argo-anywhere 3.2.1

Run AI coding CLIs (OpenCode, Claude Code, aider) against the ANL Argo gateway from anywhere -- now a Python package that owns the runtime and adds a local web UI, wrapping the unchanged bash engine.

argo-anywhere

For AI coding tools: read AGENTS.md first (project conventions + skill loading); PLAN.md is the plan-of-record. This README is for humans.

argo-anywhere lets Argonne (ANL) users run AI coding CLI tools — OpenCode, Claude Code, and aider — against argo-proxy on an ANL compute node, from any laptop on any network, with one Duo prompt per session.

It is a pip-installable Python package that owns the runtime and drives a single self-contained bash engine (vendored verbatim) which does the orchestration: the SSH tunnel, the on-node argo-proxy bootstrap, and each tool's config. On top of the command-line workflow it adds an optional loopback-only web UI and a native desktop app, so you can connect, monitor, and run tools from a browser window without touching a terminal.

New here, or upgrading? Start with the install & migrate guide — one short path each for new users, v2.x upgraders, and v1.x upgraders.

Contents

• Heads up before you start
• Install
• Quick start
• What this is
• Status
• Web UI and desktop app
• Supported AI CLI tools
• Prerequisites
• Known limitations (please read)
• Subcommands
• What it writes where
• Running the raw engine (fork mode)
• MFA / Duo handling
• Running on a compute node
• Sharing a compute node with other users
• Claude Code config scope (project vs. global)
• Port policy
• Tunnel monitoring and reconnect
• SSH failure protection (CSPO defense)
• Common operations
• Where to read more
• Upgrading
• Testing
• Contributing
• Related projects
• Authors

Heads up before you start

Two things worth knowing in the first thirty seconds:

1. Claude Code with claude-opus-4-7 is currently broken through the ANL Argo gateway: every request fails with API returned an empty or malformed response (HTTP 200). The bug is upstream — Anthropic's Vertex deployment rejects thinking.type.enabled for opus-4-7, and Claude Code 2.1.x mis-parses the resulting SSE error event — not in argo-anywhere or argo-proxy. Workaround: run claude --model claude-sonnet-4-6 (or any non-opus-4-7 model), or set ANTHROPIC_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-6 in the env block of your ~/.claude/settings.json. Full diagnosis in docs/LIMITATIONS.md "Upstream stack".

2. Install with pipx / pip. As of v3.0.0, argo-anywhere is a Python package; pipx install argo-anywhere is the supported install path. The old "curl one .sh and bash it" route is retired as the primary route — though you can still inspect or fork the raw engine (see Running the raw engine).

Install

The recommended install is pipx — it puts the argo-anywhere command on your PATH in its own isolated environment:

pipx install argo-anywhere            # everything included -- CLI, web UI, native app

That's the whole install. The FastAPI web server (argo-anywhere web) and the native desktop window (argo-anywhere app + the double-clickable launcher from install-launcher) are bundled in the default install — no extras to remember, no follow-up commands to enable the UI.

Plain pip install argo-anywhere (ideally into a virtual environment) works too. Requires Python 3.10+. See Prerequisites for the SSH / jq / laptop tooling the engine needs at run time.

Installing from main (unreleased): pipx install 'argo-anywhere @ git+https://github.com/a-attia/argo-anywhere@main'. See Status.

Coming from a v1.x / v2.x .sh install? See Upgrading for the clean-cutover steps.

Quick start

The all-in-one flow — open the channel, install and configure your tool, and hold the health monitor — is a single command:

# Pick a tool; the first run prompts for your ANL username + a compute node:
argo-anywhere --cli-tool opencode client       # OpenCode
argo-anywhere --cli-tool claudecode client     # Claude Code
argo-anywhere --cli-tool aider client          # aider

# Then, in another terminal once it reports ALL GREEN:
opencode    # or `claude`, or `aider` — whichever you configured

When the channel is up, the client prints an ALL GREEN status box — tunnel up, proxy healthy, models available:

(Scrubbed demo data — no real username or node.)

If you configured Claude Code, remember the opus-4-7 workaround from Heads up: claude --model claude-sonnet-4-6.

Prefer the split workflow? The SSH channel is a shared local endpoint that any number of tools can hit at once, so you can hold it in one window and configure or run tools in others:

# Window 1 — bring up the shared channel and keep it alive:
argo-anywhere connect

# Window 2+ — point tools at the existing channel (no new tunnel, no new Duo):
argo-anywhere configure opencode aider   # configure several at once
argo-anywhere run aider                  # configure one, then launch it

Not sure which tool? Let the picker choose:

argo-anywhere client          # picker fires when --cli-tool is omitted
argo-anywhere setup           # always shows the picker
argo-anywhere list-tools      # list the accepted --cli-tool values

Subsequent runs reuse the cached username, node, and port from ~/.config/argo_anywhere/, so you rarely re-answer the prompts.

What this is

argo-anywhere has two layers:

• The Python package is the runtime you install and the command you run (argo-anywhere). It also provides the web UI, the native app, and the install/uninstall lifecycle.
• The bash engine (argo-anywhere.sh) does all the orchestration. It is vendored inside the package verbatim and is the single source of truth for how the tunnel, bootstrap, and per-tool configs work. The package drives it; it never reimplements it.

The engine plays two roles:

• Client mode (laptop) — install the chosen AI CLI tool if needed, write its config, push the engine to a chosen ANL compute node, start argo-proxy there (inside screen, falling back to tmux then nohup), open the SSH tunnel, and monitor its health.
• Server mode (ANL compute node) — create a Python venv, install argo-proxy, write ~/.config/argoproxy/config.yaml, and start argo-proxy serve.

