solo one machine is the head and the worker

Pick solo when one computer is enough: it runs the head and every agent, with no ssh at all.

set it up #

$ pastor machine add here --local  # this machine, through herdr's local socket
$ pastor serve  # the head, in the background
$ pastor machine list

The machine is called here; any name works. --local means the head talks to this machine’s herdr directly, so herdr’s server must run here. On a laptop you can leave herdr open in a terminal; on a box that stays up, run it as a service with pastor setup systemd --herdr (see as a service).

machine list opens with a line about the head that ends in here is the head of the flock, then one row for here. The head’s own machine always comes first.

first run walks through a whole task on this setup.

how much it takes #

machine add gives the machine room for 2 tasks at once, one extra slot that only tasks from jobs take, and one more that only a critical task may use. AGENTS in machine list shows it as 0/2+1j+1b. Change it when you add the machine:

$ pastor machine add here --local --max-agents 3 --job-slots 0 --burst 0

or later in ~/.config/pastor/flock.toml. Tasks past the room wait in the queue.

when solo is enough #

• You run a few agents at a time, and one machine has the CPU, memory and accounts for them.
• The machine is on while the agents work. A laptop that sleeps pauses them all.
• Everything the agents need, repos and logins, is on this machine.

Jobs, orchestrators, flocks and profiles all work the same on one machine. Two flocks can both use here, each with its own agent and profile. A flock does not make here a sandbox, though: work that reads a stranger’s text belongs on a machine that holds none of your credentials. See untrusted work in a sandbox.

grow into a flock #

Nothing you set up solo has to change. Add a machine the head reaches over ssh, and the head spreads tasks over both:

$ pastor machine add server-1 user@server-1 --herdr

Your tasks, jobs and history stay where they are. The head keeps running on this machine, which keeps taking tasks too. flock covers ssh, herdr on the new machine and the load. To move the head itself to an always-on box later, see move the head.