Your machines. Your workflow.
Schooner brings SSH, Git worktrees, and tmux together so you can work on a remote machine and return to the same session later.
Your machine stays yours. There is no required Schooner account or hosted control plane, and ordinary SSH access stays available.
Start with a machine you own
Section titled “Start with a machine you own”This getting-started path uses an Ubuntu machine you can already reach over SSH. You will install Schooner locally, connect the machine, send a checkout, and start a persistent development session.
- Install Schooner — set up the CLI on macOS or Linux and check your environment.
- Start your first remote session — connect your machine and work from a local Git checkout.
- Resume your work — return after a disconnected terminal or a closed laptop.
Three tools you already know
Section titled “Three tools you already know”| Tool | Its role |
|---|---|
| OpenSSH | Your system SSH client connects directly to your machine. |
| Git | Repositories and worktrees remain ordinary Git repositories. |
| tmux | Development sessions stay on the remote machine when you disconnect. |
Schooner calls a managed remote machine a Box. It prepares the development tools for your SSH user and runs on demand rather than requiring a persistent Schooner daemon.
What you need
Section titled “What you need”- A local machine running macOS 13 or later, or a contemporary Linux distribution, on amd64 or arm64.
- The system OpenSSH client.
- A remote Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04 machine on amd64 or arm64 that you can access over SSH.
- A local Git checkout to work with.
If you need a machine, Schooner can also provision a DigitalOcean Droplet. That creates billable infrastructure; the provisioning guide covers that separate path.
Find your next task
Section titled “Find your next task”| What you want to do | Guide |
|---|---|
| Move your current checkout between machines | Transfer your workspace |
| Inspect sessions, read logs, or open a temporary shell | Sessions and shells |
| Clone a repository or work on another branch | Repositories and worktrees |
| Choose where a command runs | Command defaults |
| Add, check, or update a development machine | Manage your Boxes |
| Create a machine in your DigitalOcean account | Provision a machine |
| Give a Box access to private GitHub repositories | GitHub access |
| Use Schooner in a script | Automation |
| Diagnose a problem and recover your setup | Troubleshooting |
Keep control of your environment
Section titled “Keep control of your environment”Your SSH access is independent of Schooner. Repositories stay in Git, sessions stay in tmux, and your infrastructure stays in your own account.
Browse the command reference to find a command by task. Run schooner <command> --help for the exact options in your installed version. See the roadmap for current capabilities and planned work.
Based on the CLI documentation at 03d6623.