You normally only run the client flow; server mode is auto-invoked over SSH. Server mode is also a documented standalone workflow — see Running on a compute node.

The engine stays a single self-contained .sh file (design decision D-001, which now governs the engine rather than the whole project). The package vendors that one file, scps it to the compute node, and re-exec's it there as server. What changed at v3.0.0 (D-026) is the distribution: the installable unit is now the package, not a curled script. A local HTTP-shim transport layer was evaluated against the single-engine-file rule and rejected — see docs/AUDIT_2026-05-18_argo-shim-comparison.md Section 4 for the rationale.

Status

v3.0.0 is on PyPI — pipx install argo-anywhere works. It is the Python-package + web-UI rebuild (Model A; design decisions D-026..D-030): the package owns the runtime, wraps the vendored bash engine, and adds the web UI / native app. v3.0.1 (docs, screenshots, CI, packaging polish) is on main and published from CI via PyPI Trusted Publishing on its version tag.

Older tags — v1.0.0–v1.2.0 and the v2.x line (v2.0.0, v2.1.0, v2.2.0, the last .sh-era release) — still resolve, and legacy pinned .sh URLs keep working.

The correctness story in one sentence: a 43-finding fresh-eyes audit (docs/AUDIT_2026-05-12.md) covering CSPO defenses, identity-handling, privacy posture, and multi-tool support drove the v2 cycle, and 42 of 43 findings are closed (only L8, the unchecksummed curl | bash from claude.ai, remains as a documented no-fix). For the phase-by-phase history and the roadmap ahead, see PLAN.md Section 4 (Milestones); for user-facing behavior changes across releases, see docs/UPGRADING.md.

Web UI and desktop app

Alongside the CLI, argo-anywhere ships a loopback-only web UI you can drive from a browser or a native desktop window — Duo, the live monitor, and the interactive prompts all work without a terminal. It binds 127.0.0.1 only and runs only allowlisted engine verbs; see docs/SECURITY.md "Local web UI" for the threat model.

(The screenshot uses scrubbed demo data — no real username or credentials.)

argo-anywhere app                 # open the web UI in a native desktop window
argo-anywhere web                 # ...or serve it to your browser

Both verbs work out of the box after pipx install argo-anywhere — no extras. They are handled by the package; everything else passes straight through to the engine (see Subcommands):

Command	What it does
argo-anywhere app	Open the web UI in a native desktop window (browser fallback if the platform webview is unavailable).
argo-anywhere web	Serve the web UI to your browser (loopback-only).
argo-anywhere install-launcher	Install a double-clickable launcher (see below).
argo-anywhere info [--json]	Local status: package + engine versions, loopback listeners, and argo-anywhere's on-disk footprint (no ANL contact).
argo-anywhere uninstall [...]	Remove argo-anywhere's footprint (manifest-driven config restore + the launchers), then print the pipx/pip command to remove the package itself.
argo-anywhere --print-script	Emit the raw bash engine to stdout (inspect-and-fork).
argo-anywhere --version	Print the package version.

Everything the package puts on disk is listed by argo-anywhere info and removed by argo-anywhere uninstall. Your AI-tool configs are only ever read and restored — never argo-anywhere's to delete.

A double-clickable launcher (no terminal needed)

You don't have to type a command every time. After pipx install argo-anywhere, one command installs a persistent, double-clickable launcher that opens the web UI:

argo-anywhere install-launcher               # everything for your OS (default)
argo-anywhere install-launcher --desktop     # only the Desktop launcher
argo-anywhere install-launcher --app-bundle  # only the macOS ~/Applications/.app

With no flags it installs everything for your platform; the two flags let you pick just one, and --dest <dir> places the artifacts elsewhere. What gets created:

Platform	Artifacts
macOS	~/Desktop/argo-anywhere.command and a real ~/Applications/argo-anywhere.app bundle (with the constellation icon and a populated "About argo-anywhere" panel).
Linux	An application-menu entry (~/.local/share/applications/argo-anywhere.desktop) plus ~/Desktop/argo-anywhere.sh.

(argo-anywhere targets macOS + Linux — its transport is SSH + Duo to ANL — so there is no Windows launcher.)

Each launcher bakes the absolute path of the Python interpreter that installed argo-anywhere, because GUI/Finder launches run with a minimal PATH that would not find the console script. Double-clicking runs argo-anywhere app — a native window via pywebview when it's available, falling back to your browser otherwise. The launchers are part of argo-anywhere's footprint: they show up in argo-anywhere info and are removed by argo-anywhere uninstall.

Launching from the web UI (v3.1.0+)

The launcher popover in the web UI has five fields; the last two are new in v3.1.0 (design decision D-031 in PLAN.md):

• command — the engine verb (run, configure, setup, connect, tunnel). client is CLI-only (the web UI teaches the split-verb story).
• cli tool — which AI tool the verb targets (opencode / claudecode / aider), or — default — to fire the picker.
• scope — a dropdown (— auto — / global / project). Per-tool default when auto; global writes a config that applies anywhere, project writes it under the current working directory (target file differs per tool — see the scope table).
• working directory (new) — an absolute path where the launched process starts (i.e. where project scope resolves against, and where the AI tool runs from). Pre-filled with the most-recently-used entry from ~/.argo_anywhere/web_state.json (or ~ on first run); type or paste any absolute path, or click Browse… in the desktop app for a native folder picker. Missing directories trigger an explicit "Create + Launch" confirmation — never silent mkdir.
• where to run — In-browser terminal (routes to the Channel or Utility panel automatically per verb) OR a native terminal window. run always goes to a native terminal so closing the browser tab can't kill the tool.

