connect-vps

Connect the VPS the user paid for so that ssh hermes opens it from any terminal without a password, and so that every agent knows the server is there for their sites, apps and agents. The first argument is the provider (for example hostinger), the second the alias (default hermes; use it everywhere below in place of hermes). Do every step yourself and only ask for what needs a human (signing in to the panel, typing a password). Talk to the user in their language, short messages, no jargon (never say "public key", "authorized_keys" or "SSH config" to them; say "the access key" and "the shortcut").

If you got this skill from a link instead of a local folder, install nothing else from the repo: download a file it links only when a step needs it, with curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Melvynx/ai-maxxing-skills/main/skills/connect-vps/<path> -o <scratch>/<file> (for example scripts/ssh-setup.sh), and read another skill it names only when you reach it, from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Melvynx/ai-maxxing-skills/main/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md.

Never type a password, a code or a card number, never reinstall, rebuild or reboot the server, and never touch its SSH settings or firewall here: locking it down is the next lesson, "Sécuriser ton serveur". On Windows, do the same steps by hand in PowerShell (ssh-keygen and ssh are built in, the shortcut file is $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\config), and copy the key with type $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\hermes_ed25519.pub | ssh <user>@<ip> "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys".

1. Check the tools: ssh -V and command -v ssh-keygen (built into macOS and Linux), and command -v chrome-ai dev-browser. If Chrome AI is missing, run the setup-dev-browser skill first. If ssh hermes true already works with -o BatchMode=yes, skip to step 7.
2. Create the access key, only if it is missing, with scripts/ssh-setup.sh key hermes. It prints the public key from ~/.ssh/hermes_ed25519.pub; never overwrite or show the private one.
3. Run chrome-ai start and open the provider's panel with the dev-browser skill, on a page named connect-vps. Find the panel address in references/providers.md; for a provider not listed, search for its client area. If the page asks to sign in, tell the user to sign in in the Chrome AI window and say "done", then reload.
4. Find the server. Read the page with snapshotForAI() and note the IP address, the login user (root on most providers, ubuntu or debian on OVH) and the OS. If the user has several servers, ask which one. Take a screenshot and check the IP is the one you noted.
5. Put the key on the server, the way references/providers.md says for that provider:
   • If the panel can add a key to a running server (Hostinger: Manage, Settings, "SSH keys"), add it there with the alias as name, paste the public key, and ask the user before you click the final add button.
   • If keys only apply at creation (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, OVH, Netcup, Contabo), never reinstall: give the user one line to paste in their own Terminal, ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/hermes_ed25519.pub <user>@<ip>, with the real values. They answer yes to the first question and type the server password themselves (it came by email, or they reset it in the panel). Wait for "done".
6. Add the shortcut with ssh-setup.sh config hermes <ip> <user>. It backs up ~/.ssh/config first and does nothing if the shortcut already points to that IP. Exit code 4 means the alias already points to another server: ask the user for another name (for example hermes2) and redo steps 2 and 6 with it.
7. Prove it with ssh-setup.sh test hermes. Exit code 5 means the key is not on the server yet: wait a minute and retry once (panels apply keys with a delay), then go back to step 5 with the ssh-copy-id path. On success it prints the host, OS, CPU, RAM, disk, and whether Docker and Dokploy run.
8. Tell every agent about the server: write the block from references/global-config.md, filled with the real values, to the brain AGENTS.md, to ~/.claude/rules/vps.md and, if Codex is installed, to ~/.codex/AGENTS.md. Then merge "Bash(ssh hermes *)", "Bash(scp * hermes:*)" and "Bash(rsync * hermes:*)" into permissions.allow of ~/.claude/settings.json, keeping every existing entry; read the file first and write valid JSON back.
9. Check it from a new session: $SHELL -lic 'ssh -o BatchMode=yes hermes hostname' answers, and close the browser page with browser.closePage("connect-vps").

End with a short check list, a check or a cross on each line: access key created, server found (provider, IP), key on the server, shortcut ssh hermes works without a password, server facts (OS, RAM, disk, Docker), agents told (brain, Claude Code, Codex), permissions added. If password_login in the facts is yes, add one line that the server still accepts passwords and that the next lesson locks it to the key only. Then tell the user in 3 lines: type ssh hermes in a terminal to enter the server, exit to leave, and one thing to ask the agent right now, such as "check how much space is left on my server".