Tailnet Multi-Machine Operations

You have SSH access to all machines on Jarad's Tailnet (burro-salmon.ts.net). You are NOT limited to the local host. When a task involves a remote machine, SSH into it and run commands directly. Do not ask the user to do it manually.

Core Directive

You have full operational authority across all Tailnet machines. Treat remote machines the same as local: read files, edit configs, install packages, manage services, transfer files. The user expects you to operate across machine boundaries seamlessly.

When to Use This Skill

Trigger when:

• User mentions a remote machine by hostname (e.g., tiny-chungus, intelliforia-glitch-stack)
• A task requires deploying code/config to a non-local host
• Services need to be started, stopped, or checked on remote machines
• Files need to be transferred between machines (scp, rsync)
• Debugging issues that span multiple machines
• Setting up systemd services on remote hosts
• Any cross-machine coordination

Available Machines

Check live status with: tailscale status

Common hosts (as of last check):

• big-chungus - Primary dev workstation (Linux)
• tiny-chungus - Secondary Linux workstation
• intelliforia-glitch-stack - Cloud Linux server
• carries-macbook-air - macOS laptop
• trinote-proxy - Tagged device (Linux)

How to Execute Remote Commands

Single command

ssh <hostname> "command here"

Multi-line / complex commands

ssh <hostname> 'bash -s' << 'EOF'
command1
command2
EOF

File transfer

scp local-file <hostname>:remote-path
scp <hostname>:remote-file local-path
rsync -avz local-dir/ <hostname>:remote-dir/

Remote file editing

Read the file via SSH, then write it back:

ssh <hostname> "cat /path/to/file"
# Then write with:
ssh <hostname> "cat > /path/to/file << 'EOF'
content
EOF"

Operational Rules

1. SSH host key changes: On Tailnet machines, accept new host keys automatically. These machines get reinstalled. Use ssh-keygen -R <host> then ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new.

1. Port selection: Never assume standard ports (8080, 8081, 3000, etc.) are available. Always use random high ports (30000-60000 range). Use shuf -i 30000-60000 -n 1 to generate.

1. User context: All machines use the delorenj user account. Home directory is /home/delorenj on Linux, /Users/delorenj on macOS.

1. Package managers: Arch Linux machines use pacman/yay. Ubuntu/Debian use apt. macOS uses brew. Check with cat /etc/os-release or uname -s if unsure.

1. Systemd user services: For per-user daemons on remote machines, use systemctl --user and place units in ~/.config/systemd/user/. Enable lingering if the service should run without login: loginctl enable-linger delorenj.

1. Config files: Store app configs in ~/.config/<app-name>/ on remote machines.

1. Parallelism: When operating on multiple machines simultaneously, run independent SSH commands in parallel.