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

# Enterprise Remote Server operations

> Set up, update, and retire Remote Servers through Cogno Desktop, and understand how coding agents reach Cogno MCP.

This page defines the operating model for administrators using Cogno on
organization-managed Linux or macOS development servers. For the member connection
flow, see [Connect to a remote server](/docs/remote-servers).

## Operating model

Members provide an SSH destination in Cogno Desktop. Cogno Desktop installs the
Cogno CLI and the Engine service on that destination, registers the service with the
OS, and connects to it over an SSH tunnel. Members and administrators do not run
`cogno server install` in advance.

```mermaid theme={"system"}
flowchart LR
    D[Cogno Desktop]
    -->|SSH: setup, tunnel| R[Remote Server]
    R --> E[Engine service]
    E --> A[Claude Code or Codex]
    A -->|HTTPS| M[Cogno MCP]
    E -->|HTTPS| C[Cogno API]
    M --> C
```

The Engine service on the server runs the coding agent, holds the working copies and
sessions, and reports to the Cogno API with the machine's credential. Cogno Desktop
reaches it only through the SSH tunnel — the Engine accepts no inbound network
connections of its own.

A machine is one OS account on one host. When several people use one server, each
person sets it up from Cogno Desktop with their own OS account and SSH destination,
and each appears as its own machine.

Native Windows is not supported as a Remote Server. WSL is treated as a Linux
environment.

## Set up and update

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Machines">
    The member opens **Settings → Machines** in Cogno Desktop.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set up the server">
    Under **Set up a new server**, they enter the SSH destination and choose the
    coding engine. Cogno Desktop installs the Cogno CLI and the Engine service,
    issues the machine credential, and connects. Installing the coding engine is a
    separate, non-blocking step: if it fails, the server still registers and
    connects, and the failure is shown as a next step.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the Project folder">
    For each Project, the member selects the repository folder in
    **Project settings**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Updates are delivered from Cogno Desktop over the same authorized SSH session: the
app verifies the release against its pinned trust root, pushes the binaries to the
server, and runs `cogno server update` there. The server does not fetch binaries for
itself, so a machine behind a proxy or with no outbound route still gets updated.

<Note>
  Servers set up before the Engine migration ran an earlier background service
  called WOD. The Engine retires it automatically: on startup it unregisters the
  old service from the OS and removes its state. No administrator action is
  needed. Current releases still install a `wod` helper binary next to the Engine
  in `~/.cogno/bin` — it is not a service; coding agents invoke it as the local
  Cogno MCP command where a run uses the stdio server (see
  [Manage Cogno MCP](/docs/mcp)).
</Note>

## Cogno MCP

Coding agents reach Cogno's task tools through Cogno MCP. For Engine sessions,
the Engine passes the agent an inline MCP configuration for each run — a single
HTTP server named `cogno`, authorized by a token scoped to that turn. Nothing is
written to the server's MCP configuration files, and the server itself exposes no
MCP endpoint or inbound port.

If the organization restricts which MCP servers a coding agent may use, the policy
must allow the `cogno` server (tools named `mcp__cogno__*`) — and, where policy
pins commands, the local stdio command `~/.cogno/bin/wod mcp cogno`. See
[Manage Cogno MCP](/docs/mcp) for configuration examples and validation.

## Stop using a server

The member removes the machine under **Settings → Machines → Your machines** with
**Remove**. Its credential is revoked, and the server stops running work as soon as
its next check-in is refused.

## Validation

* Cogno Desktop can set up the SSH destination
* The server's row shows **Tunnel connected** in **Your machines**
* A Project can select a folder on the Remote Server as its execution location
* Work runs with the selected coding agent
* When MCP is restricted, policy does not block `mcp__cogno__*` tools
* After **Remove**, the machine cannot run work

## Related docs

* [Connect to a remote server](/docs/remote-servers)
* [Manage Cogno MCP](/docs/mcp)