agentic cloud computer

Articles

Updated August 2026

What we have learned running coding agents on machines that stay awake — written for people deciding how to do it, including when the answer is not us, and for people deciding what to hand one once it is running.

Getting an agent off your laptop

Claude Code runs where you start it, which is fine until you close the lid. The ways to move it somewhere that stays awake.

Running Claude Code in the cloudFour ways to move Claude Code off your laptop — leaving the machine on, a VPS, managed hosting, or an agent that owns its computer — and what each one really costs.Keeping Claude Code running after you close the laptopThe four fixes everyone tries — keeping the machine awake, tmux, Channels, scheduled runs — what each one really does, and why three of them leave the actual problem in place.Claude Code on a VPSA working setup end to end: how big a box really needs to be, the install, signing in with no browser to open, surviving a reboot, and the five things that break at 3am.Using Claude Code from your phoneSSH apps, remote desktops, Channels and a persistent coworker in a shared Workspace: four ways to reach a coding agent from a phone, and the one thing that decides whether it survives the walk to the shop.

Comparing the options

What each of the alternatives actually does, what it costs once the model bill is included, and when the honest answer is not us.

Claude Code Channels, and where it stopsChannels is free, official and good. It also has two limits no configuration removes: your computer has to stay on, and the agent waits at a permission prompt until you come back.Background agents: which ones actually keep workingEveryone ships one now. The four questions that separate an agent that works while you sleep from a chat window that stops the moment you look away.What Claude Code really costs to runSubscription or API, what the usage windows mean in practice, and the two bills people forget — the box it runs on, and the hours spent keeping it alive.Where to host OpenClaw so it stays upOwn hardware, a VPS, or a managed host: what each costs once you add the model bill nobody quotes — and an honest note about which reader we are not the answer for.Claude Code alternatives, compared honestlySeven tools people move to and from — Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, OpenClaw, Aider and the rest — what each is actually good at, and the question that decides it.

Working with an AI engineer

No technical background needed: what to hand one, how to ask, what comes back, and what it genuinely cannot do.

What to hand an AI engineer in the first weekFor the non-technical reader: five jobs that land, how to phrase a request so it comes back right, what goes wrong in week one, and what an agent genuinely cannot do.An AI engineer for a small businessThe website, the spreadsheet nobody wants to update, the orders that arrive by email: what an agent can genuinely take off a small business, and what it costs to try.Hiring an AI engineer instead of a freelancerWhere each one wins, on the four things that decide it: what the work costs, how fast it starts, who carries the context next month, and who you can hold responsible.
A coworker’s own screen: its model, its cloud machine, the subscription it signs into and the work it has proposed
A coworker in the Workspace: the model it runs, the machine it runs on, and the work waiting for your approval.

Or skip the reading. Run a team of persistent AI coworkers from one shared Workspace. They work in parallel on real cloud computers, share company context, and ask before anything important ships. Agentic Cloud Computer is free to use; you pay your AI and cloud providers directly.

See how it works

Or look at every screen first.