The embedded-terminal area now shows two panels side-by-side:

• Channel (left) — persistent; owns connect; survives a browser tab close so the SSH master + tunnel keep running (no repeat Duo).
• Utility (right) — ephemeral; runs configure / setup / tunnel; free to relaunch without disturbing the Channel.

Both panels share the container-level Terminal / Hide toggle. Drag the divider to resize; the position is persisted.

Light/dark theme. A top-bar toggle cycles auto → dark → light → auto. auto follows the OS preference; explicit choices persist across sessions. The two embedded terminals re-color on toggle.

Forbid-list. When scope is project, argo-anywhere refuses working directories that would litter dotfiles in $HOME or touch system dirs ($HOME exact; /, /etc, /usr, /tmp, /var, /opt, /System, /Library, /private, ...). --scope global is unrestricted — beginners who launch a client from $HOME just to chat with the agent take the happy path.

Same guarantees from the CLI: --cwd

The engine gained a --cwd PATH flag in v3.1.0 so CLI users on remote nodes (via screen / tmux) get identical behavior to web-UI users. It changes to PATH before dispatching the verb, and — under --scope project — applies the same forbid-list. Absolute path required; ~ is expanded.

argo-anywhere --cwd /path/to/my-project --scope project run --cli-tool opencode

Supported AI CLI tools

Pass one to --cli-tool (or pick it interactively):

• opencode — OpenCode, an OpenAI-compatible client. Supports --scope project|global (default global). Project scope writes <git-root>/opencode.json (or <cwd>/opencode.json outside a git repo); global writes ~/.config/opencode/config.json.
• claudecode — Claude Code (uses ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL). Supports --scope project|global; default is hybrid per PLAN.md D-017 (project when ~/.claude.json is present, for OAuth safety; global otherwise). See Claude Code config scope. ⚠️ Subject to the opus-4-7 issue in Heads up.
• aider — aider via its OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Writes ~/.aider.conf.yml plus a sibling .aider.model.settings.yml that disables temperature for reasoning / opus / gpt-5 models (which otherwise return an empty stream). Global vs. project per --scope.

Roadmap. Cursor is not planned as an integrated tool (upstream guidance discourages routing it through an LLM gateway); the workaround is argo-anywhere tunnel and pointing cursor's OpenAI-compatible endpoint at http://localhost:<port>/v1 manually. A generic OpenAI-compatible --cli-tool is under consideration for a later release.

Prerequisites

Laptop:

• Python 3.10+ to install and run the package.
• bash 3.2+, ssh, scp, curl, lsof for the engine. macOS ships all of these; minimal Linux images (Alpine, slim Docker) sometimes lack lsof — install it first.
• SSH key-based auth to logins.cels.anl.gov. The engine refuses to proceed (with exact instructions) if password auth is required.
• jq — required for update-models; strongly recommended for status (without it the model-count math is approximate and the [m]erge config-handling option is unavailable for JSON files).
• Optional: ANL VPN if your local network policy needs it off-site.

ANL compute node (auto-handled by server mode): Python 3.10+, and screen or tmux (falls back to nohup).

Known limitations (please read)

The most common foot-guns are surfaced here; docs/LIMITATIONS.md is the canonical reference with full rationale and roadmap for each.

Upstream stack

• Claude Code + claude-opus-4-7 ⚠️ — fails with "API returned an empty or malformed response (HTTP 200)". Root cause is Anthropic Vertex's per-model thinking.type validation plus Claude Code 2.1.x's SSE error-event parsing; not actionable at our layer. Workaround: claude --model claude-sonnet-4-6, or persist via env.ANTHROPIC_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-6 in settings.json. Auto-default fix queued for a later release.
• Vertex HTTP 500 on large non-streaming requests — already mitigated upstream by argo-proxy v3.x's anthropic_stream_mode: force default. Just keep the on-node proxy current: argo-anywhere update argoproxy. No action needed in normal use.

Architectural

• Single-instance constraint — one argo-proxy per user per compute node; one SSH tunnel per local port. The engine refuses to overwrite someone else's argo-proxy and prompts on local re-runs. See Sharing a compute node.
• Load-balanced compute-node aliases can leak orphan argo-proxy processes across physical hosts. See the caveat.
• The bash engine stays a single self-contained file (D-001, engine-only now). We reject engine features that require splitting it — most notably a local HTTP-shim transport layer (see docs/AUDIT_2026-05-18_argo-shim-comparison.md Section 4).

Operational

• Two-layer testing. The Python package (driver / CLI / web) has an automated pytest suite that runs with no ANL infra. The bash engine keeps live-only verification — mocking real SSH + Duo + argo-proxy on a real compute node costs more than it delivers — so its "tests" are smoke checks plus docs/TESTING.md for end-to-end live verification.
• bash 3.2+ target (macOS default) limits the engine: no mapfile, no declare -A, no ${var,,}. Inline Python heredocs absorb the gap for structured-data work.

Subcommands

Everything below is an engine verb: run it as argo-anywhere <verb> and the package passes it through to the engine on your real terminal (full-fidelity Duo and prompts). The package-only verbs (app, web, install-launcher, info, uninstall, --print-script, --version) are in Web UI and desktop app.

