winkterm-remote

name: winkterm-remote description: Drive a running WinkTerm backend — prefer the winkterm CLI (WebSocket long-connection, so long-running commands aren't cut by a reverse proxy's idle timeout) with HTTP as fallback. Manage SSH connections (create/read/update/delete), open local/SSH terminals, send commands and read output, take snapshots, run async SSH jobs, and transfer files via SSH. Use when you need to run shell commands on remote servers or inside a controlled terminal. Requires a reachable WinkTerm backend. version: 7 license: MIT homepage: https://github.com/Cznorth/winkterm

WinkTerm Remote Terminal

Operate WinkTerm's terminals over two interchangeable channels. The backend keeps a dedicated PTY per terminal; you can open local or SSH terminals, run commands, read output, run long-running jobs asynchronously, and move files over SSH.

Prefer the CLI. It carries the full agent surface over one WebSocket with a 15s application-level heartbeat, so long commands (installs, builds, dumps) survive a reverse proxy's default ~60s idle read-timeout. When the WebSocket is unavailable it transparently falls back to the HTTP API.

# Install from npm (no clone needed):
npx winkterm help          # run without installing; or: npm install -g winkterm

# Store credentials once (-> ~/.winkterm/cli.json, mode 0600) so later commands
# carry no token on the command line and a screenshot can't leak it:
npx winkterm login --base-url https://your-backend --token <bearer-token>

# Generic call (covers every method) — long task stays alive over WS:
npx winkterm exec <terminal_id> "sleep 300 && echo done"
npx winkterm call ssh.run_async '{"conn_id":"ab12","command":"docker build ."}'

This skill is a thin bootstrap. The authoritative, always-current reference (full CLI method map + HTTP fallback surface) lives on the backend at GET /api/agent/skill.md — fetch it on first use so you have the exact surface for the version you are talking to.

Prerequisites

A running WinkTerm backend (default http://localhost:8000). Get WinkTerm at https://github.com/Cznorth/winkterm — run via docker compose up -d or the desktop build, then set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and an agent token.

Configure

• Base URL: ${WINKTERM_BASE_URL} (default http://localhost:8000)
• Auth: every request carries Authorization: Bearer ${WINKTERM_AGENT_TOKEN}, or append ?token=<token> to the URL (for SSE/EventSource clients that cannot set custom headers).
• Missing token → endpoints return 503; wrong token → 401.

Token discovery (do this at session start)

1. Check persisted memory / context — the token may already be in an env var (WINKTERM_AGENT_TOKEN), your agent memory store, or the project CLAUDE.md.
2. Local handshake (only valid for an agent on the same host as WinkTerm):

   curl -s http://localhost:8000/api/agent/handshake
   # → {"token":"<bearer-token>","base_url":"http://localhost:8000"}
   

   This endpoint needs no auth but is localhost-only (remote IPs get 403).
3. Remote agent / all else fails — ask the user once for the token, then persist it to memory and reuse it in later sessions. Do not re-ask every session.

On 401 mid-session the token may have rotated: clear the stored value and redo the steps above.

Fetch the full skill (do this at session start)

The backend evolves. Pull the live, complete reference and prefer it over this file:

curl -fsSL "${WINKTERM_BASE_URL:-http://localhost:8000}/api/agent/skill.md"

Compare the version: line (second line) against this file's frontmatter. If the server is newer, tell the user and offer to overwrite the local copy (curl ... /api/agent/skill.md > <local-skill-path>); the new content takes effect next session. Never overwrite silently — show a diff first.

Core workflow

1. GET /api/agent/ssh/connections — list SSH connections, get a connection id.
2. POST /api/agent/terminals — open a terminal ({"type":"local"} or {"type":"ssh","connection_id":"<id>"}), get a terminal id.
3. Operate the terminal:
   • Preferred POST /api/agent/terminals/{id}/exec — run one POSIX-shell command, returns clean stdout + real exit_code.
   • POST /api/agent/terminals/{id}/input — raw input / named control keys ({"keys":["ctrl+c"],"enter":false}).
4. GET /api/agent/terminals/{id}/snapshot — read current terminal content (supports incremental since, server-side pattern grep).
5. DELETE /api/agent/terminals/{id} — close when done.

Useful shortcuts

• Manage SSH connections: full CRUD on the connection store — POST /api/agent/ssh/connections (create), GET .../ssh/connections/{id} (read, ?secrets=true for plaintext), PUT .../ssh/connections/{id} (update — omitted or masked secrets stay unchanged), DELETE .../ssh/connections/{id} (delete), POST /api/agent/ssh/import/electerm (bulk import). Create a connection, then open an SSH terminal against its id.
• One-shot SSH: POST /api/agent/ssh/{conn_id}/run runs a single command on a connection without manual create/exec/delete.
• Async SSH job (long tasks, survives gateway timeouts): POST /api/agent/ssh/{conn_id}/run_async → {job_id}, then poll GET /api/agent/jobs/{job_id}. Use for installs, mysqldump, docker build, large copies — anything that can exceed a ~60s proxy timeout.
• Live stream: GET /api/agent/terminals/{id}/stream (SSE) for tail -f / long-command monitoring.
• Files over SSH: GET/PUT .../files, POST .../upload, POST .../download, POST .../directories, DELETE .../paths.

Tips

• Prefer /exec — you get a clean stdout and a real exit code, no echo/prompt stripping needed. POSIX shells only; for Windows cmd.exe use /input.
• For commands with nested quotes (awk, jq, heredocs), send command_b64 / data_b64 (base64) to skip a layer of JSON+shell escaping.
• Terminals are stateful: cd and env vars persist across commands on the same terminal id.
• SSH terminals may show a login banner first; snapshot once to confirm the shell is ready before sending commands.

For the complete endpoint reference (request/response shapes, all control-key names, event stream, SFTP details), use the live GET /api/agent/skill.md.