Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@bostondv

bostondv/2026-02-04-docs-bento-remote-workflow-presentation-plan.md

Last active February 4, 2026 19:03
Show Gist options

  • Select an option

    Learn more about clone URLs
  • Save bostondv/6fb309daa632d051854aea002d340692 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.

Select an option

Learn more about clone URLs
Save bostondv/6fb309daa632d051854aea002d340692 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
Bento Remote Workflow Presentation
Raw
2026-02-04-docs-bento-remote-workflow-presentation-plan.md
title type date
Bento Remote Workflow Presentation
docs
2026-02-04

Cloud-Based Development Workflow with Bento, tmux, Graft, and Claude Code

The Problem

Modern AI-assisted development presents unique challenges:

  • Long-running processes: AI coding sessions can run for hours, tying up your local machine
  • Parallelization: Working on multiple features simultaneously requires isolated environments
  • Connectivity: Losing connection to a local process means losing work
  • Resource constraints: AI tools consume significant CPU/memory

The Solution: A Cloud-Native Development Stack

graph TB
    subgraph "Your Machine"
        A[Happy Coder App<br/>Web / Mac / Native] --> |SSH + Notifications|B
    end

    subgraph "Bento Remote Server"
        B[tmux Session Manager]
        B --> C[Worktree 1<br/>feature-auth]
        B --> D[Worktree 2<br/>bugfix-cart]
        B --> E[Worktree 3<br/>refactor-api]

        C --> F[Claude Code<br/>Instance 1]
        D --> G[Claude Code<br/>Instance 2]
        E --> H[Claude Code<br/>Instance 3]
    end

    subgraph "Git Repository"
        I[(Main Repo)]
        C -.-> I
        D -.-> I
        E -.-> I
    end
Loading

Stack Components

1. Bento Remote Server

Your cloud development environment that runs 24/7:

  • Persistent compute that doesn't tie up your laptop
  • Scales up for resource-intensive tasks
  • Access from anywhere

2. tmux for Session Management

Terminal multiplexer that keeps processes alive:

  • Detach/reattach without losing state
  • Multiple windows and panes per session
  • Survives SSH disconnections

3. Git Worktrees with Graft

Isolated working directories from a single repository:

  • Work on multiple branches simultaneously
  • No context switching overhead
  • Each worktree is a complete working copy

4. Claude Code + Happy Coder

AI-assisted development with enhanced UX:

  • Claude Code: CLI-based AI coding assistant
  • Happy Coder: Wrapper providing:
    • Web interface for remote access
    • Native Mac app with system integration
    • Push notifications when tasks complete
    • Cross-device interaction

Workflow Diagram

sequenceDiagram
    participant You as Developer
    participant Happy as Happy Coder
    participant Bento as Bento Remote
    participant tmux as tmux Session
    participant Graft as Git Worktree
    participant Claude as Claude Code

    You->>Happy: Start new task
    Happy->>Bento: SSH connection
    Bento->>tmux: Create/attach session
    tmux->>Graft: graft new feature-x
    Graft-->>tmux: New worktree ready
    tmux->>Claude: Start Claude Code
    Claude->>Claude: Work on feature...

    Note over You,Claude: Connection can drop here

    Claude-->>tmux: Task complete
    tmux-->>Happy: Notification trigger
    Happy-->>You: Push notification
    You->>Happy: Reconnect & review
Loading

Problems & Solutions

Problem 1: No Notifications from Remote tmux

Challenge: When Claude Code completes a task in tmux, you have no way to know without constantly checking.

Solution: Custom macOS notifier

# After task completion in tmux, trigger notification
notify-macos "Claude Code finished: feature-auth complete"

The notifier sends push notifications through Happy Coder to your Mac.

Problem 2: Disk Space with Multiple Worktrees

Challenge: Each worktree consumes disk space. Large monorepos can exhaust storage quickly.

Solutions:

  1. Larger Bento instance: Scale up storage as needed
  2. Sparse checkout with Graft: Only checkout files you need
# Configure graft for sparse checkout by default
graft config set sparse-default true

# Create worktree with sparse checkout
graft new feature-x src/ tests/

Problem 3: tmux Configuration & Usability

Challenge: Default tmux is bare-bones and awkward to use.

Solutions:

Issue Solution
No mouse support Enable in .tmux.conf: set -g mouse on
Ugly default theme Use Catppuccin theme for better visuals
Missing features Add plugins via TPM (Tmux Plugin Manager)

Recommended .tmux.conf additions:

# Mouse support
set -g mouse on

# Catppuccin theme
set -g @plugin 'catppuccin/tmux'

# Useful plugins
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum'

Benefits Summary

Traditional Local Dev Cloud Workflow with This Stack
Process dies if laptop sleeps Runs 24/7 on Bento
One task at a time Parallel worktrees
No notifications Happy Coder push alerts
Resource constrained Scale up as needed
Lose work on disconnect tmux preserves everything