Subcommand	What it does
client (default)	Full laptop-side flow: install the chosen CLI tool + write its config + tunnel + monitor. Tool via --cli-tool <name>; without it, the picker fires.
setup	Like client but ALWAYS shows the picker, even with --cli-tool set. Handy for a one-off install of a different tool.
tunnel	Like client but installs/configures nothing — just brings up the tunnel + monitor. For power users managing their own configs.
connect	Bring up the shared channel (SSH tunnel + remote argo-proxy) and hold it in the foreground monitor. The friendlier name for tunnel: run it in one window, then use configure / run in others.
configure TOOL...	Install + write config for one or more tools against an existing channel (e.g. configure opencode aider). Detects the channel via /health; fails with a hint if none is up (or pass --ensure). Does not block.
run TOOL	Configure one tool, then launch it (e.g. run aider). Brings the channel up if missing (prompts; --ensure / -y auto-confirm).
server	Auto-invoked on the compute node by client. Also a standalone workflow ("leave a proxy on this node for any client to reach").
status	Show local tunnel state + probe the proxy (ALL GREEN / DEGRADED / FAIL). Reports cross-client port disagreements (D-021) as warnings without changing the exit code.
update	Lossless in-place upgrade of installed components (argoproxy, opencode, claudecode). --all updates everything; a positional list restricts it; bare update lists the registry. --check is report-only; --yes auto-confirms install prompts. After update argoproxy it auto-POSTs /refresh so the proxy pulls fresh models without a restart. (The package itself is upgraded with pipx upgrade argo-anywhere, not this verb — see the note below.)
update-models	Refresh a client's in-config model list from the live /v1/models. Tool-aware via --cli-tool (default opencode); only OpenCode enumerates models in config, so the others print a "not applicable" note and point at list-models.
list-models	Tabulate the models the proxy serves on /v1/models (read-only). Columns: internal_name, id, provider, modalities, configured. `--format tsv
stop	Kill the local SSH tunnel. Does NOT touch the remote argo-proxy (see docs/LIMITATIONS.md "Single-instance constraint").
clean	Remove every artifact the engine created (local + remote, with risk-tiered prompts).
list-tools	Print the registry of supported --cli-tool values.
help	Long-form guide (paths, troubleshooting, customization). The package appends a note on its own extra verbs.

update and the package. Under the package, argo-anywhere upgrades itself through pipx upgrade argo-anywhere (or pip); the engine's own update argo-anywhere self-update is dormant and simply points you at pipx (design decision D-030a). The other components (argoproxy, opencode, claudecode) are upgraded by the update verb as usual.

The engine also has install / uninstall verbs for the canonical .sh install, but under the package those are handled differently — see Running the raw engine. To remove the package itself, use argo-anywhere uninstall (which restores your configs) then pipx uninstall argo-anywhere.

For the long help text:

argo-anywhere help | less

What it writes where

The paths below assume the package install (the common case). Files under ~/.argo_anywhere/ are written only in engine (fork) mode — see the note after the tables and Running the raw engine.

Laptop (package mode):

Path	Purpose
~/.config/argo_anywhere/user	Cached ANL username
~/.config/argo_anywhere/node	Last-used compute node
~/.config/argo_anywhere/port	Cached proxy port (transport-layer state per D-020)
~/.config/argo_anywhere/manifest.json	Install manifest (D-025): records, at first touch, whether each client config pre-existed (so uninstall can restore originals) and which tool binaries argo-anywhere installed (so it only removes its own)
~/.config/argo_anywhere/ssh-fail-lock, …-count	SSH-failure-tracker state (created only after a lock fires); see SSH failure protection
~/.config/opencode/config.json	OpenCode global config (global scope)
<git-root>/opencode.json or <cwd>/opencode.json	OpenCode project-scope config
~/.claude/settings.json or ./.claude/settings.local.json	Claude Code config; see Claude Code config scope
~/.aider.conf.yml (+ .aider.model.settings.yml) or <git-root>/.aider.conf.yml	aider config; the sibling settings file disables temperature for reasoning/opus/gpt-5 models
~/.ssh/sockets/argo-anywhere-<user>-<host>-<port>	SSH multiplex master socket (Duo fires once per session)
~/Desktop/argo-anywhere.command, ~/Applications/argo-anywhere.app (macOS)	Launchers, only if you ran install-launcher

ANL compute node (after first run):

Path	Purpose
~/.argo-anywhere.sh	Pushed copy of the engine
~/.argo-anywhere.server.log	Server-mode bootstrap log
~/argovenv/	Python venv with argo-proxy installed
~/.config/argoproxy/config.yaml	argo-proxy config (port + user; preserves any other keys you've added, e.g. argo_base_url, anthropic_stream_mode)

Package vs. engine mode. Under the package, argo-anywhere does not create a ~/.argo_anywhere/ canonical install — the package (pipx/pip) is the install (D-030a). If you instead run a forked engine .sh directly, it bootstraps a rustup-style canonical install at ~/.argo_anywhere/bin/ on first use; that path is covered in Running the raw engine.

See examples/ for sanitized config templates. The full inventory of where prompt + identity data may persist (with sensitivity classifications) is in docs/SECURITY.md "What gets logged where".

Running the raw engine (fork mode)

The package is the supported way to install and run argo-anywhere. But because the engine is a single self-contained .sh, you can also inspect it, audit it, or run it without the package — the D-026/D-027 escape hatch:

argo-anywhere --print-script > argo-anywhere.sh   # emit the engine verbatim
bash argo-anywhere.sh --cli-tool opencode client  # run it directly

When you run a forked engine .sh directly (rather than through the package), its self-management machinery is active — the parts the package deliberately keeps dormant:

• On first client / setup, the engine bootstraps a canonical install at ~/.argo_anywhere/bin/ (a rustup/cargo-style PATH directory holding the script, install / uninstall wrappers, and a sourceable env helper), then prints one-shot instructions for adding env to your shell rc. Opt out with ARGO_ANYWHERE_SKIP_BOOTSTRAP=1.
• argo-anywhere.sh install materializes that canonical install explicitly; argo-anywhere.sh uninstall tears it down (tiered, manifest-driven config restore).
• argo-anywhere.sh update argo-anywhere self-updates the canonical copy from the latest GitHub release tag.

