Better Remote Commander (BRC)

Use your existing AI chat access to work on your own computer. BRC connects chat clients that support remote MCP (Model Context Protocol) to a self-hosted relay. You can manage files, run terminal commands, and inspect processes from a conversation.

Free chat allowances, such as ChatGPT's free tier, and chat allowances separate from coding-agent quotas, such as those in the Gemini ecosystem, are useful resources. BRC can put compatible chat access to work when the client supports remote MCP tools. Connector access depends on the platform and plan.

Based on shahidx0x/better-remote-commander.

Requirements

• Windows x64 (tested on Windows 11).
• Node.js 22.13 or newer and pnpm.
• An HTTPS endpoint reachable by your chat client for remote access. Connect your public entry point to the local Traefik proxy.

BRC runs Relay, Traefik, and Agent locally. You manage the public HTTPS entry point separately.

Installation

Run these commands in PowerShell, in order.

1. Install BRC with pnpm.

pnpm add -g @inoceanlee/brc

2. Initialize BRC.

brc setup

Enter the administrator username (default: admin) and a password of at least eight characters. Setup creates the local configuration and installs Traefik.

3. Set the public URL for remote MCP access.

brc config set services.publicUrl https://your-domain.example

Point your HTTPS entry point to the local Traefik proxy at 127.0.0.1:13001. The URL must be the origin, without /mcp.

4. Start BRC and check its status.

brc start
brc status

On the first start, pair the Agent using the code and device verification page shown in its output or brc logs agent. Then add https://your-domain.example/mcp as a remote MCP server in a compatible chat client, such as ChatGPT or Claude, when supported by your plan.

Common commands

Command	Purpose
brc help	Show commands
brc start	Start Relay, Traefik, and Agent
brc stop	Stop all managed services
brc restart	Restart managed services
brc status	Check service status
brc logs [relay|agent|traefik]	Read service logs
brc config show	Show effective settings
brc config get <key>	Read a setting
brc config set <key> <value>	Change a setting
brc config apply	Apply changes made to the YAML file
brc config path	Show the configuration file path
brc update traefik	Update Traefik
brc clean	Clean temporary runtime data

To upgrade the BRC package, run pnpm up -g @inoceanlee/brc --latest.

Configuration and data

BRC stores its configuration and runtime data under %LOCALAPPDATA%\BRC\ on Windows.

• Configuration: %LOCALAPPDATA%\BRC\config\brc.yaml
• Data, Traefik files, runtime state, and logs: subdirectories of %LOCALAPPDATA%\BRC\

Set BRC_DATA_ROOT to use a different root directory. Run brc config path or brc config show to find the file and inspect current settings.

Uninstallation

Run these steps in order.

1. Uninstall BRC's services and private data.

brc uninstall

Confirm the displayed data directory when prompted. This stops the managed services and removes BRC configuration, credentials, database, Traefik files, logs, and other data in its private directory.

2. Remove any remaining global pnpm package.

pnpm remove -g @inoceanlee/brc

brc uninstall currently also schedules pnpm package removal automatically after the CLI exits on Windows. Wait for that removal to finish before running the second command; it is normally already complete.

To remove the package while keeping BRC's stored data, run only pnpm remove -g @inoceanlee/brc. The public HTTPS entry point, such as Tailscale Funnel, remains under your separate management.

Development and contributing

git clone https://github.com/inoceanlee/better-remote-commander.git
cd better-remote-commander
pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm test

Issues and pull requests are welcome in this repository. The source uses pnpm workspaces with separate CLI, Relay, Agent, and shared packages. See architecture for implementation details.

Security guidance: SECURITY.md. MIT license: LICENSE. Tool attribution: NOTICE.