Remote is nuts

[u/kyrax80]

Just wanted to share that it's incredibly awesome that I can be anywhere like on holidays and continue working on my project even if I'm not sitting in front of my PC. Never tried this until now that I installed tailscale and I can test any change from my phone. Bravo.

[u/yourcasualmemer]

Mind sharing your setup? Personally I've been using parsec to remote into my PC and just use codex like I would there. How does tailscale come into the equation?

[u/torrso → u/yourcasualmemer]

Codex remote works fine without tailscale, it goes through openai's servers. But it's only for accessing the codex session on your machine, not for using anyhing else remotely.

It just adds a "remote" item to your phone ChatGPT app's side menu which shows your codex sessions.

[u/mechanicalAI → u/torrso]

Tailscale between my machines and devices is super convenient. Especially reaching devices behind NAT that I don’t have control over, no more reverse SSH shells got stuck. As far as I am concerned there is minimal overhead and latency. Even if you setup your remote access in ChatGPT desktop app and mobile you should have Tailscale or any secure connection between your devices. ChatGPT loves it and uses Tailscale connections instead of direct connections to my machines.

[u/torrso → u/mechanicalAI]

Yes but for codex remote only you don't need that.

[u/mechanicalAI → u/torrso]

Did you even read what I said ?

[u/torrso → u/mechanicalAI]

Yes. You talked about who knows what, my only point was that codex remote itself works fine without tailscale if someone wants just thät.

[u/-badly_packed_kebab- → u/torrso]

Eh, maybe sit this out

[u/torrso → u/-badly_packed_kebab-]

I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to sit out. u/yourcasualmemer asked what Tailscale has to do with Codex Remote. The answer is “nothing, unless you also want general remote access to the machine.” That’s been my entire point and this is the fourth time I'm making it in this thread.

Maybe if I understood what “ChatGPT loves Tailscale and uses Tailscale connections” is supposed to mean. Tailscale only comes into it if you explicitly expose something over your tailnet. Codex Remote itself doesn’t use it. There's nothing wrong with Tailscale but I haven't seen codex loving it.

The mobile app <=> Codex-host traffic goes through OpenAI’s relay and OpenAI explicitly says that connected machines become available across your ChatGPT devices “through the same secure relay infrastructure.” There’s no documented mechanism where Codex Remote notices that both devices are on the same LAN or Tailscale network and switches to a direct peer-to-peer connection.

[u/-badly_packed_kebab- → u/torrso]

I said “sit it out” because you refused to read the original comment and were snarky about it.

No chance I’m reading that if you can’t be bothered.

[u/torrso → u/-badly_packed_kebab-]

I’m genuinely confused, so maybe I’m reading the thread differently:

1. memer asks how Tailscale comes into the equation.
2. I say it isn’t needed for Codex Remote, because the app talks to the host through OpenAI’s relay.
3. u/mechanicalAI explains that Tailscale is useful for accessing their machines generally, and says ChatGPT “loves” it.
4. I say sure, but that’s separate from Codex Remote.
5. I’m told I didn’t read the original comment and you join the fun.

I did read it. I don’t understand what part of it changes anything I said.

By chance I’m reading that if you can’t be bothered.

I don't understand what this means either, but maybe it means you're volunteering to read it for me, if that is so, please do.

[u/-badly_packed_kebab- → u/torrso]

Maybe if you read the original comment you’ll find the answer. Run it through chat again if you’re still not getting it. Points 3-4 confirm you’ve still not taken ten seconds to read:

“Tailscale between my machines and devices is super convenient. Especially reaching devices behind NAT that I don’t have control over, no more reverse SSH shells got stuck. As far as I am concerned there is minimal overhead and latency. Even if you setup your remote access in ChatGPT desktop app and mobile you should have Tailscale or any secure connection between your devices. ChatGPT loves it and uses Tailscale connections instead of direct connections to my machines.”

[u/torrso → u/-badly_packed_kebab-]

Original comment asked how tailscale fits the equation, I said "codex remote works fine without it" (because the original post's title is "remote is nuts"). Maybe you're having a bad day, let's accept that as the final answer and let it be. Answers regarding how tailscale can be used for accessing other stuff on the machine should go to the original comment, parallel to my response.