> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://tesser.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is tesser?

> Remote development compute, and the wiring between it, for local coding agents

Tesser runs your dev environment on persistent cloud boxes while your
coding agent — and your files — stay on the laptop. One box runs one
service; a mesh wires them together by name; your browser sees all of it
through `localhost`.

The agent edits local files and invokes `tesser` like any other CLI. Files
sync out; commands run remotely; dev servers stay up after the terminal
dies; heavy jobs land on workbench boxes instead of your machine — or your
dev server's.

```sh theme={null}
BOX=$(tesser dev backend)        # box + sync + install + dev server, wired
tesser exec -- pnpm test         # on a workbench, never a serving box
open http://localhost:3000       # your frontend, through the viewport
```

## The shape of it

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="One instance per box" icon="server">
    A box is born as (content × service) and runs exactly one thing. Dev
    instances sync from your worktree; pinned instances run an immutable
    commit — the shared `main` your whole mesh falls back to.
  </Card>

  <Card title="A mesh with zero app config" icon="diagram-project">
    Deps are loopback ports: the `localhost:5001` already in your `.env`
    just <em>is</em> the backend, on boxes and laptop alike. Names resolve
    per box — your boxes prefer your instances, the shared mesh never
    routes into them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Callers own every start" icon="terminal">
    No reconcilers. Agents, humans, and CI start things; the cloud only
    ever turns things off. Idle boxes sleep in minutes-to-hours, cost
    cents asleep, wake in seconds with caches warm.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cells decide, SSH carries" icon="route">
    A control plane of tiny single-writer actors holds routing, lifecycle,
    and policy — and never touches your bytes. Data moves over SSH and
    private IPs; logs never leave the box.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Where to go

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    One service, then a mesh, in a dozen commands.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Manifests" icon="file-code" href="/manifest">
    The one TOML file of facts each service declares.
  </Card>

  <Card title="CLI reference" icon="book" href="/cli-reference">
    Every verb and its contract.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Architecture" icon="diagram-project" href="/architecture">
    Boxes, cells, boxd, the mesh, and the lifecycle.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>