Computers and run location

Whether an Agent runs on Syfo Cloud or on your own computer, and how to connect a computer to Syfo.

Every Agent needs somewhere to run. Where it runs determines which tools it can use, which files it can access, and whether it can stay online all the time.

Three terms

Term	Meaning
Run location	The first thing you choose when creating an Agent: Syfo Cloud (hosted by Syfo) or My computer (a computer you connect yourself, shown as My Own Computer in the wizard).
Computer	A machine connected to your organization that can run Agents. “Computers” in the organization navigation lists every computer, in two groups: “Self-managed computers” and “Syfo-hosted cloud computers”. One computer can run multiple Agents.
Runtime	The AI coding tool the Agent actually works with, such as Claude Code or Codex. On your own computer, the runtime must be installed and signed in on that computer first.

Choosing between Syfo Cloud and My computer

	Syfo Cloud	My computer
Availability	Hosted by Syfo and always online; works from your phone and the web	Online only while the computer is on, connected to the internet, and the Syfo background service is running
What it can access	A hosted environment that doesn’t pick up the configuration on your computer; grant any credentials it needs through the Vault	Can use the code repositories, command-line tools, signed-in sessions, and local files on that computer directly
Who can create one	Organization Owners and Admins can create one directly; regular members fill in a “Purpose”, pick an Owner or Admin as the approver, and submit a request	Created on a connected, online computer; for who can use which computer, see Permissions
Billing	Runtime environment costs are deducted from organization credits; model costs for chat and work are deducted separately	No runtime environment costs; model costs go to your own account or key, or you can choose “Organization credits” (see below)
Best for	Scheduled tasks, operations or support Agents that must stay online, and teams that don’t want to maintain their own environment	Development and debugging, and work that needs local files or tools on the machine

In the creation wizard, Syfo Cloud is marked “Recommended”. If your role can’t use Syfo Cloud, the card shows “Admin only”. You can’t create a Cloud Agent when the organization has no available balance; the app will prompt you to top up first. For how credits are earned and spent, see Usage & billing.

Connect a computer

You only need to connect a computer once. After that, you can create multiple Agents on it.

Go to “Computers” in the organization navigation and click “Add computer”. You can also choose “My computer” while creating an Agent, then pick “Add a new computer” in the computer list.
The dialog generates an install command. Choose your platform (macOS / Linux or Windows), then click “Copy command”.
Open a terminal on the computer you want to connect, paste the command, and press Enter. Copying it without running it won’t connect the computer.
Go back to the dialog. Once it shows “Waiting for computer to connect…”, it detects the computer automatically; when the connection succeeds, it shows “Computer connected successfully!”.
Give the computer a recognizable “Computer name” and click “Done”.

Some organizations see a different flow: download the desktop installer, install it, open Syfo, click “Connect organization”, then approve in your browser. For servers or machines without a graphical interface, expand “Advanced: install from the command line (server / no GUI)” and install from the command line instead.

You can run the command more than once. If Syfo is already installed on the computer, the command just adds the current organization and doesn’t interrupt other organizations it is already connected to.

If it still shows “We couldn’t detect this computer yet.” after a few minutes, first make sure the install command ran to completion without errors, then use the commands shown in the dialog to check the background service (daemon) status and logs. You can also click “Try again”.

Going offline and reconnecting

When a computer is shut down, loses its internet connection, or its background service stops, it shows as “Offline”, and the Agents on it pause their work:

You can’t create new Agents on an offline computer, or start or restart the Agents on it.
The Syfo web app can’t power on a computer remotely or restart a stopped background service remotely. Run the start command on that computer (you’ll find it under “Local daemon commands” on the computer’s detail page).
Once the computer reconnects, it shows as “Online” again. Background operations that were already submitted, such as a Powerpack installation, continue after it reconnects.

Syfo Cloud computers are maintained by Syfo, so you don’t need to sign in to the host. If an Agent stops responding, click “Restart Syfo Cloud” on the computer’s detail page. Restarting interrupts any running tasks; afterwards the Agents reconnect automatically.

Manage a computer

Open a computer in “Computers” to see its online status, computer type, operating system, detected runtimes, and the Agents running on it.

Restart Agents: Select Agents on this computer to restart them in bulk, or choose “Reset & restart”.
Daemon updates: Check for and install updates to the background service. Only organization Owners and Admins can update. Updating restarts the background service, so running Agents may be briefly interrupted.
Delete computer: You must delete every Agent on the computer first.
Powerpack: Install extended capabilities for every Agent on this computer. See Powerpack.

Runtimes available on My computer

On your own computer, Agents work through the runtimes that are installed and signed in on that computer:

Supported: Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI
Beta: Kimi Code, DeepSeek Reasonix, DeepSeek Harness, CodeBuddy / WorkBuddy, Grok Build, Pi Coding Agent

When creating an Agent, you can only choose runtimes that the computer has reported as available. The rest are listed under “Supported but not installed”, with setup instructions.

Use organization credits on My computer

By default, an Agent running on your computer uses the account or key of that computer’s runtime. If your organization has this feature enabled, you can pay with organization credits instead, so you don’t need to configure a key on the computer:

Where to choose it: When creating an Agent, select “Organization credits” under “Model payment”. For an existing Agent, change “Model payment” in its details.
Codex only: This option is only available for the Codex runtime, and the computer must first complete the managed Codex setup (the app says: “Run the latest Syfo setup on this computer to enable the organization model runtime.”). Until then, you’ll see “This computer is not ready for organization credits yet.”
Who can use it: Owners and Admins can select it directly. Regular members must submit a request for an Owner or Admin to approve; to switch an existing Agent to organization credits, click “Submit change request”.
Can’t see the option: Your organization hasn’t enabled it yet. The app shows “Organization credits are not enabled for this organization yet.”

Permissions follow the run location

What an Agent can do depends on what’s available where it runs:

If a code repository isn’t there, the Agent can’t change it.
If a command-line tool isn’t there, the Agent can’t use it.
If an external system needs a token, configure it on the computer the Agent runs on, or put the credential in the Vault and grant it to that Agent.

Split Agents and computers along work boundaries rather than concentrating every permission on one computer. For who can manage computers and who can restart Agents, see Permissions.