Mobile SSH

Connect to your cloud Claude Code VM from your phone or tablet. This guide covers the recommended path using Tailscale for networking and Termius with SSH.id for key management.

Prerequisites

• A running vybn VM with the Tailscale backend (the default)
• A Tailscale account (your VM is already on your tailnet)

1. Install Tailscale on your device

Download the Tailscale app and sign in with the same account used for your VM:

• iOS
• Android

Once connected, your phone joins the same tailnet as your VM. You can verify by checking that your VM’s hostname appears in the Tailscale app’s device list.

2. Install Termius

Termius is a mobile SSH client that works well on both iOS and Android. Install it from your device’s app store.

Other SSH clients work too (e.g., Prompt, Blink Shell) — the key setup steps are the same.

3. Set up SSH.id (recommended)

SSH.id is a Termius service that publishes your device’s SSH public keys at a URL like https://sshid.io/your-username. This makes it easy to get mobile keys onto your VM without manually transferring files.

In Termius

1. Go to Settings > SSH.id
2. Create an SSH.id username (e.g., johndoe)
3. Your device keys are now published at https://sshid.io/johndoe

Add keys to your VM

Option A: At deploy time — set VYBN_SSHID in ~/.vybnrc before deploying:

echo 'VYBN_SSHID="johndoe"' >> ~/.vybnrc
vybn deploy

The VM will fetch your keys from sshid.io during setup.

Option B: Post-deploy — use vybn add-key from any machine with vybn installed:

vybn add-key --sshid johndoe

This fetches keys from sshid.io on your local machine and installs them on the VM via SSH.

4. Configure the host in Termius

Create a new host in Termius:

Field	Value
Hostname	Your VM’s Tailscale hostname (e.g., claude-bright-falcon)
Username	claude (or your VYBN_USER value)
Key	Select the key that matches what SSH.id published

5. Connect

Tap the host in Termius to connect. Once in, attach to the tmux session:

tmux attach -t claude

You’re now running Claude Code from your phone.

Alternative: manual key import

If you don’t use Termius or SSH.id, you can add any SSH public key to the VM:

# From a file
vybn add-key --file /path/to/mobile_key.pub

# Or inline
vybn add-key 'ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAA... mobile@phone'

Transfer the public key from your mobile device to a machine with vybn installed (email, AirDrop, clipboard, etc.), then run the command above.

How it works

Phone/Tablet
  |
  | Tailscale (WireGuard mesh)
  |
  v
GCP VM (claude-bright-falcon)
  |
  | SSH (key auth via authorized_keys)
  |
  v
tmux session -> Claude Code

1. Tailscale provides the network layer — your mobile device and VM are on the same encrypted mesh, regardless of NAT or firewalls.
2. SSH handles authentication using the public keys you imported via SSH.id or vybn add-key.
3. tmux keeps Claude Code running persistently — you can disconnect and reconnect without losing state.