Remote work
“Remote” in Cmdop means you are somewhere else. The work is not remote to itself: it runs on the machine that owns the files and tools, exactly as it would if you were sitting at it.
Why it reaches
- The agent dials out. A machine makes an outbound connection to its relay and keeps it open. Nothing has to dial in, so a machine behind NAT or a restrictive firewall is reachable without inbound holes.
- The session is transport-independent. The live session belongs to the machine, not to the connection you happen to be using to look at it. That is why moving between browser and terminal, or between networks, is not a handover — you are attaching to the same session either way.
- Disconnect is not a failure state. Losing your connection detaches you; it does not end the work. Reattaching returns you to live state, not to a replay of what you missed.
Where the boundaries actually are
Reachability and authority are separate questions, and they are answered by different things.
- Working through the console reaches any joined machine that is online, because the relay routes to it.
- Attaching an interactive terminal to another machine additionally requires that machine to be reachable at its own relay door — a machine on a LAN-only relay is not remotely attachable — and requires that door’s authentication, plus its connection PIN when one is armed. Your own machine’s credential is not honoured at another machine’s door.
- One-shot execution (
cmdop connect exec) is narrower still: today it is scoped to this host. See One-shot execution.
The task-level detail for all three lives in Connect.
Common questions
Can I work on a machine behind NAT?
Yes. The machine’s agent dials out to its relay and keeps that connection open, so the work can be reached without opening an inbound port on the machine. For AI-assistant setup, see Let an AI agent reach a machine behind NAT.
Does disconnecting stop the remote work?
No. The session belongs to the machine, not to the browser tab or terminal you used to view it. Disconnecting detaches your client; reattaching returns to the same live session.
Is remote work the same as an SSH session?
No. SSH gives you a shell on a reachable host. Cmdop attaches you to work owned by a joined machine, and that machine can be reachable through its outbound relay connection. Use SSH when a direct shell is the right repair surface; use Cmdop when the machine workspace and agent continuity are the point.
Cmdop