Run Claude Code on a server you control

Manta runs Claude Code on your own VPS, home server or Mac. The agent outlives the laptop because it lives in real tmux on the box, and you reach it from any device with the same session on every one.

box-fra-1· manta-server · systemd --user

The box is the source of truth

   Desktop      Phone      Browser
       │            │            │
       └──── HTTPS ─┴──── HTTPS ─┘
                │
   <box_id>.boxes.mantaui.com
   or your tailnet, if Tailscale is up
                │
        YOUR BOX (VPS / Mac)
   manta-server ── owns tmux, files, secrets
        ├── tmux ── your sessions
        │       (keep running with 0 clients)
        └── opencode ── chat + agent tools

How the box reaches you

Auto

The installer detects and picks. Tailnet when Tailscale is already running, public hostname otherwise. You do not choose.

Tailnet

HTTP at a tailnet IP. Caddy, public DNS and Let's Encrypt are skipped entirely. Devices reach the box at http://<tailnet-ip>:8787.

Public

HTTPS at a per-box hostname. <box_id>.boxes.mantaui.com, with a Let's Encrypt certificate. Caddy terminates TLS, proxies to the box.

Force

Either, on demand. Set MANTA_INGRESS=public or MANTA_INGRESS=tailnet at install time if you want a specific path regardless of detection.

Self-hosted

On a VPS, a home server, or a Mac you own

Manta is the box. There is no hosted control plane, no seat count, and no account. You bring the hardware and the model provider. Everything else lives on the machine you control.

✓Linux VPS. The installer runs on Debian, Ubuntu and the other usual suspects. Caddy and a Let's Encrypt certificate when you need public ingress.
✓Home server. A Mac mini, a NUC, anything with a static IP and an open port. Tailnet if you already have Tailscale up.
✓A Mac you own. The same server runs on macOS, with public TLS skipped because there is no need to terminate it for a laptop.
✓No account required. Pairing is a six-digit code the box prints. Devices exchange tokens, and that is the only credential in the loop.
✓No telemetry, no hosted control plane. The box talks to your model provider and to APNs for push fanout. Nothing else.

Ingress

The installer chooses how devices reach the box

There is one decision to make before you install: do you want a tailnet, a public hostname, or whatever the installer picks. Most people pick the third option and forget about it.

✓Default is auto. The installer checks whether Tailscale is already running on the box with an IPv4 address. If it is, the box listens only on the tailnet and skips Caddy, public DNS and Let's Encrypt.
✓Otherwise, a public hostname. The installer registers <your-box>.boxes.mantaui.com, provisions the certificate, and writes the per-box Caddy vhost.
✓Decision persists. The chosen path is written to ~/.manta/ingress.json, so subsequent installs on the same box do not re-decide.
✓Forceable at install. Set MANTA_INGRESS=public or MANTA_INGRESS=tailnet to override detection. Useful for boxes you always want reachable on the public hostname.
✓Pairing works either way. The six-digit code the box prints travels over whatever transport the installer chose. Devices pair once and the token rotates by signing out.

Persistence

The agent outlives every client

The whole point of running Claude Code on a server is that the work keeps going when you are not there. Manta is built around that. Close every client, lose the network, reboot the laptop. When you come back, the session is exactly where you left it.

✓Real tmux underneath. The server owns tmux and the agent runs in a tmux session. The chat panel talks to tmux. You can SSH in and attach to the same window, any time.
✓A system service. The server runs as a systemd user unit. Reboots do not kill it. There is nothing to keep alive by hand.
✓A worktree per session. New sessions in a git repo branch their own sibling worktree, so several agents work in parallel without standing on each other.
✓Schedules between turns. The agent can schedule a recurring task, wake on a webhook, and use a secret by file path. The box is a long-running environment, not a request handler.

FAQ

Questions about running Claude Code on a server

Five questions, answered in full.

Can I run Claude Code on a VPS?

Yes. The installer runs on Debian, Ubuntu and the usual Linux suspects, with Caddy and a Let's Encrypt certificate when you need public ingress. The agent runs in a real tmux session on the box, so it outlives every device that connects to it.

Do I have to forward a port?

No. If Tailscale is already running on the box, devices connect over your tailnet and nothing is published to the internet. If Tailscale is not running, the installer provisions a hostname and a certificate, which is the only public surface. You never forward a port by hand.

What happens when I close my laptop?

The agent keeps running, because it lives in a tmux session on the box. The box is a system service. When you open a browser or pair your phone again, the same session is there with the full history. The mobile page covers what the phone sees when this happens.

Does this work without a public DNS record?

Yes. Pick the tailnet path at install time and the box has no public DNS, no certificate, and no open port. Devices reach it over your tailnet at a private IPv4.

Is this self-hosted Claude Code?

Yes, and the install script is auditable before you pipe it into bash. The repository is MIT licensed and the server runs on hardware you control. The open source page covers what that means in practice.