> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gobare.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Take over the machine the agent is working on

> Open a shell on the same computer the agent is using, see exactly what it did — including what it did not commit — change it, and hand it back

**The shape:** a session is a real Linux machine, not a transcript. While the
agent works on it, you can log into the same machine from your own terminal,
read the files it changed, fix what it got wrong, and give it back. The agent
carries on from your change, because there is only one machine.

This is the answer to "the agent says it's done — is it?". Don't read its
summary. Log in and look.

## Once: register a key

Add an `ed25519` public key in the Console under **Settings › SSH keys**. Keys
are per user, and only `ed25519` is accepted.

```bash theme={null}
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/gobare
cat ~/.ssh/gobare.pub
```

Paste the `.pub` line into the Console. Registering a key is a Console step;
there is no `/v1` endpoint for it yet.

## 1. Give the agent something to leave half-done

```bash theme={null}
SESSION=$(curl -s -X POST $GOBARE_API/v1/sessions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GOBARE_TOKEN" -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"input":"In /workspace, create a git repository with a file greet.js that exports a function greet(name) returning \"Hello, \" + name. Commit it. Then change it so it returns \"Hi, \" + name instead, but do NOT commit that change. Reply with one sentence."}' \
  | jq -r .id)
```

Wait for the turn as usual — see the [quickstart](/quickstart).

## 2. Log in

The login name is the session id with `s-` in front:

```bash theme={null}
ssh -i ~/.ssh/gobare -p 2222 s-$SESSION@ssh.gobare.dev
```

```
Preparing Gobare workspace...
gobare:/workspace$
```

You arrive as `user`, with passwordless `sudo`. The agent works as `root`, so
the files it made are root's: `git` refuses to touch its repository ("detected
dubious ownership"), and a plain edit fails with `Permission denied`. Become
the same user the agent is before you do anything:

```bash theme={null}
sudo -i
```

## 3. Look, then change something

In the run behind this guide, the agent had put the repository at
`/workspace/greet-repo` rather than in `/workspace` itself — the kind of detail
its summary does not always mention and the filesystem always does.

```bash theme={null}
cd /workspace/greet-repo
git log --oneline      # df764a8 Initial commit: greet returns Hello
git diff               # the uncommitted change to "Hi, "
sed -i 's/Hi, /Hey, /' greet.js
git -c user.name=human -c user.email=human@example.com commit -qam "human: greet with Hey"
```

## 4. Hand it back

```bash theme={null}
curl -s -X POST $GOBARE_API/v1/sessions/$SESSION/events \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GOBARE_TOKEN" -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"events":[{"type":"input.message","content":[{"type":"input_text","text":"Someone else just worked in /workspace/greet-repo. Show me the last two commits with their authors, and what greet(\"Ada\") returns now. Then add a test file test.js that asserts that value, and commit it."}]}]}'
```

The agent's reply, from that run:

> Last two commits:
>
> * `18f3838` — human: "human: greet with Hey"
> * `df764a8` — Agent: "Initial commit: greet returns Hello"
>
> `greet("Ada")` currently returns `"Hey, Ada"` … I added `test.js` asserting
> `greet('Ada') === 'Hey, Ada'`, it passes, and I committed it.

It saw your commit, read your change, and built on it. Nothing was copied
anywhere.

## What the gateway gives you

|                                    |                                                                                                                                                                |
| ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| An interactive shell               | Yes                                                                                                                                                            |
| `ssh host 'command'`               | No — the gateway refuses `exec` requests. To script it, pipe commands into an interactive session: `printf 'cd /workspace && git status\nexit\n' \| ssh -tt …` |
| Copying files with `scp` or `sftp` | No                                                                                                                                                             |
| Port forwarding                    | No                                                                                                                                                             |
| Logging into a paused session      | Yes — it wakes the workspace first. In this run the shell was ready about 9 seconds after connecting                                                           |

For files, use the workspace itself: ask the agent to write them under
`/workspace/outputs`, or read them with `GET /v1/sessions/{id}/files/content`.
See [sessions](/sessions).

## What was verified

Run against production on 2026-09-27 with a key registered for the acceptance
account and a stock OpenSSH client: the login string above, the `user` identity
with passwordless `sudo`, the root-owned repository and the two refusals before
`sudo -i`, the edit and commit, the agent's reply reading the human commit, the
refused `exec` request, and a paused session woken by logging in. The session
was deleted and the key revoked afterwards.

## Next

* [How Gobare is different](/why-gobare) — why a machine you can enter matters
* [Publish an app and let a visitor wake it](/guides/wake-a-published-app)
* [required actions](/required-actions) — stopping the agent for approval, instead of fixing afterwards