Run OpenChamber on a remote server

Install#

Deploy installs OpenChamber, runs it as a service with a password, and checks that a model answers. To do it yourself:

ssh exe.dev new --name=my-openchamber
ssh my-openchamber.exe.xyz

sudo exeuntu update opencode
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_24.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
npm config set prefix ~/.local
npm install -g @openchamber/web@2.6.1
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
openchamber --version

mkdir -p ~/.config/opencode
cat > ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json <<'EOF'
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-5-5",
  "providers": {
    "anthropic": { "settings": { "baseURL": "https://llm.int.exe.xyz/anthropic/v1" } },
    "openai": { "settings": { "baseURL": "https://llm.int.exe.xyz/openai/v1" } },
    "fireworks-ai": { "settings": { "baseURL": "https://llm.int.exe.xyz/fireworks/inference/v1" } }
  }
}
EOF

mkdir -p ~/.config/openchamber
install -m 600 /dev/null ~/.config/openchamber/ui-password
openssl rand -hex 12 > ~/.config/openchamber/ui-password
OPENCHAMBER_UI_PASSWORD="$(cat ~/.config/openchamber/ui-password)" \
  openchamber startup enable --port 3000 --host 0.0.0.0 --no-env-snapshot

sleep 5
systemctl --user is-active openchamber
ss -ltn | grep ':3000'
curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' localhost:3000/api/config

git init ~/project
id=$(openchamber session create --dir ~/project --title "Setup check" --json | jq -r .sessionId)
openchamber session send --session "$id" --dir ~/project \
  --model anthropic/claude-haiku-5-5 --prompt "Reply with exactly: OK" \
  --wait --last-assistant

Open OpenChamber#

Port 3000 is private: only people with access to the VM get past exe.dev's login, and OpenChamber asks for its password on top. On your computer, print the password:

ssh my-openchamber.exe.xyz cat .config/openchamber/ui-password

Open https://my-openchamber.exe.xyz:3000/ and log in to exe.dev. OpenChamber shows Unlock OpenChamber. Enter the password, tick Trust this device so it remembers this browser for a week, and unlock.

Add your project: choose the folder icon (Add project) at the top of the sidebar, pick project, and Add. Then type a task into the box:

Create index.html: a one-page site for a bakery that sells only sourdough. Keep it short.

The answer streams in as the agent works in ~/project on the VM, and the session panel shows the files it changed and what the turn cost. The terminal button on the right opens a shell on the VM in the same tab.

Add your phone#

On your phone, open https://my-openchamber.exe.xyz:3000/, log in to exe.dev with the same account, and unlock with the password. Use your browser's Add to Home Screen to open it like an app.

Start a session, lock your phone, and check back later: the work carries on without you. A few things worth knowing:

• Pick a model under the message box. Claude, GPT and Fireworks' open models (Kimi, GLM, DeepSeek) all run through exe.dev, and Multi-run gives one task to up to five of them at once, each in its own worktree. Models under opencode/ are OpenCode's own and don't go through exe.dev.
• Run sessions side by side: choose New worktree… or Quick worktree in the branch menu above the message box. Worktrees live under ~/.local/share/opencode/worktree/ on the VM's persistent disk. See Worktree Sessions.
• Let it keep going: Session Goals keep an agent working toward a finish line, and scheduled tasks run a prompt daily or on a cron schedule. Both run on the VM, so they don't need your laptop.
• Preview what it builds: ask the agent to serve the app on 0.0.0.0:8000, then open https://my-openchamber.exe.xyz/. It's private until you share it. OpenChamber's built-in browser panel only reaches the VM's dev servers from its desktop app.

Warning

Anyone with the password who gets past exe.dev's login can run any command on the VM. Keep port 3000 private, and only share the VM with people you'd give your SSH key to.

Bring your repositories#

Connect a GitHub repo to the VM, then clone it in OpenChamber's terminal, or over SSH:

git clone https://github.int.exe.xyz/you/your-repo.git ~/your-repo

Add the folder with Add project. Commits, pulls and pushes from OpenChamber's Git panel go through the integration, so no GitHub token sits on the VM. OpenChamber's issue and pull request board is the exception: it needs its own GitHub sign-in, under Settings → Integrations, which stores a token on the VM. Skip it if you don't need the board.

Back up and restore#

Commit and push your code; that's the copy that matters most. For a copy of the whole VM, run this on your computer (choose a free backup name):

ssh exe.dev cp my-openchamber my-openchamber-backup

To keep OpenChamber's settings and OpenCode's sessions on their own, archive them on the VM. The archive holds the UI password and OpenChamber's signing keys, so keep it private:

mkdir -p ~/backups
systemctl --user stop openchamber
tar -C ~ -czf ~/backups/openchamber-$(date +%F).tar.gz \
  .config/openchamber .config/opencode .local/share/opencode
chmod 600 ~/backups/openchamber-*.tar.gz
systemctl --user start openchamber

To restore one, on a VM with OpenChamber installed and its service set up as above, replace 2026-11-07 with the archive's date:

systemctl --user stop openchamber
rm -rf ~/.config/openchamber ~/.local/share/opencode
tar -C ~ -xzf ~/backups/openchamber-2026-11-07.tar.gz
systemctl --user start openchamber
openchamber session list --dir ~/project

Your sessions are listed again, and trusted browsers stay signed in. On a new VM, run the startup enable command again after restoring.

Update#

On the VM, update OpenChamber first, then OpenCode:

openchamber update
sudo exeuntu update opencode
systemctl --user restart openchamber

openchamber update installs the newest release with npm and restarts the service with the same port and password. Restarting interrupts running turns, so pick a quiet moment. To stay on a version you've tried, run npm install -g @openchamber/web@<version> and restart instead. Read the release notes first: OpenChamber releases every few days.

Troubleshooting#

• The page doesn't load. On the VM, run openchamber status and ss -ltn | grep 3000: it should listen on 0.0.0.0:3000. If not, journalctl --user -u openchamber -n 80 --no-pager says why, and openchamber logs follows the server's own log.
• refuses to bind to 0.0.0.0 without UI authentication. The service started without a password. Run the startup enable command from "Run it as a service" again.
• It stops after a reboot. loginctl show-user $USER -p Linger should say Linger=yes; run sudo loginctl enable-linger "$USER" if not.
• "OpenCode is restarting" never clears. Check that opencode --version is 2.2.4 or newer and that ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json is valid JSON, then run systemctl --user restart openchamber.
• A model fails. On the VM, cd ~/project && opencode run -m anthropic/claude-haiku-5-5 "Reply with exactly: OK" shows whether OpenCode reaches exe.dev's LLM gateway on its own.
• Change the password. Write a new one to ~/.config/openchamber/ui-password and run the startup enable command again. Every browser has to unlock again, and saved passkeys are cleared.
• openchamber: command not found. Open a new shell, or use ~/.local/bin/openchamber.

For everything else, see OpenChamber's troubleshooting guide.