> ## 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. # Manage your machines > The Settings → Machines page: the Engine on this computer, your environments, enrolled servers, and how runs get routed. A **machine** is a computer that can run agent work — your own computer through the desktop app, or a server your workspace enrolls. **Settings → Machines** is where you see whether a machine is ready, control the Engine that runs work on it, and check which machines your workspace can reach. This page is the home for all of that; environments (the folder a project runs in) are set from each project, and server enrollment has its own page. Most of **Settings → Machines** manages the computer you are sitting at, so it needs the Cogno desktop app. Opened in a browser, only the **Your machines** roster renders. Open the page from the desktop app to see **This machine**, **Startup & background**, and server enrollment. ## What's on the Machines page The public `/demo` uses sample machines. Exploring it does not re-register your computer, remove its Engine credential, or reconnect your saved servers. Returning to your workspace resumes the usual machine registration checks. | Section | What it does | | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **This machine** | The **Engine** status for the computer you are on — enrolled, connected, its readiness, and **Start** / **Stop** / **Restart** controls. | | **Startup & background** | **Open Cogno at login** — puts Cogno in the menu bar from sign-in so work runs without the window open. | | **Your machines** | Every computer signed in to your account, each shown online or offline. | | **Servers** | Workspace-enrolled servers, plus **Set up a new server** to enroll one over ssh. | ## Control execution access Each entry under **Your machines** has two access settings: | Setting | Applies to | | --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | **User-initiated maximum** | Sessions that a person starts or continues on this machine. | | **Cogno autonomous access** | Unattended queue turns on this machine. | Choose **Ask for approval**, **Auto in workspace**, or **Full access** for each setting. The user-initiated setting is a machine maximum: each Session also has a **Session access** choice in the composer, and the Engine uses whichever choice is more restrictive. The autonomous setting directly controls unattended queue turns. **Full access** can run commands and change files outside the Session workspace without native approval. It may also reach files and credentials available to the Engine's OS account. Cogno asks you to confirm before enabling it, especially for autonomous runs that can start while no one is present. An older Engine keeps the safe **Auto in workspace** boundary and does not offer **Full access**; update the Engine before using Session access controls. ## Keep the Engine running The **Engine** is the always-on local runtime that runs agent work on a machine. Under **This machine**, its state reads **Running**, **Stopped**, or **Not running**, with **Start**, **Stop**, and **Restart** controls. On macOS the window's close button only puts the window away — the Engine keeps running in the menu bar. **Quit Cogno** in the menu bar is what actually ends it. Turn on **Startup & background → Open Cogno at login** so the Engine is there from the moment you sign in. A machine that stops reporting for two minutes counts as **offline**, and runs routed to it wait in the queue until it is back. ## Read the Readiness line **This machine** shows a **Readiness** line. When it reads **Ready**, the machine can pick up work. When it does not, the details list exactly what blocks it — for example: * neither Claude Code nor Codex available, or a provider signed out — with `claude auth login` or `codex login` shown as the fix * **git** or **Node.js** missing * the **GitHub CLI** signed out * the disk almost full Fix what the line names, then the machine returns to **Ready** on the next check-in. A new run uses a healthy supported CLI and does not prefer one provider when both work. **Reset & re-register** applies to the Cogno machine credential; for a coding-agent sign-out, run the provider-specific login command shown in the readiness details. ## Environments live in the project An **environment** is a folder on a machine plus the settings work runs under there (AI tool, model). **Settings → Machines** shows which folders this machine has *registered*, but you do not add a project's folder here — each member connects their own folder from the **project's** settings. See [Set up a project](/docs/projects) for connecting a folder or cloning repositories. ## Run a machine on a server To run work on a machine you are not sitting at — a Linux box, a cloud VM — enroll it as a server. **Set up a new server** walks the ssh enrollment, and `cogno doctor` on the server reports each readiness check with the command that fixes it. See [Run Cogno on your own server](/docs/remote-servers) for the full flow, and [Enterprise remote execution](/docs/enterprise-remote-execution) for fleet setups. ## Reference ### Routing How a run chooses the machine and directory it lands on: | Choice | Routing behavior | | --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Automatic routing** | Uses the task assignee and the workspace's available machines. | | A listed environment | Routes the run to that environment's machine and directory. This explicit choice takes precedence over task-assignee routing. | A task that has already run keeps its environment, so later runs land on the same machine and directory. For the states a run itself moves through (pending → claimed → running → completed), see [Run agents on a task](/docs/agents#run-states). ### Engine states | State | What it means | | --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Running** | The Engine is up and can take work. | | **Stopped** | The Engine was stopped and will not take work until started. | | **Not running** | The Engine is not present on this computer (or Cogno is quit). | ### Machine status | Status | What it means | | ------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | online | Reported within the last two minutes; can be routed work. | | offline | No report for over two minutes; routed runs wait in the queue. | ## Troubleshooting | Symptom | Likely cause | Fix | | ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Machines shows only a list in the browser | The page is open in a browser, not the desktop app | Open **Settings → Machines** from the Cogno desktop app to see **This machine** and the rest. | | A machine cannot pick up work | Engine stopped, offline, or not **Ready** | Check **This machine** — start the Engine, confirm network access and **Last check-in**, and clear whatever the **Readiness** line names. | | A project has no folder to run in | No environment connected on this machine | Connect a folder from the project's settings, not here. See [Set up a project](/docs/projects). | | Credential rejected or revoked | Machine credential no longer valid | Use **Reset & re-register**, or sign the machine in again from **This machine**. | For anything not listed here, see [Troubleshooting](/docs/troubleshooting). ## Related docs * [Understand access during agent runs](/docs/execution-access) * [Run Cogno on your own server](/docs/remote-servers) * [Enterprise remote execution](/docs/enterprise-remote-execution) * [Set up a project](/docs/projects) * [Create API keys](/docs/api-keys)