Under the package these three become no-ops that point you at pipx instead (D-030a), because pipx already owns the runtime and a second self-updating copy would drift from it (D-029). Forks predate the marker, so they behave exactly as the pre-v3 .sh did. See PLAN.md decisions D-023, D-025, D-029, D-030 for the full design.

MFA / Duo handling

ANL CELS hosts use Duo. The engine defaults to MFA-aware mode using SSH ControlMaster connection multiplexing — one Duo prompt per session, not per SSH call. The mux master is opened against the chosen compute node, not the jump host (logins.cels.anl.gov is shell-restricted and rejects command execution, so the master can't live there).

Socket paths use literal %r-%h-%p tokens (user-host-port) rather than %C (the OpenSSH hash); %C proved fragile when ~/.ssh/config rewrites jump-host names, producing two different socket paths for one logical connection. See AGENTS.md "MFA-aware by default" for the full rationale.

Turn this off for non-Duo hosts with --no-mfa or ARGO_ANYWHERE_NO_MFA=1.

Using your own ~/.ssh/config route (D-032, v3.1.0+)

If your ~/.ssh/config already routes ANL compute nodes for you (an alias with HostName, User, and its own on/off-site ProxyJump/ProxyCommand), pass the alias to --node and argo-anywhere "just works" — no --user, no --no-jump:

# ~/.ssh/config (already works for `ssh polaris-login`):
#   Host polaris-login
#       HostName compute-XX.cels.anl.gov
#       User <ANL-username>
#       Match exec "on-anl-network"   # your own on/off-site logic
#           ProxyCommand none
#       Match !exec "on-anl-network"
#           ProxyJump <ANL-username>@logins.cels.anl.gov

argo-anywhere --cli-tool opencode client --node polaris-login

Three things happen automatically:

1. Alias acceptance — pick_node recognises that the string resolves via ssh -G and emits a helpful Note: 'polaris-login' is an ssh_config alias (resolves to compute-XX.cels.anl.gov); proceeding via ~/.ssh/config instead of the generic "not in ANL_NODES" warn.
2. Username inference — resolve_username reads the alias's User <name> line and uses it, logging the source (Using ANL username: <ANL-username> (source: ssh-config:polaris-login)). Explicit --user / ARGO_ANYWHERE_USER still wins if you set it.
3. ProxyJump deference — ssh_jump_args detects the alias's own ProxyJump and skips its own -J, preventing both a redundant hop and the jump-loop error that would otherwise fail ssh_reachable.

Values inferred from ssh_config are never persisted to ~/.config/argo_anywhere/user — the cache remains write-only from explicit actions (flag / prompt). Change your ssh_config later and the inference tracks it.

Custom jump host (--jump-host)

If you don't have a mature ~/.ssh/config but need a jump host other than the default logins.cels.anl.gov, use --jump-host HOST or set ARGO_ANYWHERE_JUMP_HOST=HOST:

argo-anywhere --jump-host alt-jump.example.org --cli-tool opencode client
# ... or persistently in your shell rc:
export ARGO_ANYWHERE_JUMP_HOST=alt-jump.example.org

An empty ARGO_ANYWHERE_JUMP_HOST="" env is equivalent to --no-jump. The CLI form --jump-host "" is a parse-error — use --no-jump for the "skip jump host entirely" intent.

Running on a compute node

The default client flow assumes you run from a laptop outside the ANL network. If the engine detects it is itself running on an ANL compute node (the FQDN ends in .cels.anl.gov), it adjusts:

• --no-jump and --no-mfa are auto-enabled (intra-site SSH needs neither).
• If the picked node is the local host, the SSH tunnel is skipped entirely: client invokes the server-mode bootstrap inline and points the local tool config at http://localhost:<port>/v1 directly. argo-proxy keeps running under screen/tmux/nohup after client returns; use clean to stop it.

Override either default with ARGO_ANYWHERE_NO_JUMP=0 or ARGO_ANYWHERE_NO_MFA=0 if your setup needs the slow path.

To leave argo-proxy running on a node with no client install or tunnel, use server directly. Note the node won't have the package installed — run the pushed engine copy there:

ssh <user>@compute-XX.cels.anl.gov
bash ~/.argo-anywhere.sh server   # starts argo-proxy under screen, then returns

Other machines can then reach that proxy via their own SSH -L forward, or via argo-anywhere --cli-tool <name> client --node compute-XX from those machines.

Sharing a compute node with other users

Each user runs their own argo-proxy on the node — it is per-user, listening on 127.0.0.1:<port>, with your config and auth traveling with it. Two users can share a node but not a port: whoever binds first wins, and the other is refused. The single-instance constraint is documented in docs/LIMITATIONS.md.

To handle this gracefully, the engine:

• Detects port collisions before bootstrap. Before SSHing in to start argo-proxy, it probes 127.0.0.1:<port> on the node and identifies the owner. If it's you, it reuses the proxy after positively verifying identity (cfg_user must equal want_user); if it's someone else, you're prompted:

  [warn] Port 64742 on compute-01 is in use by another user
         (pid 12345, owned by 'alice'; you are 'jdoe').
  
