Set up a remote gateway

A remote has two deliberately separate paths:

• Coding tools and HTTP clients use the authenticated data plane at an operator-provided HTTPS URL.
• RouteKit CLI management commands relay over SSH to the daemon's loopback-only control.v1 endpoint.

The SSH installer does not configure DNS, TLS, a reverse proxy, firewall rules, or cloud privileges. Plan those operator-owned pieces before shared use.

Prerequisites

• A macOS or Linux SSH host on x64 or arm64.
• Non-interactive SSH access from the client.
• A public HTTPS URL that you will route to the remote loopback gateway.
• At least one provider credential or subscription account available on the remote before the daemon can serve models.

The installer requires no sudo. It can bootstrap a private, digest-verified Node.js runtime and installs RouteKit into the remote user's home.

Preview the remote installation

Probe the host and print the planned changes without modifying it:

routekit remote install gateway.example --dry-run

The command reports the host platform, existing RouteKit version, configuration state, provider readiness, and the steps it would take.

Install without exposing the gateway

routekit remote install gateway.example

This installs the same RouteKit version as the local CLI by default, initializes configuration when needed, and attempts to start the daemon. Use --version <version> for an explicit package version or --force to reinstall the target version.

With --version latest, RouteKit resolves the npm dist-tag to an exact version before contacting the host. It skips an already-current installation unless --force is passed. JSON output keeps the requested version and reports the resolved release as targetVersion.

The daemon remains bound to loopback. If no usable provider is configured, the installation can complete while startup remains blocked; configure a provider on the host, then run routekit start there.

Add the HTTPS front door

Configure an operator-managed HTTPS reverse proxy or tunnel from your public URL to the remote RouteKit data plane. Do not publish the loopback control endpoint. The public URL must terminate HTTPS for non-loopback clients.

After the front door is healthy, enroll it locally:

routekit remote add team \
  --url https://routekit.example.com \
  --ssh gateway.example

remote add relays a token-issuance request over SSH, stores the named data-plane token locally, checks /health, and selects the new remote unless --no-use is passed. It does not copy or distribute the remote owner token.

You can install and enroll in one command after HTTPS is already available:

routekit remote install gateway.example \
  --name team \
  --url https://routekit.example.com

Here gateway.example is the SSH host and team is the optional local remote name. The positional argument is never the remote name.

Select and verify the remote

routekit remote list
routekit remote show team
routekit remote use team
routekit status
routekit --local status
routekit remote use --none

Target selection precedence is:

--local > --remote <name> > active remote > local daemon

Model listing and coding-tool commands use the remote HTTPS data plane. Status, configuration, accounts, providers, usage, calls, telemetry, and doctor use the SSH control relay. start, stop, setup, config init, config migrate, and advanced daemon operations remain local-only.

Enroll another OS account as a peer

The daemon owner issues a one-time control-plane join credential:

routekit token issue teammate --plane control

The command prints a self-describing routekit peer add rk1_... command once. Transfer it through a secure channel. The peer runs that command under their own OS account. To combine peer and laptop enrollment without putting the join credential in process arguments:

routekit remote add team \
  --url https://routekit.example.com \
  --ssh teammate@gateway.example \
  --join -

Remove a remote

routekit remote remove team

This removes the client's saved remote metadata and token. It does not stop or uninstall the remote daemon. Revoke any server-side token that should no longer be accepted, and manage the remote service through its operator account.

Troubleshoot remote access

routekit remote show team
routekit --remote team status
routekit --remote team doctor

Check these boundaries independently:

1. The public HTTPS /health endpoint is reachable.
2. The SSH host is reachable non-interactively and routekit is on its PATH.
3. The remote daemon advertises routekit.control.v1.
4. The named data token is present and not revoked.
5. Every configured provider can authenticate and discover models.

Use --local to distinguish a remote failure from the local daemon. Read data, credentials, and privacy before exposing a shared gateway.