| name | dormlab |
| description | Interact with the DormLab mac minis (amelia, derek, lexie) over managed SSH. Use whenever the user wants to check status, run a command on, or open a shell into a DormLab machine. Trigger phrases include "dormlab", "mac mini", "amelia/derek/lexie", "ssh into <host>", "run <cmd> on <host>". |
DormLab CLI
A single dormlab binary manages SSH to the three DormLab mac minis. Prefer it over raw ssh — it centralizes hosts, identity files, and timeouts in ~/dormlab/config.toml.
Hosts
| Name | Address |
|---|
| amelia | 100.80.103.93 |
| derek | 100.70.146.90 |
| lexie | 100.72.133.26 |
Config lives at ~/dormlab/config.toml. Run dormlab init to create it if missing.
Commands to use
Check reachability before acting
dormlab ping
Runs true over SSH against every host and prints ok/fail. Do this first if the user says "is X up" or before attempting any non-trivial remote work.
List configured hosts
dormlab ls
Run a one-shot command on a single host
Use the - separator (the user's preferred style):
dormlab ssh lexie - uptime
dormlab ssh amelia - "ls ~/Projects"
-- also works (standard getopt convention):
dormlab ssh derek -- df -h
Quote the remote command if it contains shell metacharacters so the local shell doesn't eat them.
Open an interactive shell
dormlab ssh lexie
Do NOT call this from inside an agent context — it expects a human at the terminal. Use command mode (ssh lexie - <cmd>) for anything scripted.
Fan out to all hosts
dormlab exec uptime
dormlab exec "sw_vers -productVersion"
Sequential, grouped output per host. Good for "check X on all of them" asks.
Print config path
dormlab config
Launch the TUI
dormlab
(or dormlab tui) — interactive host picker. Only useful for a human user; avoid in agent flows.
When to use this skill
- "Is lexie up?" →
dormlab ping
- "Run
brew upgrade on amelia" → dormlab ssh amelia - "brew upgrade"
- "What's on derek's disk?" →
dormlab ssh derek - df -h
- "Restart the foo service on all of them" →
dormlab exec "launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/foo"
- "SSH me into lexie" → tell the user to run
dormlab ssh lexie themselves (interactive — not for the agent to run)
When NOT to use this skill
- If the user gives an SSH address that isn't one of the three DormLab hosts, use raw
ssh with their provided details.
- Do not run destructive commands (
rm -rf, shutdown, formatting, password changes) without explicit confirmation from the user, even if asked — confirm the exact command and host first.
- Never put passwords or secrets into remote commands via CLI args (they'd leak into shell history on the mac minis). Use keys.
Troubleshooting
Permission denied (publickey) → the default key in ~/dormlab/config.toml isn't authorized on that mini. Ask the user to fix or override identity_file for that host in the config.Connection timed out → the Tailscale network probably isn't up on one end. tailscale status locally is the first check.Unknown host "foo" → user typoed the host name. Run dormlab ls and suggest the closest match.