         Two users can't share an argo-proxy on the same port; each needs
         their own. Options:
           [n] next free port  -- probe a range and use the first free one
           [p] pick a port    -- I'll type a number (1024-65535)
           [r] retry          -- maybe 'alice' just stopped; check again
           [a] abort
    Your choice [n/p/r/a, default=n]:
  

• --auto-port (or ARGO_ANYWHERE_AUTO_PORT=1) skips the prompt and picks the next free port; the port-cache-migration prompt then lets you make it sticky or one-shot.

• --port-range LO-HI overrides the default search range (64742–64842). The remote scan is clamped to ≤200 ports per call regardless of the requested width.

• Local self-collision — re-running client while your own tunnel is already up: the engine detects the healthy tunnel and reuses it, then proceeds to client setup. This makes "add another tool to my running tunnel" a natural workflow.

Caveat: load-balanced node aliases and orphan argo-proxies

The user-facing node names (compute-01.cels.anl.gov, etc.) are DNS aliases that CELS resolves to one of several physical hosts (compute-XXX-Y). Two consequences:

• Successive runs may land on different physical hosts. If today's compute-01 resolves to compute-386-01 and tomorrow's to compute-742-03, yesterday's argo-proxy keeps running on compute-386-01 — orphaned but harmless. These accumulate; the engine can't reliably clean them up because it doesn't know the alias-to-physical mapping.

• Periodic manual cleanup is the mitigation. From a shell on the physical host you're on:

  ssh <user>@<physical-host> 'pkill -u <user> -f "argo-proxy serve"'
  

  Or argo-anywhere clean when you're done with a node — that handles the current physical host's argo-proxy via its screen session. Orphans on other physical hosts remain.

• The on-node short-circuit recognizes load-balanced aliases by resolving the picked hostname to its IPs and intersecting with the local interface IPs — so picking compute-01 while logged into compute-386-01 (which the alias includes) correctly skips the SSH tunnel.

Claude Code config scope (project vs. global)

Claude Code reads its config from up to three files (more-specific wins, but the env block is replaced wholesale across scopes — Anthropic chose not to deep-merge it):

File	Scope
~/.claude/settings.json	global (all projects, all directories)
./.claude/settings.json	per-project, committed (visible to collaborators)
./.claude/settings.local.json	per-project, gitignored by default

argo-anywhere writes EITHER the global file OR the project-local file — never the committed file (which would force collaborators onto your proxy). Since v2.2 the default is hybrid (design decision D-017), chosen in this order:

1. --scope project|global (or ARGO_ANYWHERE_SCOPE; the old CLAUDECODE_SCOPE is deprecated but honored with a one-time WARN) — explicit override wins. Conflict detection still fires: you're prompted [k]eep / [s]witch / [a]bort if the chosen scope would shadow an existing config or OAuth state.
2. ~/.claude.json exists — Claude Code's auth-state file, meaning you have a personal Anthropic subscription. Writing ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN to the global file would shadow your OAuth token and break non-proxy usage → project scope automatically (safety wins).
3. ~/.claude/settings.json already has an env block — clobbering it would silently drop those vars → project scope automatically.
4. None of the above → global scope (convenient for fresh installs; no OAuth-precedence risk without a ~/.claude.json). If you later run claude auth login, the next run hits branch 2 and switches to project scope, informing you via the [k/s/a] prompt.

This revises the pre-v2.2 "always project" default (audit recommendation H6, closed by D-017): strictly safer, but it penalized the common fresh-install case; the hybrid restores convenience while preserving the safety guarantees for users with OAuth state.

To force one or the other:

argo-anywhere --cli-tool claudecode client --scope global
argo-anywhere --cli-tool claudecode client --scope project

When the project scope is written, run claude from that same directory to pick it up; the engine prints which directory at the end of setup. If you opt into --scope global after ~/.claude.json exists, do NOT run claude auth login from that machine — the OAuth precedence rule will silently neutralize the proxy config. The conflict-detection prompt warns you about this.

argo-anywhere always preserves non-Argo keys in the target env block (and the file's other top-level keys: model, permissions, hooks, …). It owns only ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL and ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN. After writing, it prints a privacy reminder that the config now contains your ANL username (used as the bearer token) and should be gitignored if ~/.claude/ is in a dotfiles repo. See docs/SECURITY.md for the full privacy posture.

Port policy

Pre-v2.2 the port was derived from the OpenCode config's baseURL. v2.2 promotes the port to transport-layer state owned by the engine (design decision D-020): the source of truth is ~/.config/argo_anywhere/port, and each tool's config (baseURL, ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL) is a downstream rendering. This closed audit finding M4 ("port resolution is OpenCode-specific in a multi-client world").

Resolution precedence:

1. --port N flag (one-shot override)
2. ARGO_ANYWHERE_PORT env var (one-shot override)
3. ~/.config/argo_anywhere/port cache (the source of truth)
4. First-run migration from an existing client config's baseURL
5. Built-in default 64742

The cache is write-through: resolving a port via anything other than the cache writes the new value back, so subsequent runs use it.

Cross-client coherence (D-021) sits on top: status passively reports when an installed client config disagrees with the resolved port, and client proactively prompts to reconcile at startup:

argo-anywhere --port 64999 --cli-tool opencode client
# Prompts whether to:
#   [m] migrate config to port 64999 (writes config file),
#   [u] use 64999 for THIS run only (config keeps its port),
#   [k] keep config's port (use it instead),
#   [a] abort.

Non-client subcommands warn on a mismatch but don't prompt (e.g. argo-anywhere --port 1234 status warns and runs against :1234). status reports multi-config disagreement non-fatally (the exit code is unchanged — it's a pure health check).

