Synonode Runner

#Install

Log in to synonode.com and copy your install command from Set up your first computer, or from Add a computer in the computer menu of the top bar. The command is made for your account and works for 7 days.

• Linux (x64 or ARM): run it in a terminal. It may ask for your password once, for the libraries its browser needs.
• Windows 10 or 11: run it in PowerShell. The runner runs on Windows itself, as Claude Code does, and installs into your user folder, so it needs no administrator rights. The model's commands run in Git Bash, the bash that comes with Git for Windows, so they are the same commands as on Linux. Without Git for Windows the installer downloads PortableGit, its copy that needs no install.

Everything goes into your home folder: the runner and its own Node.js in ~/.synonode-runner, and the synonode-runner command in ~/.local/bin. It also brings the browser it checks pages with (about 150 MB). It needs git, and asks you to install it if it's missing.

On Windows everything goes into %USERPROFILE%\.synonode-runner: its own Node.js, PortableGit when needed, the runner, and the synonode-runner command, which is put on your PATH. Python is optional: the Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF skills use it. Install it from python.org with "for all users" unticked, which needs no administrator rights.

#The runner window

Open Synonode Runner from your apps menu (Linux) or the desktop (Windows). Its window shows your account, the model and the connection to synonode.com, and fixes what's missing:

• Log in with your Synonode account.
• Detect finds the models running on this computer. See Models.
• Model server starts, stops and restarts your model from the command you start it with, with its console.
• Helper model does the same for an optional small model beside it, which takes the side jobs. The console switches between the two. See A helper model.
• Name the computer, so you can tell your computers apart in the app.

On Windows, closing the runner's minimized window stops it.

#Commands

Command	What it does
synonode-runner	Opens the runner window, starting the runner if needed.
synonode-runner start	Runs it in this terminal. --open also opens the window; --port N picks the local port; --projects DIR where projects are kept (by default ~/Synonode/projects).
synonode-runner stop	Stops the runner.
synonode-runner status	Whether it's running, the account, this computer's name and whether the model answers.
synonode-runner login	Logs in from the terminal.
synonode-runner logout	Logs out.
synonode-runner model <url>	Sets the model's address. --key KEY for an API key, --name MODEL for the model's name.
synonode-runner name <name>	What Synonode calls this computer.
synonode-runner update	Gets the newest runner from synonode.com and restarts.

#Updates

The runner checks synonode.com for a new version. By default it updates by itself once the model is idle, and the app and the runner window carry on by themselves. A line at the end of the chat tells you when an update is waiting; Later hides it for 12 hours. When it's done, a quiet line in the chat says so: Synonode Runner on … updated to …. It goes when you send your next message, or after a minute.

If the runner's link to synonode.com drops for a moment, a line at the end of the chat says Reconnecting to … until it is back.

An update is installed only when it carries Synonode's signature, checked on your computer before anything in it runs.

You can also update from Settings → General → Updates, from the runner window, or with synonode-runner update. If a new version doesn't connect within a couple of minutes, the previous one is put back by itself.

#Logs

When the runner is started from the apps menu or desktop, its errors go to ~/.synonode-runner/runner.log. Started with synonode-runner start, they show in the terminal.

#Uninstall

Stop the runner, then delete ~/.synonode-runner and ~/.local/bin/synonode-runner, and the Synonode Runner shortcut. Your projects stay in ~/Synonode/projects until you delete them too.