Use Context

Run tasks on your machine

A paired computer can run tasks for you, with its own files and tools. You send the task from the web, and the computer picks it up.

Start a worker

On the paired computer:

Code
context worker

The worker waits for tasks addressed to this computer, takes them and runs them here. The terminal shows each run as it happens: messages, tool calls and questions.

• Press Ctrl-C once to stop taking new tasks and let running ones finish.
• Press Ctrl-C twice to stop running tasks too.
• context worker --once takes one task, runs it and exits. Handy for a quick try.
• context worker --data-dir <folder> keeps the task files somewhere other than the default folder.

Send a task to it

In the web app, start a new task and choose the computer from the runtime picker, under Machines. A computer is listed by the name you gave it when you approved its pairing.

What to expect

• Updates are automatic. When your workspace runs a newer version, the worker updates this computer’s install and carries on.
• Saved state. On a computer nobody else uses, a task’s files stay after its run (up to 4 GiB across all of them, oldest removed first), so continuing it here starts faster. A computer shared with others keeps none.
• If the computer is unpaired, the worker stops and tells you to sign in again with context login.

A second pairing for a worker

One computer can hold more than one pairing, each with its own name and folders. For example, keep your own pairing for the tasks you work on yourself and a separate one for a worker:

Code
context login --profile worker
context worker --profile worker

Every command takes --profile <name>, and you can also put it before the command: context --profile worker ….

Who can use this computer

Settings › Terminal › Paired machines lists your paired computers and the ones others share with you. From there you can choose who may send tasks to a computer (Only me, everyone in your organization, its admins only, or one workspace), or unpair it.