Tunnel monitoring and reconnect

While client is in the foreground, a background loop polls http://localhost:<port>/health every 15s and notifies you on sustained failure. If the foreground SSH process exits but /health still responds (common on macOS, where the multiplex master takes over the forward and the foreground client exits immediately), the engine recognizes the no-op and stays quiet — the master keeps the tunnel alive.

If a real reconnect is needed and the mux master is still alive, the engine attempts a silent reconnect (no Duo). If reconnects fire too rapidly (≥3 within 60s — typically a flapping network), it escalates: pauses 5 minutes after each burst, and gives up after 3 bursts (~9 attempts over ~30 minutes). It then notifies you and exits the loop; the mux master stays alive holding its forward, and you decide when to re-run client.

This burst-cap escalation (audit finding C7) prevents CSPO IP blocks from sustained reconnect loops; see SSH failure protection and docs/SECURITY.md for the threat-model context.

SSH failure protection (CSPO defense)

ANL/CELS networks are monitored for repeated failed SSH authentications; too many failures from one IP trigger a CSPO (Cyber Security Program Office) block on that IP. On a shared compute node where many users share one outbound IP, one user's broken SSH agent can lock out everyone.

The engine defends against this with three layered mechanisms (design decision D-012):

1. Persistent on-disk failure lock. After 3 consecutive SSH auth failures, the engine writes ~/.config/argo_anywhere/ssh-fail-lock and refuses further SSH attempts. The lock survives restarts, so re-running immediately doesn't silently accumulate more failures. First lock TTL: 30 minutes.
2. Exponential backoff on repeat locks. Each successive lock doubles the TTL (30m → 60m → 120m → … capped at 24h), tracked in ssh-fail-lock-count. A successful SSH clears both files, so well-behaved users are never permanently penalized.
3. Wide tracker scope. Every authenticating SSH call goes through the tracker — reachability check, mux open, the scp + bootstrap ssh, port probing, the clean-mode ssh, and the reconnect path in the monitor loop.

Sample lock message:

[err ] SSH has failed 3 consecutive times.
[err ] Disabling further SSH attempts to prevent CSPO from blocking your IP
[err ]   (and locking out everyone else sharing this compute node).
[err ]   Lock event #1; TTL 1800s (~30min).
[err ]   Lock will auto-expire after that, or delete it manually:
[err ]     rm ~/.config/argo_anywhere/ssh-fail-lock
[err ]
[err ] Common causes:
[err ]   * Closed laptop while SSH agent forwarding was active (kills the forwarded key)
[err ]   * Expired Kerberos tickets
[err ]   * SSH key removed from the agent ('ssh-add -D' earlier)
[err ]   * Wrong username (--user / ARGO_ANYWHERE_USER mismatch)
[err ]
[err ] Recovery:
[err ]   1. Verify your SSH works manually first:
[err ]        ssh -o ConnectTimeout=5 <user>@logins.cels.anl.gov true
[err ]      (one Duo prompt is fine; what we want is a clean exit.)
[err ]   2. If that fails, fix your auth (ssh-add, reconnect agent forwarding,
[err ]      renew tickets, correct the username, etc.).
[err ]   3. Re-run -- the lock will have expired by then, or delete it immediately.

Recovery is what the message says: verify SSH manually, fix what's broken, then wait for the lock to expire or rm ~/.config/argo_anywhere/ssh-fail-lock to clear it immediately.

Common operations

# Check what's happening (includes the D-021 cross-client coherence report)
argo-anywhere status

# See the full /v1/models list (raw JSON dump)
ARGO_ANYWHERE_SHOW_MODELS=1 argo-anywhere status

# Tabulate served models (read-only; cross-references the OpenCode config)
argo-anywhere list-models                              # pretty text table
argo-anywhere list-models --include-embeddings         # include embedding rows
argo-anywhere list-models --format tsv > models.tsv    # script-friendly
argo-anywhere list-models --format json | jq '.[] | select(.provider=="claude")'

# Refresh the OpenCode model list from the live proxy
argo-anywhere update-models                  # interactive: prompts per orphan
argo-anywhere update-models --keep-orphans   # add new; keep stale entries
argo-anywhere update-models --drop-orphans   # add new; drop stale entries

# Upgrade installed components in place (lossless; preserves configs + venv)
argo-anywhere update --all                   # argoproxy + opencode + claudecode
argo-anywhere update argoproxy               # just the on-node proxy (+ auto /refresh)
argo-anywhere update --check --all           # report-only: installed vs latest
# (the package itself: pipx upgrade argo-anywhere)

# Tear down only the local tunnel (remote argo-proxy survives)
argo-anywhere stop

# Remove everything the engine created (preview first)
argo-anywhere clean --dry-run                # safe enumeration; no changes
argo-anywhere clean                          # interactive (per-file prompts for risky items)
argo-anywhere clean -y                       # non-interactive; deletes safe items, KEEPS configs
argo-anywhere clean -y --purge-backups       # also drop accumulated .bak.* files
argo-anywhere clean -y --purge               # delete EVERYTHING, including configs

clean separates artifacts into three risk tiers:

• safe (state dir incl. port cache, mux sockets, our SSH tunnel, the remote venv) — removed on confirmation.
• risky (~/.config/opencode/config.json, ~/.config/argoproxy/config.yaml, and their .bak.* files) — per-file [k]eep / [r]estore-from-backup / [d]elete / [b]ackups-only prompt, or --purge / --purge-backups for the non-interactive paths.
• never touched — tool binaries, the engine itself, system tools.

