Remote gateway readme

Running crocbot with a Remote Gateway

crocbot uses SSH tunneling to connect to a remote gateway. This guide shows you how to set it up.

Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        Client Machine                          │
│                                                              │
│  Control UI / CLI ──► ws://127.0.0.1:18789 (local port)      │
│                     │                                        │
│                     ▼                                        │
│  SSH Tunnel ────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                     │                                        │
└─────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────┘
                      │
                      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         Remote Machine                        │
│                                                              │
│  Gateway WebSocket ──► ws://127.0.0.1:18789 ──►              │
│                                                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Quick Setup

Step 1: Add SSH Config

Edit ~/.ssh/config and add:

Host remote-gateway
    HostName <REMOTE_IP>          # e.g., 192.0.2.1
    User <REMOTE_USER>            # e.g., jefferson
    LocalForward 18789 127.0.0.1:18789
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Replace <REMOTE_IP> and <REMOTE_USER> with your values.

Step 2: Copy SSH Key

Copy your public key to the remote machine (enter password once):

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa <REMOTE_USER>@<REMOTE_IP>

Step 3: Set Gateway Token

Ensure the remote Gateway has auth configured (token/password) via config or service env vars.

Step 4: Start SSH Tunnel

ssh -N remote-gateway &

Step 5: Open the Control UI

Open the Control UI through the tunnel:

http://127.0.0.1:18789/?token=<your-token>

You can also point the CLI at the same tunnel using --url and --token.

---

Auto-Start Tunnel on Login

To have the SSH tunnel start automatically when you log in, create a Launch Agent.

Create the PLIST file

Save this as ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.crocbot.ssh-tunnel.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.crocbot.ssh-tunnel</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/bin/ssh</string>
        <string>-N</string>
        <string>remote-gateway</string>
    </array>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Load the Launch Agent

launchctl bootstrap gui/$UID ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.crocbot.ssh-tunnel.plist

The tunnel will now:

• Start automatically when you log in
• Restart if it crashes
• Keep running in the background

---

Troubleshooting

Check if tunnel is running:

ps aux | grep "ssh -N remote-gateway" | grep -v grep
lsof -i :18789

Restart the tunnel:

launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/com.crocbot.ssh-tunnel

Stop the tunnel:

launchctl bootout gui/$UID/com.crocbot.ssh-tunnel

---

How It Works

Component	What It Does
LocalForward 18789 127.0.0.1:18789	Forwards local port 18789 to remote port 18789
ssh -N	SSH without executing remote commands (just port forwarding)
KeepAlive	Automatically restarts tunnel if it crashes
RunAtLoad	Starts tunnel when the agent loads

The Control UI connects to ws://127.0.0.1:18789 on your client machine. The SSH tunnel forwards that connection to port 18789 on the remote machine where the Gateway is running.