Configuration

The easiest way to configure vybn is with the init wizard:

vybn init

This walks you through provider, network backend, GCP project (or SSH server details), machine type, Tailscale auth key, and other settings, then writes ~/.vybnrc for you.

You can also create the file manually from the included template:

cp vybnrc.example ~/.vybnrc

All settings can also be set as environment variables.

General Settings

Variable	Default	Description
VYBN_PROVIDER	gcp	Cloud provider backend (gcp or ssh)
VYBN_NETWORK	tailscale	Network backend (tailscale or iap)
VYBN_VM_NAME	(auto-generated petname)	VM instance name (claude-<adj>-<animal>)
VYBN_USER	claude	VM user account
VYBN_TMUX_SESSION	claude	tmux session name
VYBN_TERM	xterm-256color	Terminal type for tmux sessions
VYBN_EDITOR	(auto-detected)	Editor CLI to launch: code or cursor
VYBN_QUIET	false	Suppress info/success output (--quiet flag)
VYBN_VERBOSE	false	Enable trace output (--verbose flag)

GCP Provider Settings

These apply when using VYBN_PROVIDER=gcp (the default).

Variable	Default	Description
VYBN_ZONE	us-west1-a	GCP zone
VYBN_MACHINE_TYPE	e2-standard-2	Machine type (CPU/RAM)
VYBN_DISK_SIZE	30	Boot disk size in GB
VYBN_PROJECT	(auto-detected)	GCP project ID
VYBN_EXTERNAL_IP	false	Assign public IP to VM (forced true for Tailscale)
VYBN_GCP_SCOPES	compute-ro,logging-write,storage-ro	GCP API scopes assigned to the VM

SSH Provider Settings

These apply when using VYBN_PROVIDER=ssh.

Variable	Default	Description
VYBN_SSH_HOST	(none, required)	Remote hostname or IP address
VYBN_SSH_USER	(current user)	SSH user for the bootstrap connection
VYBN_SSH_KEY	(none)	Path to SSH private key (uses SSH agent if unset)
VYBN_SSH_PORT	22	SSH port for the bootstrap connection

Claude Code

Variable	Default	Description
VYBN_CLAUDE_CODE_VERSION	2.1.38	Claude Code version to install (native binary)

Toolchains

Variable	Default	Description
VYBN_TOOLCHAINS	node	Comma-separated toolchain modules to install
VYBN_APT_PACKAGES	(none)	Extra apt packages to install on the VM
VYBN_NPM_PACKAGES	(none)	Extra global npm packages (requires node toolchain)
VYBN_SETUP_SCRIPT	(none)	Path to a custom setup script to run after all setup

Available toolchains: node, python, rust, go, docker.

Tailscale Settings

These apply when using the default Tailscale network backend.

Variable	Default	Description
VYBN_TAILSCALE_AUTHKEY	(none, required)	Auth key for VM enrollment on your tailnet
VYBN_TAILSCALE_HOSTNAME	(auto-generated petname)	Tailscale device hostname (e.g., claude-bright-falcon)
VYBN_TAILSCALE_TAGS	(none)	ACL tags (e.g., tag:vybn)
VYBN_SSH_KEY_DIR	~/.vybn/ssh	Directory for vybn-managed SSH keys
VYBN_SSHID	(none)	SSH.id username — imports mobile device keys at deploy time

Machine Types

Pick a machine type based on your workload:

Shared-core (burstable)

Machine Type	vCPUs	RAM	~Cost (24/7)
e2-micro	0.25	1 GB	~$6/month
e2-small	0.5	2 GB	~$12/month
e2-medium	1	4 GB	~$25/month

Standard (balanced)

Machine Type	vCPUs	RAM	~Cost (24/7)
e2-standard-2	2	8 GB	~$49/month
e2-standard-4	4	16 GB	~$97/month
e2-standard-8	8	32 GB	~$194/month
e2-standard-16	16	64 GB	~$388/month

High-memory

Machine Type	vCPUs	RAM	~Cost (24/7)
e2-highmem-2	2	16 GB	~$66/month
e2-highmem-4	4	32 GB	~$131/month
e2-highmem-8	8	64 GB	~$262/month
e2-highmem-16	16	128 GB	~$524/month

High-CPU

Machine Type	vCPUs	RAM	~Cost (24/7)
e2-highcpu-2	2	2 GB	~$36/month
e2-highcpu-4	4	4 GB	~$73/month
e2-highcpu-8	8	8 GB	~$146/month
e2-highcpu-16	16	16 GB	~$292/month

N2 (newer generation)

Machine Type	vCPUs	RAM	~Cost (24/7)
n2-standard-2	2	8 GB	~$57/month
n2-standard-4	4	16 GB	~$113/month
n2-standard-8	8	32 GB	~$226/month

Disk storage costs ~$0.17/GB/month regardless of whether the VM is running.

Tip

Stop the VM when not in use (vybn stop). A stopped VM costs nothing for compute — you only pay for disk (~$5.10/month for 30 GB).

Example Configuration

~/.vybnrc

# Tailscale auth key (required for deploy)
VYBN_TAILSCALE_AUTHKEY="tskey-auth-..."

# Import mobile SSH keys from SSH.id at deploy time
VYBN_SSHID="your-sshid-username"

# Bigger machine for heavy workloads
VYBN_MACHINE_TYPE="e2-standard-4"

# Deploy in Europe
VYBN_ZONE="europe-west1-b"

# Custom VM name
VYBN_VM_NAME="claude-work"

SSH Provider

~/.vybnrc

# Use an existing server
VYBN_PROVIDER="ssh"

# Server connection details
VYBN_SSH_HOST="dev.example.com"
VYBN_SSH_USER="ubuntu"
VYBN_SSH_KEY="$HOME/.ssh/id_ed25519"

# Tailscale auth key (required for deploy)
VYBN_TAILSCALE_AUTHKEY="tskey-auth-..."

Custom Setup Script

For project-specific configuration beyond packages and toolchains, point VYBN_SETUP_SCRIPT to a local shell script:

~/.vybnrc

VYBN_SETUP_SCRIPT="$HOME/.vybn/setup.sh"

The script runs after all standard setup, in a subshell with set +e so failures don’t abort the deploy. Use it for cloning repos, installing project dependencies, or any other custom configuration. See the Toolchains guide for examples.

Multi-Toolchain Setup

~/.vybnrc

# Install Node.js, Python, and Rust
VYBN_TOOLCHAINS="node,python,rust"

# Extra system packages
VYBN_APT_PACKAGES="ripgrep fd-find sqlite3"

# Extra npm packages (requires node toolchain)
VYBN_NPM_PACKAGES="typescript tsx"