ncn

name

ncn

description

Node connection. nc/ncn open a two-pane window: a host conductor (cxx) drives a live link to an execution node, adapting to its type. cluster: Slurm Jupyter-on-GPU in Apptainer over an ssh -L tunnel. apple/box: a contained box. ssh: a remote Linux shell. ncn also forwards a node program to localhost. Router skill for the ncn-<profile> skills. Use when the user runs `nc`/`ncn`, asks to connect to a node/device/cluster, or wants to pick where to run work.

nc / ncn: node connection (router)

Two commands connect a host-side conductor to an execution node, adapting to the node type. Both open a two-pane window (conductor left, live connection right) and point the conductor at the matching per-profile skill. They differ only in the conductor's mode (@ncn_mode):

• nc <node> (connect). The pane split plus a live control channel: you are ON the node (drive a shell/box, run things, read output). Like ssh, but agent-driven and mesh-aware. No port-forward.
• ncn <node> (connect plus endpoint). Everything nc does, plus it stands up a program on the node and forwards it to this host's localhost: a Jupyter kernel, a model server, or a dashboard.

The shell commands are thin brokers; the device-specific moves live in the per-profile skills.

Profile	Node	Connection	Isolation	Skill to follow
cluster	HPC login host (Slurm)	ssh login	Apptainer + Slurm	ncn-cluster
apple	Mac on the mesh	ssh (Tailscale)	box (apple/container)	ncn-apple
ssh	Linux on the mesh	ssh (Tailscale)	optional (docker/podman)	ncn-ssh
box	localhost / self	box bash	box locally	ncn-box

If you are the conductor

Your launch brief names your mode (@ncn_mode = connect | endpoint) and profile. Follow the ncn-<profile> skill (invoke it with the Skill tool, or read ~/.local/share/anu/plugins/ncn/skills/ncn-<profile>/SKILL.md) and do its Connect section for nc, or its Expose-an-endpoint section for ncn. Recover state any time from this window's options: @ncn_mode, @ncn_profile, @ncn_device, @ncn_host (ssh target), @ncn_ssh_pane (the connection pane), @ncn_sshopts.

If you are helping a user pick

• nc / ncn → fzf picker over localhost · the cluster · mesh devices.
• nc <node> (connect) · ncn <node> (connect + endpoint); node = device | user@host | local.
• --profile <cluster|apple|ssh|box> forces a profile.
• ncn tunnel <node|localhost> [lport] [rport] · nc|ncn status · nc|ncn down.

The spine is the same in every profile: conductor → channel (ssh or local) → containerized execution → the endpoint (port-forward to localhost). Cluster isolates with Apptainer; Mac and localhost isolate with box. nc stops at the channel; ncn carries through to the endpoint.