Skip to main content
A computer has one name for its whole lifetime. That name ties together its site, its public address, and its inbox.

Create

cool publish creates a computer from files, with no VM behind it. A computer named bakery receives these addresses:
  • Public address: bakery.cool.computer
  • Inbox: bakery@mail.cool.computer
cool create makes a computer that has its own VM from the start.

Give it a VM

A computer gets a VM only when the work needs one: a server or bot that stays up, a scheduled job, or a long task. cool vm bakery gives an existing site its VM in place. cool service run, and a publish whose cool.json declares run, give one too. A VM is an always-on Ubuntu machine with sudo, with Claude Code, Codex and Pi installed. Giving a site a VM is one-way: afterwards cool publish to it is refused.

Work

On a computer with a VM, use the browser terminal or cool enter bakery for an interactive shell, and cool exec for one command. Files, installed packages, databases, and system configuration live on the VM’s writable disk.

Serve

Each computer with a VM can run one configured service at its public address. Start and inspect that service with cool service, from your machine or from inside the computer, or with the HTTP API. When a request reaches your service, the public address waits up to 60 seconds for it to send response headers, then returns 504, before any Cloudflare 524 timeout. Answer within 60 seconds and do longer work in the background. Once headers arrive, streamed responses and WebSocket connections have no time limit.

Keep working

A computer stays on your account until you delete it. One made by cool publish without signing in is deleted, with its site, after 24 hours unless you claim it. A computer with a VM keeps running when you leave the terminal or close the browser, so its services and timers continue while you are away. Requests to the public address reach published files first, then the exposed HTTP port.

Delete

Deleting a computer removes it from your account and gives up its name, address, inbox, and stored data. Delete it only when you no longer need that identity or its files.