Install on macOS

1. Node.js 22 or later

Check what you have, and get it if you do not:

node -v
# need v22 or newer? one of:
brew install node
# or, if you use nvm:
nvm install 22

Apple Silicon and Intel both work the same from here — npm picks the right prebuilt binary for your machine automatically, so there is nothing to choose between arm64 and amd64 yourself.

2. Install TermLink

npm install -g @termlink/cli

This puts a termlink command on your PATH. Nothing is compiled on your machine — the PTY binary comes prebuilt as part of the package, and there is no quarantine flag or unsigned-binary dialog to get past, because npm installed it rather than a browser download.

Had TermLink on this machine before September 13, 2026? That was a downloaded binary rather than an npm package, and it has no start command. This install does not delete it, so run which termlink afterwards and remove the old file if it still comes first on your PATH.

3. Sign in and share a terminal

termlink login     # opens Google sign-in
cd ~/work          # sessions can only open inside this folder
termlink start     # run the host here — or just: termlink
termlink whoami    # which account am I on?

The cd line is doing real work. The folder you start the host in is the boundary: a session can only open inside it, and nothing above it is reachable. Which folder underneath it a session opens in is something you pick in the web client, and --allow-root adds a second folder if you want one.

termlink start offers terminal, Claude, and Codex sessions by default — you pick which one to open from the web client, not by typing anything else here. --providers narrows that list if you only want some of them; see the CLI reference for every option.

Leave that terminal open. TermLink is not a background service, so the machine goes offline when the process stops. To keep it alive after you disconnect from SSH, start it inside tmux or screen.

Keeping it current

Run the install command again — npm replaces the old version in place:

npm install -g @termlink/cli