed Claude Code and had to leave the house for a bit. It's not such a crazy idea.
  - RobotCaleb 9mo ago
    No, somebody famous had to influence you for it to exist. The real progenitors are always other people.
- ehnto 9mo ago
  The whole point to SSH into a computer is to run the programs on it.

johnnyanmac 9mo ago

>Email is clunky and feedback is not immediate. You're vibe coding on a smartphone into an external computer. You already abandoned "Immediate feedback" and "cohesion".

worthless-trash 9mo ago
People have all kinds of bad experiences with tech. The kids write off any thing they didn't invent or adopt as inadequate. It usually comes from the bad experience or poor exposure. Its hard to hate on them when it comes from a position of limited exposure.
- duggan 9mo ago
  Yeah, any outright dismissal of a perfectly reasonable idea like this smells of market opportunity.

postalcoder 9mo ago

> Tmux is helpful, too. Yes. tmux is essential. It's great to be able to monitor a session from desktop, or to pick up an existing conversation i'm having on the computer on my phone. In my shell, I have gemini flash wrapper that I use to manage my sessions so I can quickly connect to an existing one, or create a new one with natural language. > He doesn't seem to be credited on this page, but I believe Pieter Levels (@levelsio) actually popularized this scheme. The author documents a nearly identical scheme. I've been doing this (tailscale + termius + tmux + ssh) for at least a year and a half. First with Aider in this exact setup, and now with Claude Code and Codex.

runjake 9mo ago

I can no longer edit this comment but it wasn’t meant to criticize the author. This is a great post. They are sharing their experiences and more importantly, teaching others. Sorry if anyone, especially the author, took it this way.

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

dpoloncsak 9mo ago

So what about setting up a discord server for you and your LLM? Gets the notification benefit of E-mail but retains the immediate-resposne, no? That's how all my UptimeKuma notifs are setup atleast...