Last updated: 2026-05-25

HiTerm - Your Mobile Terminal, Anywhere

HiTerm lets you securely access your PC's terminal from your phone — on the subway, at a coffee shop, or anywhere with a network connection.

For AI Assistants: Paste https://hiterm.yinbin.ink/llms.txt into any AI tool to give it full context about HiTerm.

Core Value

🚀 Access Your Dev Environment Anywhere

No longer tied to your desk:

  • Debug production issues on the subway
  • Work remotely from a coffee shop
  • Check server logs from bed
  • Manage your servers from anywhere

📱 Optimized for Mobile

Unlike traditional SSH tools:

  • Seamless network switching - WiFi ↔ 4G switches without dropping
  • Works on weak signals - Subway, elevator, high-speed rail
  • Session persistence - Tasks keep running after disconnect
  • Local echo - Instant input response, no network delay

🔔 AI Tool Notifications

Free your attention:

  • Get notified when Claude Code finishes generating code
  • No need to watch long-running tasks
  • Tap notification to jump to the terminal
  • Support for custom notification hooks

🤖 AI Coding Agent Ready

HiTerm works with virtually any AI coding agent CLI tool:

  • Claude Code, Gemini CLI, OpenAI Codex — built-in notification hooks
  • Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, Continue — all work seamlessly
  • Any agent that outputs to terminal can be controlled from your phone
  • No special integration needed — if it runs in a terminal, HiTerm can reach it

Your AI agent runs on PC, you control it from anywhere.

🔒 Secure by Design

Enterprise-grade security:

  • WireGuard encryption via Tailscale
  • Peer-to-peer, no third-party relay
  • SSH key authentication, one-time pairing tokens
  • End-to-end encrypted

Use Cases

Use Case 1: Debug on the Subway 🚇

Problem: Production alert fires during your commute. Subway signal is unstable.

Solution:

  1. Open Hi Term and connect to your office PC
  2. SSH through the jump box to the production server
  3. Check logs, find the issue, restart services
  4. Mosh keeps the connection alive through signal fluctuations
  5. Tunnel pauses the connection, auto-resumes when you emerge

Outcome: Fix the issue in 10 minutes without waiting to get to the office.

Use Case 2: AI Writes Code, You Get Notified 🤖

Problem: Claude Code needs 10 minutes to generate complex code. You want coffee but don't want to miss the completion.

Solution:

  1. Start a Claude Code task on your PC
  2. Put your phone in your pocket, grab a coffee
  3. Task completes — phone buzzes: "[my-project] Code generation complete"
  4. Tap the notification to view the generated code
  5. Make adjustments right from your phone

Outcome: No screen-watching. Better productivity.

Use Case 3: Remote Work from a Coffee Shop ☕

Problem: You want to access your home dev environment without exposing SSH ports to the internet.

Solution:

  1. Open Hi Term and connect to your home PC
  2. Tailscale encrypts the connection end-to-end
  3. Use tmux to manage multiple projects (frontend, backend, database)
  4. Network switches (cafe WiFi → phone hotspot) don't drop the connection
  5. Continue on your PC when you get home — all sessions intact

Outcome: Access your full dev environment anywhere, feels like local.

Use Case 4: Solve 80% of Dev Work from Your Phone 📱

Problem: You keep going back to your desk to check on tasks that don't really need a full PC.

Solution:

  1. Start coding sessions, builds, and AI agent tasks on your PC
  2. Walk away — monitor progress, review logs, and check results from your phone
  3. Only return to your PC when you need a browser or visual test results
  4. Mosh keeps the connection alive across WiFi, 4G, and cellular handoffs
  5. Tmux preserves everything — even if your PC loses power, it auto-recovers on reboot

Outcome: Handle the majority of your daily dev work from your phone. Your PC becomes a headless server you control from your pocket.

