Quickstart

Before you start

Pick the machine you want to connect first. It should be the one with your code on it: your work laptop, your desktop, or the box you normally SSH into. Termdeck runs the agent where the repository already is, so nothing has to be cloned or synced anywhere.

On that machine you need Node.js 18 or newer. Check it with node --version. If the command is not found, install Node first and come back.

The five steps

1. Create an account

   Go to termdeck.io/signup. There is no card and no payment step. Every new account starts with 14 days of Pro, then drops to Free automatically with nothing deleted.

2. Add a machine

   Open the dashboard and go to Settings, then Machines and accounts, and choose Add machine. Give it a short name using lowercase letters, digits, and dashes, up to 32 characters. The name appears in the sidebar and in every URL that addresses that machine, so laptop or build-vm reads better than machine-1.

   The wizard shows a one time token that starts with agt_, and the exact install command with that token already in it. Copy the command rather than retyping it.

   The token is shown once. If you lose it, do not create a second machine: open the machine card and choose Regenerate token, which reissues it and takes you straight back to this step.

3. Run the install command on that machine

   Paste it into a terminal on the machine you are connecting. It downloads a small Node program, installs two dependencies, saves your token, and registers a background service so the machine stays connected across reboots.

   macOS and Linux Windows
   Terminal

   curl -fsSL https://termdeck.io/install.sh | TERMDECK_AGENT_TOKEN=agt_your_token sh

   The installer offers to print the whole agent source before it runs anything. Answering y shows every file it is about to install, then asks again before continuing.

   The wizard in your browser notices the connection within a few seconds and moves itself to the next step. You do not have to refresh.

4. Install and sign in to a coding CLI

   The agent is a relay. It does not bring a coding agent with it, so the machine needs at least one of the three engines installed and signed in. Install whichever you use:

   On the machine

   # Claude Code
   npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
   claude
   
   # OpenAI Codex
   npm install -g @openai/codex
   codex login
   
   # xAI Grok
   npm install -g @vibe-kit/grok-cli
   grok login

   Each login opens a browser page and stores its credentials in that CLI's own config directory. Termdeck reads that state, it never asks for or stores your provider password. Full detail per engine is in Install a coding CLI.

5. Start a chat

   Back in the dashboard, choose New chat. Pick the machine, pick the folder your project lives in, pick the engine, and send a prompt. The transcript streams as the agent works, and any tool call that needs your approval appears as a card with Allow and Deny on it.

   Try something small first, for example list the files in this repository and tell me what it does. That exercises the whole path without changing anything.

Check it worked

Three things should be true now.

• The machine card in Settings, then Machines and accounts shows a green dot and an agent version.
• The engine you installed shows as signed in on that card.
• Your prompt produced a reply, and the sidebar lists the chat under its project folder.

If any of those is not true, open the machine card and choose Run checks. It reports what it found, what it could not read, and the exact command that fixes each problem. Troubleshooting covers the same ground with more context.

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