- Published on
Developing on the go with Tailscale, Termux, and tmux
- Authors
- Name
- Jeremy Garrell
Tailscale and Termux let me SSH into my dev machine from my phone, from anywhere, over an encrypted peer-to-peer connection with no port forwarding or router configuration required. That solves a real problem: my development work runs through swarm-forge, a tool I use to coordinate several AI agents on a task, and its workflow used to stall completely whenever I stepped away from my desk. Now a phone in my pocket is enough to keep the agents moving, wherever I am.
Why did swarm-forge need me at my desk?
swarm-forge is a good workflow, but it had one dependency I didn't love: it assumed I was sitting at my development machine. Three specific moments in the loop required that:
- Kicking off a new spec design.
- Answering a clarifying question the agent needed resolved before it could keep going.
- Approving or denying a command before it executed.
Any one of those could come up while I was away from the desk for any reason. The work didn't fail. It just sat there, waiting on me.
What does Tailscale actually do?
Tailscale is "a Zero Trust identity-based connectivity platform that replaces your legacy VPN, SASE, and PAM." It creates "a peer-to-peer mesh network (known as a tailnet)" and "enables encrypted point-to-point connections using the open source WireGuard protocol." The part that mattered most for me: connections between devices on the tailnet "work seamlessly across firewalls and Network Address Translation (NAT) without requiring port forwarding or complex firewall rules" — no router configuration, no exposed ports on my home network, just my devices finding each other.
I installed it on my dev machine and on my phone, joined both to the same tailnet, and that was effectively the entire setup. My phone can now reach my desktop the same way it reaches any other device on the tailnet, regardless of which network either one is actually sitting on.
What is Termux, and why do I need it?
Termux describes itself as "an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app that works directly with no rooting or setup required." That matters here for one specific reason: it ships the ability to "access remote servers using the ssh client from OpenSSH." Between Tailscale handling the network path and Termux handling the terminal and SSH client, I have everything I need to reach my dev machine from a phone in my pocket.
The combination is simple in practice. Tailscale gets my phone and my desktop onto the same private network no matter where either one physically is. Termux gives me a real terminal and a real ssh binary to use once I'm there.
How do I actually interact with swarm-forge over SSH?
SSH access alone gets me a shell, but swarm-forge's loop involves watching what the Claude CLI is doing and responding to it in real time, not just running one command and disconnecting. To make that workable from a phone screen, I built a tmux dashboard, kept at swarmforge/scripts/ in the swarm-forge repo, that lets me view and interact directly with the Claude CLI's input and output over that SSH session.
That's the piece that turns "I can technically SSH in" into "I can actually keep the swarm moving." I open Termux, SSH to my dev machine over the tailnet, attach to the dashboard, and I'm looking at the same input and output I'd see sitting at my desk. I can answer a clarifying question or approve a command from my phone exactly as I would from my keyboard.
Does this change how swarm-forge works?
No. It changes where I'm allowed to be when it needs me. The presence requirement used to mean real gaps in the workflow: an agent finishes a task, needs a decision, and waits because I'm not at my desk. Now the same moment gets handled from a phone, and the swarm keeps moving.
It's a narrow fix, but it points at a broader pattern: a workflow only counts as automated if it doesn't quietly depend on one person being at one machine. Finding that gate and removing it is most of what the workflow and automation work I do at Garrell Tech Solutions actually looks like.
FAQ
Is Tailscale free for a personal setup like this? Yes. Tailscale's Personal plan is free, supports up to 6 users and unlimited devices, and includes basic Tailscale SSH for up to 5 hosts — enough for a single dev machine and phone.
Do I need to root my Android phone to use Termux? No. Termux "works directly with no rooting or setup required."
Where do I install Termux, since it's not on the Google Play Store? From F-Droid or directly from GitHub — those are the two sources Termux's own site points to.
Does this expose my dev machine to the public internet? No. Tailscale connections work "across firewalls and Network Address Translation (NAT) without requiring port forwarding or complex firewall rules," so there's nothing to open on my router or expose to the open internet.
Can I use this same setup on iPhone instead of Android? Not with Termux — it's an Android-only app.