To remove argo-anywhere the package (as opposed to a channel's artifacts), use argo-anywhere uninstall (restores your client configs via the manifest, sweeps the launchers) then pipx uninstall argo-anywhere.

For the full troubleshooting guide (env vars, security notes, escape hatches), run argo-anywhere help.

Where to read more

Doc	When to read
docs/UPGRADING.md	Upgrading from a v1.x/v2.x .sh install, or between releases; covers v1 → v2 → the v2 → v3 hard cutover.
docs/SECURITY.md	Threat model + privacy posture (incl. the local web UI); for security-conscious users and ANL admins.
docs/LIMITATIONS.md	Known limitations + rationale before you adopt; includes the "Upstream stack" section (opus-4-7 etc.).
docs/TESTING.md	Maintainers/contributors: live-verify the client path before tagging.
docs/AUDIT_2026-05-12.md	The fix trail across v2.0 → v2.2 (43 findings; 42 closed).
docs/AUDIT_2026-05-18_argo-shim-comparison.md	Comparative audit vs. argo-shim, the Phase-C-rejection rationale, slide-ready summary.
PLAN.md	Maintainers/co-authors: plan-of-record + design decisions D-001..D-030 + roadmap.
AGENTS.md	AI coding tools working on this codebase: conventions + skill loading.

Upgrading

The canonical filename was argo_opencode.sh before v2.0; v2.0 renamed it to argo-anywhere and replaced the per-client symlinks with --cli-tool <name> (or the picker).

v3.0.0 is a clean break (design decision D-027): the supported install is now pipx install argo-anywhere, and the single-.sh curl route is retired as primary (the raw engine is still reachable via argo-anywhere --print-script). The v2 → v3 hard-cutover steps — uninstall the old .sh install, then pipx install — are in docs/UPGRADING.md.

Cumulative behavior changes through v2.2 are documented in docs/UPGRADING.md: env-var renames (ARGO_OPENCODE_* → ARGO_ANYWHERE_*), the CLAUDECODE_SCOPE → ARGO_ANYWHERE_SCOPE deprecation (still honored with a WARN), the port cache + cross-client coherence prompts, and the D-017 claudecode hybrid default. The engine also auto-detects v1.x state on first run and prints exact cleanup commands.

Old curl URLs against the previous repo name (a-attia/argo-opencode) keep working forever — GitHub auto-redirects them — and pinning old release tags still works.

Testing

docs/TESTING.md is a step-by-step live-verification guide for the client end-to-end path (~5–10 min, one Duo prompt); use it after non-trivial changes or before tagging a release.

The Python package has an automated pytest suite (no ANL infra needed) — see Contributing. For the engine, lighter smoke checks after edits (these operate on the raw .sh, so they're contributor-facing):

bash -n argo-anywhere.sh                              # syntax
argo-anywhere -h                                      # short usage
argo-anywhere status                                  # exit 1 if no tunnel
argo-anywhere clean --dry-run -y --local-only         # safe enumeration

Per-phase and live-test plans (used across the development cycle) are indexed in notes/README.md.

Contributing

This project follows the scicomp-research-skills framework's conventions.

Set up a development environment and run the checks:

pip install -e '.[dev]'    # package + pytest + httpx + ruff + rich + playwright (or: uv pip install -e '.[dev]')
pytest -q                  # the package test suite (no ANL infra)
ruff check src tests       # lint

Key project files:

• AGENTS.md — canonical project conventions for AI coding tools. CLAUDE.md is a symlink to it for Claude Code's discovery.
• PLAN.md — plan-of-record (scope, architecture, milestones, design decisions D-001..D-030).
• docs/AUDIT_2026-05-12.md — active fresh-eyes audit (43 findings; 42 closed). New closures append a STATUS block in place.
• docs/AUDIT_2026-05-18_argo-shim-comparison.md — comparative audit; SH-* items and their per-release dispositions.
• docs/LIMITATIONS.md — known limitations (read before adding features that bump the single-instance constraint or the bash 3.2 target).
• notes/agent_feedback.md — per-project feedback channel into the upstream framework.
• CONTRIBUTORS.md — authorship + AI-collaborator acknowledgment + commit-trailer convention.

For the commit convention (Conventional Commits + the Co-Authored-By: Claude trailer for AI-assisted commits), activate the project's template after cloning:

git config --local commit.template .gitmessage

Related projects

• argo-proxy — the on-node proxy this project orchestrates. Authored + maintained by Peng Ding (Argonne CELS).
• argo-shim — an alternative project solving the same problem from the opposite layer of the stack (a Python local HTTP proxy on the laptop). See docs/AUDIT_2026-05-18_argo-shim-comparison.md for the full comparison.
• OpenCode, Claude Code, aider — the supported AI coding CLI tools.
• ANL AI4Dev notes — the internal reference this project is built around.
• scicomp-research-skills — the framework providing this project's agent conventions.

Authors

• Primary: Ahmed Attia ([e-mail])
• AI collaborator: Claude (Anthropic), used substantially across the v2.0 → v3.0 development cycle. Per-commit attribution via the Co-Authored-By: trailer; see CONTRIBUTORS.md.

---

Created 2025 (project inception); rewritten 2026-05-14 to follow the scicomp-research-skills human-facing-doc-authoring conventions; revised through v2.2.0 (Phase 4). Rewritten 2026-07-12 for v3.0.0: re-grounded in the Python package as it exists in code (package-first, engine as a vendored/forkable component), added the Install and "Running the raw engine" sections, and corrected the .sh-era descriptions of bootstrap, self-update, and on-disk paths. Maintained by Ahmed Attia.