Documentation
Documentation
How Helmlane works
Helmlane lets you run coding agents on your own computers and drive them from a phone, a browser or another agent. Start here.
Three parts
Helmlane is deliberately split so that your code never has to leave your computers.
The agent
Runs on each computer you enroll — a Mac, a Linux box, WSL or a container. It runs the coding agents in the folders you share and dials out to the server. Nothing listens for connections from outside.
The control plane
The server your devices meet at: accounts, projects, chats, approvals and notifications. Use api.helmlane.com, orrun your own.
The apps
iPhone, Android, the web app, a Telegram bot, and the MCP server for other agents. They only ever talk to the control plane — never directly to your computer.
Get started
- Install the agent on the computer that stays home.On a Mac, download Helmlane and sign in. On Linux, WSL or Docker, follow the Linux guide.
- Share the folders agents may work in. Helmlane can only see folders you approve on that computer.
- Sign in to your coding agents there. Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and the rest use their own sign-in on that computer;each agent’s page says how.
- Open Helmlane on your phone or at app.helmlane.com.Create a project, pick a computer, folder and agent, and start a chat.
Guides
Download
Mac, iPhone, Android, Linux, Docker and web.
Linux, WSL and Docker
A one-line install, a container, devcontainers and Codespaces.
Self-host
Run the control plane on your own server with automatic HTTPS.
Agents and capabilities
What each agent supports, how to sign it in, ACP and plugins.
MCP server
Drive Helmlane from Claude Code, Cursor, Codex or VS Code.
Security
Step-up, passkeys, the audit log, command rules and encryption.
A few words
Helmlane uses these words the same way everywhere:
| Computer | An enrolled machine running the Helmlane agent, as one user. |
| Project | A home for related chats. It is not tied to one computer or folder. |
| Placement | A project’s working folder on a specific computer. A project can have several. |
| Chat | A conversation with one agent, in one placement. Its target never changes silently. |
| Agent | A coding agent Helmlane drives: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, an ACP agent or a plugin. |
| Run | One attempt to do the work a message asked for. |
| Handoff | Carrying selected context into a new chat on another computer or agent. Files and the original chat stay where they are. |