FAQ

Short answers to the questions people ask most, each with a link to the details.

Is it free?

Arugula itself is open source (MIT or Apache-2.0) and runs on your own machines. The hosted Arugula control is free during the beta. If it ever costs money, that will be announced before it applies, and nothing will be charged without your agreement (terms). Without control, Arugula works over your own tailnet; running your own control isn’t supported for now.

Can Arugula control see my terminals?

No. Every connection between your devices and your machines is end-to-end encrypted, including the ones control relays, and control never holds the keys. It sees who you are, which devices and machines you have, and when they connect. You do trust it to serve an honest web page. What it can and can’t see.

Do I need Tailscale?

No. Arugula control reaches your machines from any browser or phone without a VPN. If you already use Tailscale, you can reach machines directly over your tailnet instead (Phone). On the machine itself, you need neither.

How is it different from tmux?

Like tmux, Arugula keeps terminals running when you disconnect. It also keeps the layout, scrollback and each pane’s restart setting through daemon restarts and reboots; you drive it with the mouse instead of a prefix key; it shows the same sessions live in a browser, the desktop app and on your phone; and it knows when an agent needs you and puts that on a card.

Does it work with agents other than Claude Code?

Yes. Codex and any ACP agent run as agent blocks. In a terminal pane, Arugula reads Claude Code’s and Codex’s screens to know when they need you; other agents (aider, gemini, opencode) are recognized as agents, and their hooks, notifications or the bell say when they need you. Any MCP client can use Arugula’s tools. VS Code and Cursor can join the swarm.

What happens to my panes when the machine reboots?

The layout and scrollback come back, and each pane does what its After a restart setting says: a shell in its last folder (the default), re-run its command, run a command you choose, or resume Claude Code’s conversation (the default for a pane running Claude Code). A daemon restart or update doesn’t stop running programs at all. What survives a restart.

Does it run on Windows?

Yes, on Windows 10 and 11, with PowerShell in its panes. Agent blocks, Claude Code’s diff cards, editor blocks and --ssh aren’t available there (Known limitations).

Does it collect telemetry?

Only if you say yes. The first time you use Arugula on a machine (the web client, the desktop app, or the first arugula command in a terminal), it asks once whether to send usage counts and crash reports: versions, which features are used and how often, and where Arugula’s own code crashed. Never what your terminals show, file names, commands or prompts. Not answering means no. arugula telemetry status shows exactly what would be sent, and arugula telemetry off (or DO_NOT_TRACK=1) turns it off. What’s sent elsewhere.

How do I uninstall it completely?

Take the machine off Arugula control (arugulad leave), remove the service (arugulad uninstall, or on a Mac with only the desktop app, stop it and turn off its Login Item), delete the desktop app, then delete the binaries, the state directory and the app’s settings folder. Uninstalling has the steps for each platform. To delete your account on control, use Delete account… (Sign-ins and deleting your account).

Where do I get help?

Search or open an issue on GitHub, or ask in Discussions. Report security problems as SECURITY.md says. Privacy questions go to privacy@arugula.io, and anything else to hello@arugula.io.

Next steps

• How Arugula works: the pieces and the words.
• Known limitations: what isn’t available where.