Terminal Access

TL;DR

Access remote terminals with cmdop terminal <hostname>. CMDOP provides full PTY support with colors, tab completion, and interactive programs like vim and htop. Sessions persist across disconnects, multiple clients can share a session, and observer mode enables read-only watching. Use cmdop exec for single-command execution with optional JSON output.

Access remote terminals from your command line.

How do I connect to a remote terminal?


# Open interactive shell on a remote machine
cmdop terminal <hostname>

Example:


# Connect to the production server
cmdop terminal prod-server

You’re now in an interactive shell:


Connected to prod-server
Session: a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890

deploy@prod-server:~$ _

What features does the terminal support?

Full PTY Support

Colors and formatting
Arrow keys and navigation
Tab completion
Interactive programs (vim, htop, tmux)

How does session persistence work?

Close terminal with Ctrl+D or exit:


Session continues running.
Reconnect with: cmdop terminal prod-server

Your processes keep running!

What keyboard shortcuts are available?

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+D`	Detach from session
`Ctrl+C`	Send SIGINT to process
`Ctrl+Z`	Suspend process
`Ctrl+\`	Send SIGQUIT

How do I use observer mode?

Watch without ability to type:


# Watch session without ability to type (read-only)
cmdop terminal prod-server --observe

Useful for:

Training/shadowing
Audit/compliance
Monitoring

How do I use multiple sessions?

Open multiple terminals to same machine:

Terminal 1:


cmdop terminal prod-server
echo "Hello from terminal 1"

Terminal 2:


cmdop terminal prod-server
# Sees "Hello from terminal 1"!
echo "Hello from terminal 2"

Both terminals share the same session.

How do I execute a single command?

For scripts, use exec instead:


# Run a single command without opening an interactive shell
cmdop exec prod-server "uptime"

Output:


14:23:01 up 42 days, 3:15, 2 users, load average: 0.15, 0.10, 0.08

With Timeout


# Set 5-minute timeout for long-running scripts
cmdop exec prod-server "long-script.sh" --timeout 300

JSON Output


# Get structured output for scripting and automation
cmdop exec prod-server "uptime" --json


{
  "hostname": "prod-server",
  "command": "uptime",
  "exit_code": 0,
  "output": "14:23:01 up 42 days...",
  "duration_ms": 150
}

Can I use SSH-style syntax?


# Use familiar user@host format (same as SSH)
cmdop terminal user@hostname

How do I pass environment variables?


# Pass environment
cmdop exec prod-server --env "DEBUG=1" --env "API_KEY=xxx" "./script.sh"

How does CMDOP compare to SSH?

SSH	CMDOP
`ssh user@ip`	`cmdop terminal hostname`
Need IP and port 22	Just hostname
Keys in ~/.ssh	OAuth authentication
Connection = session	Session persists
One client	Multiple clients

How do I troubleshoot terminal issues?

Connection Timeout


# Check machine status
cmdop machines
 
# If offline, restart agent on target
# (on the target machine)
cmdop connect

Permission Denied


# Check your workspace membership
cmdop workspace current
cmdop workspace members

Lag or Latency


# Check network
ping grpc.cmdop.com
 
# Try with debug
cmdop terminal prod-server --debug

What should I read next?

File Operations — Transfer files
Workspace Management — Manage workspaces