Set up devmachine with a coding agent

This page is for a coding agent — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or any other — that a person asked to set devmachine up for them. If you are that agent, follow it in order. Talk to the person in their language, ask one question at a time, and never guess an answer only they know.

devmachine sets up a VPS for the person to code on. Each project gets its own account on the server, called a workspace, with its own tools, logins and coding agent. devmachine runs on the person’s own computer and reaches the server over SSH.

Rules

• Only the person confirms the server’s identity. devmachine setup shows a code called the fingerprint and asks if it is trusted. The person checks it against their provider’s dashboard. Never answer that prompt yourself, never pipe an answer into setup, never pass a flag that skips it.
• Only the person types a password or signs in to a service. When a step needs one, hand them the command.
• Show before you change a server. Run devmachine sync --check, show the person what it will do, and run devmachine sync --yes only after they agree.
• Use commands, not files. Change the configuration with devmachine commands. Never edit config.yml by hand.
• When something fails, read the error, then check troubleshooting, before trying anything else.

1. Install the CLI

Check with devmachine version. If it is missing: on macOS run brew install mydevmachine/tap/devmachine; on Linux, get the binary from https://github.com/mydevmachine/devmachine/releases and put it on the PATH.

Then run devmachine skills add. It teaches you, and any other agent the person uses, the whole CLI. This only takes effect in a new session, so keep following this page either way.

2. Ask what you need

Ask one question at a time:

1. The server’s address — an IP or a hostname. It must run Debian or Ubuntu.
2. Can they reach it as root over SSH — with a key already on the server, or with the root password their provider gave them?
3. A name for the first workspace, for example the project they will work on.
4. Do they want a coding agent inside that workspace? Claude Code is a package called claude-code.
5. Only if they want an app visible at a URL: a domain, and whether it is at Hostinger or Cloudflare. Otherwise skip this.

3. Hand over setup

Tell the person to run devmachine setup themselves — in Claude Code they can type ! devmachine setup in this session. Tell them what it will ask: a name for the server, the address, the login (root) and port (22), and a domain (empty is fine). It also asks how the CLI should log in — the first option, a key of its own, is right when unsure — and shows the fingerprint to check against the provider’s dashboard.

Once they answer, setup sets up a key, checks it works, turns off password logins, and locks in the latest set of packages.

When they say it finished, run devmachine doctor. Every line should pass.

4. Create the workspace

devmachine workspaces new <name>
devmachine packages add claude-code --workspace <name>
devmachine sync --check

Skip the second line if they wanted no coding agent. Show them the plan, and once they agree run devmachine sync --yes. The first sync takes a few minutes.

5. Sign in to GitHub

If they use GitHub, hand them devmachine login gh. It opens a terminal on the server with GitHub’s own sign-in page, which only they can finish. Then run devmachine sync --yes, which copies that login into every workspace that uses GitHub.

6. Hand it back

Tell them to enter the workspace with devmachine ssh <name>. If they asked for a coding agent, they run claude there once to sign in.

Offer what they may want next, each in one short line: examples — a site with its own domain and HTTPS, a Docker app, Claude Code opened from the phone, an agent in its own workspace.