Connect your AI client

AI Commander exposes one capability three ways — an MCP server, a plain REST API, and an installable Agent Skill. Any AI client (MCP or not) can run shell commands on your machines by session code. Below is every supported client and the exact config for each.

Before you start

The relay your client connects to is https://aicommander.dev/mcp — it's already live, there is nothing to deploy or host, and no login is needed to connect — no-account access works for the code's first hour, then sign in or use an API key. You only need one thing, then pick your client below:

1. An agent running on the machine you want to control, showing a session code like AIC-7K3P-WX9M-RTBN. Install it below.

You drive each machine by quoting its session code in chat. The code is the credential — anyone who knows a current code can run commands on that machine, for as long as the code stays valid, until the owner resets the code or blocks their account. The code is stable — it never auto-rotates, so the same code keeps working across reboots and restarts. You don't even need an account for the first hour after a code is created or refreshed — or sign in (free) and use it for as long as you like. See Security.

Install the agent

Run the agent on the machine you want to control. Pick your platform — the download or install command updates below.

Full details and the session-code lifetime: Agent Installation.

Pick your client

Three families, depending on what you drive AI Commander from:

CLI agents

Terminal coding agents. Pick yours — most connect to the remote relay over HTTP with a single command, no token (to add the connector):

[mcp_servers.aicommander]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@aicommander/mcp"]
env = { AICOMMANDER_SERVER = "https://aicommander.dev" }

Coding GUIs & IDEs

Editors and agentic IDEs — Cursor, Windsurf, Antigravity, Zed, and others — accept an MCP server as JSON and run it locally over the same stdio bridge. The config is identical everywhere; only the file location differs:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aicommander": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@aicommander/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "AICOMMANDER_SERVER": "https://aicommander.dev"
      }
    }
  }
}

• Cursor — ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or Settings → MCP → Add server).
• Windsurf — ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json (or Settings → Cascade → MCP servers).
• Antigravity — add the server in Settings → MCP / Tools; paste the same JSON when it asks for a server definition.
• Any other IDE — wherever it stores its MCP server list, use the same three keys (command, args, env).

On Windows use "command": "npx.cmd". Add "AICOMMANDER_TOKEN": "<your-key>" to env for alias-based access. Restart the editor; the remote_exec and session_status tools appear.

Chat apps — ChatGPT & Claude (MCP connectors)

The desktop / web chat apps connect to the relay as a custom connector — a remote HTTPS MCP endpoint. No token needed to add the connector; leave auth empty.

ChatGPT

Settings → Connectors → Advanced / Developer mode → Add custom connector:

• URL: https://aicommander.dev/mcp
• Auth: none required — leave it empty.

Claude Desktop

Custom connector (recommended): Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, URL https://aicommander.dev/mcp, auth none. Or use the stdio config file claude_desktop_config.json (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/) with the same JSON as the IDE config above, then restart Claude Desktop.

Chat apps without MCP

No connector support, or you just don't want to set one up? Any capable chat model — the ChatGPT app, the Claude app, or similar — can drive a machine on its own as long as it can make HTTP requests (browsing / code-interpreter / a generic "fetch" tool). You don't paste any config; you just tell it where to go. The model reads the public API and figures out the calls.

Give it the relay, the machine's code, and the goal. For example:

# Paste this into ChatGPT / Claude (with web or tool access enabled)
Connect to my computer AIC-7K3P-WX9M-RTBN through aicommander.dev
and tell me its disk usage.

The REST API is documented at https://aicommander.dev/openapi.json
(POST https://aicommander.dev/api/v1/exec with JSON {"code","command"}).
No auth is needed for the first hour after a code is created or refreshed;
sign in (free) to use the code at any time after that.

That's enough for the model to discover and call the endpoint itself — it will POST to /api/v1/exec with the code and a command like df -h, read the JSON result, and answer. You can keep going in plain language ("now restart nginx", "tail the last 50 lines of the app log") and it reissues calls per turn.

Any MCP client (raw HTTP+SSE)

The relay speaks standard MCP over HTTP with SSE responses. Point any compliant client at:

# Endpoint — no auth header needed
POST https://aicommander.dev/mcp
Accept: text/event-stream

Tools exposed: remote_exec(code, command, cwd?, timeout_ms?) and session_status(code). Streaming command output arrives as SSE message events.

REST API & Agent Skill (no MCP needed)

If your client doesn't speak MCP — or you just want a single HTTP call — the same two operations are exposed as a plain REST API. Auth is identical to MCP: no token means anonymous (works for the first hour after a code is created or refreshed), and Authorization: Bearer <api-key> gives alias-based access at any time, including long after the first hour (kept active by a dashboard sign-in within the last 24h — see Accounts). There is no OAuth browser flow on this surface — REST clients just paste an API key.

# Is the machine online?
$ curl -s https://aicommander.dev/api/v1/status/AIC-7K3P-WX9M-RTBN

# Run a command (buffered JSON result)
$ curl -s -X POST https://aicommander.dev/api/v1/exec \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -d '{"code":"AIC-7K3P-WX9M-RTBN","command":"df -h"}'

The exec response is { "ok": true, "exitCode": 0, "stdout": "…", "stderr": "…", "truncated": false }. Add "cwd" and "timeout_ms" as needed, or send Accept: text/event-stream to stream the result instead of buffering. Machine-readable spec: /openapi.json.

Install the Agent Skill (Claude — instead of the MCP server)

Claude Code / Claude users who'd rather use a skill than add the MCP server can install the hosted Agent Skill (copy-paste usage + safety rules) into their own skills directory. It's served from the relay at a public URL — nothing to clone — so one command does it:

$ mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/aicommander && \
    curl -fsSL https://aicommander.dev/skill/SKILL.md -o ~/.claude/skills/aicommander/SKILL.md

Claude auto-loads it on the next session — quote an AIC-… code and it drives the machine over the REST API, with no claude mcp add and no OAuth. View the skill: /skill/SKILL.md.

Accounts & API keys

Connecting needs no login — you can drive machines by their session code, and for the first hour after a code is created or refreshed you don't even need an account. An optional account lets you use the code at any time after that, indefinitely, and gives you alias-based access (though a first link made after the code's first hour starts blocked until the machine's operator approves it). Sign in (passkey or email magic link — no password) to:

• Save your machines under friendly aliases (e.g. prod-db instead of AIC-7K3P-WX9M-RTBN). The first time you connect to a machine it auto-links to your account and is saved under an alias — then you can use the alias or the raw code interchangeably, at any time, including long after the first hour, indefinitely (until the owner resets the code or blocks your account).
• Generate or revoke a personal API key in the dashboard and set it as the Bearer token in any MCP client — then reach all your linked machines by alias.

With an API key set (Authorization: Bearer <key>, or AICOMMANDER_TOKEN=<key> for the @aicommander/mcp stdio bridge), remote_exec / session_status accept either a raw AIC-… code or one of your saved aliases. Without an account, everything on this page still works by raw code for the first hour after a code is created or refreshed.

Owner controls — who can reach your machine

The machine's owner stays in charge of access at all times:

• Block or unblock a specific account — at any time. From the CLI, aicommander-agent block-admin <n> and aicommander-agent unblock-admin <n>; from the desktop tray, Linked Accounts…. Blocking refuses that account's access and stops it re-linking; the account stays listed in a Blocked section, and unblocking restores access instantly.
• Reset the code — aicommander-agent change-code or Reset Access Code in the desktop app. This mints a brand-new code; the old code dies immediately and all links and blocks are cleared. It's the master "lock everyone out / start over" action.