remote-compilation-helper-setup - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: remote-compilation-helper-setup description: >- Configure RCH workers, install hooks, fix SSH/daemon issues. Use when setting up remote compilation, adding build machines, troubleshooting rch doctor, or "no workers available".

RCH Setup

Offloads cargo build, bun test, gcc to remote workers. Transparent—same commands, faster builds.

Workflow

1. rch doctor           # What's broken?
2. rch doctor --fix     # Auto-fix common issues
3. rch doctor           # All green? Done.

If --fix can't solve it, continue below.

Setup Checklist

Prerequisites: which rustup rsync zstd (install missing)
Install: cargo install --path rch (or --path . from repo root)
Configure: Create ~/.config/rch/workers.toml (see below)
Hook: rch hook install
Daemon: rch daemon start (or systemctl --user start rchd)
Validate: rch doctor → all checks pass, then rch self-test

Worker Config

# ~/.config/rch/workers.toml
[[workers]]
id = "worker1"
host = "192.168.1.100"
user = "ubuntu"
identity_file = "~/.ssh/id_ed25519"
total_slots = 8    # ≈ CPU cores - 2
priority = 100     # Higher = preferred
tags = ["rust"]    # Optional capability tags

Discover from SSH config:

rch workers discover --from-ssh-config --dry-run  # Preview
rch workers discover --from-ssh-config            # Add to config

Verify workers:

rch workers probe worker1 --verbose  # Test single
rch workers probe --all              # Test all
rch workers capabilities             # Show detected toolchains/targets

Quick Fixes

Symptom	Fix
SSH fails	`eval $(ssh-agent) && ssh-add ~/.ssh/your_key`
Daemon down / stale socket	`rch daemon restart` — never `rm` the socket by hand
Hook missing	`rch hook install` (`--force` only after `rch hook status`)
No workers	`rch status --fleet` + `rch admit "cargo build"` — find the real cause; do not edit `workers.toml` for transient illness

Test the hook:

rch hook test

Validation

rch doctor --verbose   # Full diagnostics
rch doctor --json      # Machine-readable
rch diagnose "cargo check" --dry-run  # Show the decision without remote execution

⚠️ All rch doctor checks must pass before use.

References

Topic	Reference
Worker schema, selection algorithm, tags	WORKERS.md
All error messages & detailed fixes	TROUBLESHOOTING.md
Hook protocol, 5-tier classification	HOOKS.md