Quick Start

# 1. Connect to Bento
ssh bento

# 2. Start or attach tmux
tmux new -s dev || tmux attach -t dev

# 3. Create worktree for new feature
graft new my-feature

# 4. Start Happy (Claude Code wrapper) in that worktree
cd worktrees/my-feature
happy

# 5. Detach and let it run (Ctrl+B, D)
# Happy Coder will notify you when done

Architecture Overview

graph LR
    subgraph "Input Layer"
        A[Happy Web]
        B[Happy Mac]
        C[Happy Mobile]
    end

    subgraph "Transport"
        D[SSH Tunnel]
        E[Notification Service]
    end

    subgraph "Compute Layer"
        F[Bento Remote]
        G[tmux]
    end

    subgraph "Isolation Layer"
        H[Graft Worktrees]
    end

    subgraph "AI Layer"
        I[Claude Code Instances]
    end

    A --> D
    B --> D
    C --> D
    D --> F
    F --> G
    G --> H
    H --> I
    I --> E
    E --> A
    E --> B
    E --> C
Loading

Key Takeaways

  1. Persistent compute: Never lose work to laptop sleep or network issues
  2. True parallelism: Multiple Happy/Claude instances on isolated worktrees
  3. Stay informed: Notifications bring updates to you
  4. Scale on demand: Bigger problems = bigger Bento instance
  5. Better UX: Happy Coder makes remote dev feel local

Wishlist / Shortcomings

Things that could be better:

Issue Current State Ideal State
Worktree management tmux windows don't map 1-1 with worktrees. Manual switching, easy to lose track of which window is which worktree. Unified UI showing all worktrees with their status, easy switching, auto-create tmux window per worktree
Viewing diffs CLI git diff output is hard to review for large changes. No syntax highlighting or side-by-side view. Rich diff viewer with syntax highlighting, side-by-side comparison, easy navigation between changed files

Appendix

My Notifier Script

This script sends desktop notifications that work through tmux + SSH to your local machine (via Ghostty terminal's OSC 9 support):

#!/bin/bash
# Send desktop notification that works in tmux + SSH + Ghostty
MSG="${1:-Notification}"
if [[ -n "$TMUX" ]]; then
    PANE_TTY=$(tmux display-message -p "#{pane_tty}")
    SESSION=$(tmux display-message -p "#{session_name}")
    WINDOW=$(tmux display-message -p "#{window_name}")
    FULL_MSG="[$SESSION:$WINDOW] $MSG"
    printf '\ePtmux;\e\e]9;%s\a\e\\' "$FULL_MSG" > "$PANE_TTY"
elif [[ -n "$SSH_TTY" && -w "$SSH_TTY" ]]; then
    printf '\033]9;%s\007' "$MSG" > "$SSH_TTY"
else
    printf '\033]9;%s\007' "$MSG"
fi

Save as ~/.local/bin/notify and make executable with chmod +x ~/.local/bin/notify.

My tmux.conf

# Tmux settings

# Set XTerm key bindings
setw -g xterm-keys on

# Set colors
set-option -g default-terminal "tmux-256color"
set -as terminal-features ",xterm-256color:RGB"
set -ga terminal-overrides ",xterm-256color:Tc"
set -g status-style fg=#ffffff,bg=#333333

# Enable passthrough for OSC sequences (notifications)
set -g allow-passthrough on

# Bell/notification settings for Claude Code
set -g visual-bell off
set -g bell-action any
set -g monitor-bell on

# Set reload key to r
unbind r
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf

# Count sessions start at 1
set -g base-index 1

# Set the title bar
set -g set-titles on
set -g set-titles-string '#(whoami) :: #h :: #(curl ipecho.net/plain;echo)'

# Enable scrollback
set -g terminal-overrides 'xterm*:smcup@:rmcup@'

# Static window names
set-option -g allow-rename off

# Increase scrollback buffer
set-option -g history-limit 50000

# Enable mouse support
set -g mouse on

# Status bar color
set -g status-right '#{prefix_highlight}'

# vim pane nav
bind-key h select-pane -L
bind-key j select-pane -D
bind-key k select-pane -U
bind-key l select-pane -R

set-option -g status-position top

# Configure the catppuccin plugin
set -g @catppuccin_flavor "mocha"
set -g @catppuccin_window_status_style "rounded"
# Window text: show both window name (#W) and pane title (#T)
set -g @catppuccin_window_text " #W: #T"
set -g @catppuccin_window_current_text " #W: #T"

# Make current window stand out (slightly lighter background)
# Inactive: #313244 (surface_0), Current: #585b70 (surface_2)
set -g @catppuccin_window_current_text_color "#585b70"
set -g @catppuccin_window_current_number_color "#f5c2e7"

# Make the status line pretty and add some modules
set -g status-right-length 100
set -g status-left-length 100
set -g status-left ""
set -ag status-right "#{E:@catppuccin_status_application}"
set -ag status-right "#{E:@catppuccin_status_directory}"
set -ag status-right "#{E:@catppuccin_status_session}"

# List of plugins
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum'
set -g @resurrect-strategy-nvim 'session'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-prefix-highlight'
set -g @plugin 'catppuccin/tmux#v2.1.3'

# Initialize TMUX plugin manager (keep this line at the very bottom of tmux.conf)
run '~/.tmux/plugins/tpm/tpm'
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment