Shed

Shed is a lightweight tool for managing persistent, VM-based development environments across multiple servers. It enables developers to spin up isolated coding sessions with AI tools (Claude Code, OpenCode) pre-installed, disconnect, and reconnect later to continue work.

Features

• Simple CLI - Create and manage dev environments with minimal commands
• Session Persistence - VMs keep running after disconnect
• Multi-Server - Manage sheds across home servers and cloud VPS instances
• IDE Integration - Native Cursor/VS Code support via SSH Remote
• AI-Ready - Pre-configured for Claude Code and OpenCode workflows
• VM Backends - Firecracker microVMs (Linux) or Apple VZ virtual machines (macOS Apple Silicon)

Architecture

Shed consists of two binaries:

• shed - CLI for developer machines (macOS, Linux)
• shed-server - Server daemon exposing HTTP API (port 8080) and SSH server (port 2222)

The server runs one backend based on the platform:

• VZ - Uses Apple Virtualization.framework VMs via vfkit (macOS Apple Silicon)
• Firecracker - Uses microVMs with vsock communication (Linux with KVM)

Set default_backend: detect to auto-select based on platform, or specify vz or firecracker explicitly.

flowchart LR
    subgraph client["Developer Machine"]
        CLI["shed CLI"]
    end

    subgraph server["Remote Server / Local Mac"]
        SERVER["shed-server"]
        subgraph backends["Backend"]
            subgraph fc["Firecracker (Linux)"]
                VM1["microVM"]
            end
            subgraph vz["VZ (macOS)"]
                VM2["Linux VM"]
            end
        end
        SERVER --> backends
    end

    CLI -->|"HTTP (8080)"| SERVER
    CLI -->|"SSH (2222)"| SERVER

Requirements

Component	Requirements
Client	macOS or Linux with Go 1.24+
Server (VZ)	macOS 13+ (Ventura) on Apple Silicon (arm64)
Server (Firecracker)	Linux with KVM support
Network	Tailscale (or any private network) connecting all machines

Quick Links

• Quick Start - Get up and running
• CLI Reference - All commands and options
• Configuration - Client and server config
• VZ Setup - Set up VZ backend (macOS)
• VZ Operations - Using VZ sheds
• Firecracker Setup - Set up Firecracker backend
• Firecracker Operations - Using Firecracker sheds
• Roadmap - Future enhancements

Security Model

Shed is designed for single-user scenarios where:

• All machines are connected via Tailscale (or similar private network)
• The developer owns/controls all machines
• Network access implies trust

Not suitable for: Multi-tenant environments, public internet exposure, or untrusted network access.