remo-cli 0.8.0

Remote development environment CLI

Remo

Spin up a fully-configured remote development environment in minutes. One command gives you a persistent, secure coding environment with Dev Containers support — perfect for long-running AI agents that keep working after you disconnect.

Installation

# From PyPI (recommended)
uv tool install remo-cli

# Or with pip
pip install remo-cli

# Initialize (installs Ansible collections)
remo init

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• SSH key pair (~/.ssh/id_rsa)
• uv (recommended) or pip

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Quick Start

remo hetzner create             # Provision a VM (or: remo aws create / remo incus create)
remo shell                      # Connect to your environment

You land in an interactive project menu. Pick a project, and you're in a persistent Zellij session with your DevContainer already running. Disconnect anytime — your session survives.

  Remote Coding Server
  --------------------

> my-project - active
  another-project
  [Clone new repo]
  [Exit to shell]

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Choose Your Platform

	Hetzner Cloud	AWS	Incus
Type	Cloud VM	Cloud VM	Local container
Location	EU/US datacenters	Global regions	Your hardware
Cost	~€4/month	$30/month ($10 spot)	Your electricity
Storage	Block volume	EBS / root volume	Host mounts
Access	Server IP	SSM (no inbound ports) or SSH	LAN hostname
Best for	EU, budget hosting	US, enterprise, spot instances	Local dev, homelab

All platforms give you the same dev workflow and tooling described below.

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The Dev Workflow

Persistent Sessions

Zellij keeps your terminal sessions alive across SSH disconnects:

• Detach: Ctrl+d returns to the project menu
• Reconnect: SSH back in, select the same project to resume exactly where you left off

Project Menu

The fzf-powered menu shows your projects from ~/projects:

• Arrow keys or 1-9: Select a project
• Enter: Launch/attach to the project's Zellij session
• c: Clone a new repository
• x: Exit to shell

Port Forwarding

Forward remote ports to your local machine during SSH sessions:

remo shell -L 8080                  # Forward remote :8080 to local :8080
remo shell -L 9000:8080             # Forward remote :8080 to local :9000
remo shell -L 8080 -L 3000          # Forward multiple ports
remo shell -L 8080 --no-open        # Skip auto-opening browser

Web ports automatically open in your browser when the tunnel is established.

File Transfer

Copy files between your local machine and any remote environment:

remo cp ./file.txt :/tmp/           # Upload
remo cp :/var/log/app.log ./        # Download
remo cp -r ./my-dir :/home/remo/    # Recursive upload
remo cp --progress big-file.tar :/tmp/  # Show transfer progress

Uses colon notation — a bare :path targets your default environment, or name:path for a specific one.

Version Checking

Remo checks that your local CLI and remote environment are running compatible versions before connecting. If the remote is behind, you'll be prompted to update it. Use --no-update-check to skip.

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What's Installed

Every remo environment includes:

Tool	Description
Docker + Compose	Official Docker CE with compose plugin
Dev Containers CLI	devcontainer up, devcontainer exec, etc.
Node.js 24 LTS	From NodeSource repository
GitHub CLI	gh for GitHub workflow integration
Zellij	Terminal multiplexer for persistent sessions
fzf	Fuzzy finder powering the project menu (server-side)

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CLI Reference

# Connect to environment
remo shell                          # Auto-connect (or picker if multiple)
remo shell my-env                   # Connect to a specific environment
remo shell -L 8080                  # Shell + forward remote :8080 to local :8080
remo shell -L 9000:8080             # Shell + forward remote :8080 to local :9000
remo shell -L 8080 -L 3000          # Shell + forward multiple ports
remo shell -L 8080 --no-open        # Skip auto-opening browser
remo shell --no-update-check        # Skip version check

# File transfer
remo cp ./file.txt :/tmp/           # Upload file
remo cp :/var/log/app.log ./        # Download file
remo cp -r ./dir :/home/remo/       # Recursive copy
remo cp --progress big.tar :/tmp/   # Show progress

# Setup
remo init                           # Install Ansible collections

# Hetzner Cloud
remo hetzner create                 # Provision VM
remo hetzner list                   # List registered VMs
remo hetzner sync                   # Discover existing VMs
remo hetzner update                 # Update dev tools
remo hetzner destroy [--yes]        # Tear down (keeps volume)

# AWS (SSM access — no inbound ports)
remo aws create                     # Provision EC2 via SSM
remo aws create --spot              # Use spot instance (~70% savings)
remo aws list                       # List registered instances
remo aws sync                       # Discover existing instances
remo aws update                     # Update dev tools
remo aws stop [--yes]               # Stop instance (pause billing)
remo aws start                      # Start a stopped instance
remo aws reboot                     # Reboot instance
remo aws destroy [--yes]            # Tear down (keeps storage)
remo aws info                       # Show instance info

# Incus Containers
remo incus create --name <n> [--host H]  # Create container
remo incus list                     # List registered containers
remo incus sync [--host H]          # Discover existing containers
remo incus update --name <n>        # Update dev tools
remo incus destroy --name <n> [--yes]    # Destroy container
remo incus bootstrap                # Initialize Incus on host

# Updates
uv tool upgrade remo-cli            # Update CLI to latest version
remo <platform> update              # Update dev tools on remote

# Help
remo --help
remo <command> --help

See platform-specific docs for full options:

• Hetzner Cloud
• AWS
• Incus Containers

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
REMO_HOME	Config directory for remo state (default: ~/.config/remo)

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Troubleshooting

Installed remo on a new machine with existing instances?

remo aws sync       # Discover AWS instances with 'remo' tag
remo hetzner sync   # Discover Hetzner VMs with 'remo' label
remo incus sync     # Discover Incus containers

SSH connection fails?

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Ansible collection not found?

remo init  # Reinstalls dependencies

Platform-specific issues? See troubleshooting sections in:

• Hetzner troubleshooting
• AWS troubleshooting
• Incus troubleshooting

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Uninstalling

# Remove the CLI
uv tool uninstall remo-cli      # or: pip uninstall remo-cli

# Remove remo config and state
rm -rf ~/.config/remo

Path	Contents
~/.config/remo/	Runtime state: known_hosts (environment registry)

Note: Uninstalling remo does not destroy any cloud resources (EC2 instances, Hetzner VMs, Incus containers). Run remo <platform> destroy first if you want to tear those down.

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License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.