shell.online

A browser link to any terminal process.

shell claude

The command keeps running on your machine. shell.online prints a URL, password, and QR code that open the same terminal in a desktop or mobile browser. Terminal traffic is end-to-end encrypted by default.

Install

macOS, Linux, BSD, and Solaris:

curl -fsSL https://shell.online/install | sh

Windows PowerShell:

irm https://shell.online/install.ps1 | iex

Homebrew:

brew install TeoSlayer/shell-online/shell-online

Installers verify checksums. Release binaries and SHA256SUMS are available on the releases page.

Usage

shell <command>                           # share a command
shell                                     # share a new shell
shell --read-only <command>               # disable browser input
shell --foreground <command>              # also show it locally
shell --auto-close 5m <command>           # set an earlier deadline
shell --persistent <file> <command>       # reuse a URL and password

shell list                                # list local sessions
shell attach <id>                         # attach locally
shell kill <id>                           # stop a session

Press Ctrl-X, then D, to detach from an attached session. See shell help reference for every command and option.

Security

The CLI owns the PTY and encrypts terminal frames before sending them to the relay. The browser decrypts them locally. The relay still sees connection metadata, encrypted frame sizes, timing, labels, and session lifecycle events. Use --no-e2ee only when transport encryption without payload E2EE is required.

Anyone with both the URL and password can open a share. Interactive shares can type with the permissions of the wrapped process; use --read-only when viewers should only watch. See the security model and SECURITY.md.

Accounts and containers

Accounts are optional. shell login groups sessions from linked machines in app.shell.online. The CLI works without one.

The published container keeps one encrypted shell, URL, and password across restarts:

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs shell-online

Documentation

• Quick start
• CLI reference
• Mobile behavior
• Reliability
• End-to-end encryption
• Containers
• Platforms
• Self-hosting

Development

Requires Go 1.26.8, Node.js 22, and npm.

npm ci
npm run check
go test -race ./...
npm run test:app

See CONTRIBUTING.md before opening a pull request.

Star History

MIT licensed. See LICENSE.

Developed by Pilot Protocol.