Architecture {#how-it-works}

HiTerm uses Tailscale's virtual LAN to establish peer-to-peer connections between your phone and PC.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      HiTerm Architecture                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

   Your Phone               Tailscale Network             Your PC
┌──────────────┐         (Encrypted P2P)           ┌──────────────┐
│              │                                    │              │
│  Hi Term App │ ◄═══════════════════════════►   │  hiterm CLI  │
│              │     100.x.x.x → 100.y.y.y        │              │
│              │                                    │              │
│  - QR Scan   │                                    │  - SSH       │
│  - Terminal  │                                    │  - Notify    │
│  - Notify    │                                    │  - Sessions  │
└──────────────┘                                    └──────────────┘
       ↓                                                   ↓
   mosh client                                        mosh server
       ↓                                                   ↓
   Terminal emulator                                  tmux session

Key Components:

  • Tailscale: Secure P2P mesh network — data never touches the cloud. 80%+ of connections are direct peer-to-peer hole-punching, with end-to-end WireGuard encryption.
  • mosh: Auto-recovering SSH replacement. Survives WiFi ↔ cellular handoffs, base station roaming, and even full network outages — when connectivity returns, your session resumes without losing a single keystroke.
  • tmux: Terminal session manager that persists across everything. Disconnect, network dropout, even sudden power loss — on next boot, tmux restores your sessions exactly as they were.
  • QR Pairing: One-scan setup, no manual configuration.

Comparison

HiTerm's primary competitors are AI coding agent remote-control tools, not just SSH clients.

Feature HiTerm Happy Coder Omnara Marvis Claude Remote Control
Full PC terminal on phone ✅ Yes ❌ Limited ❌ Limited ❌ Limited ❌ No
AI coding agent CLI support ✅ All (Claude Code, Gemini, Cursor, etc.) ❌ Limited ❌ Limited ❌ Limited ✅ Claude only
P2P encrypted (no cloud relay) ✅ Tailscale P2P ❌ Relay ❌ Relay ❌ Relay ❌ Relay
Network resilience (mosh) ✅ Auto-recovery on any network switch ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Session persistence (tmux) ✅ Survives power loss, reboot ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
QR pairing ✅ One scan ❌ Config needed ❌ Config needed ❌ Config needed ❌ Config needed
Notifications ✅ Built-in hooks ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Price Free Freemium Freemium Freemium Free
Platform Android Android/iOS Android/iOS iOS iOS

What makes HiTerm different:

  1. It puts your full PC terminal on your phone — not a limited sandbox, not a curated shell. Your entire development environment, all your tools, exactly as configured.
  2. Works with any AI coding agent — Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, Continue. If it runs in a terminal, HiTerm can reach it.
  3. Designed for real mobile networks — mosh survives subway tunnels, elevator drops, and cellular handoffs. tmux persists through power loss and reboots.
  4. Zero-config P2P security — Tailscale handles NAT traversal automatically. 80% of connections are direct peer-to-peer with WireGuard encryption.

System Requirements

PC

  • OS: Linux, macOS, Windows (WSL2)
  • Required: Tailscale, sshd
  • Recommended: mosh, tmux

Phone

  • OS: Android 7.0+ (API 24)
  • Architecture: arm64-v8a
  • Required: Tailscale

Quick Start

Ready? 3 steps, 5 minutes:

  1. Install Tailscale — Both PC and phone (2-min guide)
  2. Install hiterm — One command (quick install)
  3. Scan QR code — Phone scans, auto-pairs

👉 Get started now

FAQ

Q: Is it free?
A: Yes, HiTerm is completely free. Tailscale's personal plan is also free (up to 100 devices).

Q: Is it secure?
A: Yes. All data is encrypted via Tailscale's WireGuard, peer-to-peer, with no third-party relay.

Q: Do I need a public IP?
A: No. Tailscale handles NAT traversal automatically.

Q: Does it support Windows?
A: Not natively. Windows users must use WSL2. Native Windows is not supported — hiterm requires sshd, mosh, and tmux, which are Linux/macOS tools. See Tailscale Setup for WSL2 configuration.

Q: Does it support iOS?
A: Not yet. Currently Android only.

Q: Can I connect to multiple PCs?
A: Yes. Each hiterm pair adds a new PC to your phone's host list.

Q: Does hiterm use system resources?
A: No. hiterm is a one-time configuration tool — it runs, sets up your environment, and exits. It does not stay resident in memory, uses no CPU, and leaves no background processes. All persistent work (SSH, mosh, tmux) is handled by standard system tools you already have.

Q: Does the connection drop on network switch?
A: No. Mosh is designed for mobile — network switches are seamless.

More questions? See Troubleshooting & FAQ.

Next Steps

Community & Support

Your terminal, wherever you go. 🚀