# Zydra FAQ

Short answers to the questions people ask about Zydra, with links to the pages that go into more detail.

## What is Zydra?

Zydra is a Linux desktop in your own virtual machine on our servers, which you open from your terminal with `ssh zydra.sh` and which draws itself inside that terminal. It is made for running AI coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex away from your laptop. Each desktop is its own virtual machine, run by crosvm, and we run and update it for you.

The agents keep working after you close the lid, they can't touch the files on your computer, and you still get their notifications, paste screenshots into them and answer them from your phone. [What is Zydra?](https://zydra.sh/articles/what-is-zydra/) has the longer version.

## How do I try Zydra, and what does the demo include?

Run `ssh zydra.sh` in a terminal to start a free 15-minute demo, with no sign-up and no card. Your SSH key is your account, so there is no password or email to set up. The 15 minutes start when your desktop first shows, and each SSH key gets one demo a day.

The demo is the same desktop that the paid plan continues, with the same apps and agents, image paste and notifications. It keeps only the last hour of the timeline and can't pin points, and the phone view comes with the paid plan. When every demo slot is taken, you wait in a queue that shows how many people are ahead of you.

When the demo ends, your terminal shows a checkout link, and paying there keeps the workspace you started. If you don't pay, the demo save stays on our server for up to 24 hours, then 30 days in an encrypted archive, and then we delete it.

If you have no SSH key yet, `ssh-keygen -t ed25519` makes one.

## How much does Zydra cost, and what is included?

Zydra has one plan at $40 a month, billed monthly in advance in US dollars, and Paddle adds tax where you live. It gives you one virtual machine with 8 GB of memory and 80 GB of storage, 64 GB of it for your files and the rest for swap, with no time limit.

Claude Code and Codex come built in, along with a GPU-accelerated browser, the timeline, the phone view and one-command uploads of your configs and files. You log in to the agents with your own accounts. Zydra doesn't resell model access.

Paddle.com sells the plan as our reseller and merchant of record, so your receipts come from Paddle. Cancel any time with the link in Paddle's receipt email, or write to `billing@zydra.sh`. The [pricing page](https://zydra.sh/pricing/) has the details.

## Which terminal works best with Zydra?

Kitty works best, and Ghostty is the second choice. Both support the Kitty graphics protocol, which Zydra uses to draw graphical apps. WezTerm supports it too and works, but it has been slow with Zydra.

Other terminals still work. With iTerm2 inline images or Sixel, graphical apps work but redraw slower, and Sixel shows fewer colors. In a terminal with neither, or inside tmux or screen, Zydra draws text only. The terminal, editors and command-line tools work fully there, and graphical windows show only their name.

On a Mac, set Option to act as Alt, or some of Zydra's keys won't work. The [SSH settings page](https://zydra.sh/ssh/) has config lines that make typing faster over slow links.

## Which AI coding agents are installed?

Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Aider and Hermes Agent come installed, along with git, the GitHub CLI, Node.js, gcc, ripgrep, tmux and other command-line tools. You sign in to each agent with your own account.

Claude Code and Codex come with Zydra's desktop plugin. It lets them open a page in a browser tile next to their terminal and take a screenshot of it, and you watch the same page live.

## Do agents keep running when I disconnect?

Yes. Your desktop keeps running after you disconnect, so agents, builds and renders finish while your laptop is closed. You don't need tmux to keep a session alive.

A desktop with nothing running parks: we move its memory to disk, and it comes back in seconds when you return. The paid plan has no time limit.

## Can I paste images and get notifications?

Yes. Copy a screenshot on your computer and press Ctrl+V in Claude Code, and Zydra fetches the image from your computer's clipboard through your terminal. Programs in the virtual machine can send notifications, and your terminal shows them as normal notifications. Both work in the demo too.

Image paste uses Kitty's clipboard protocol, OSC 5522. We tested it with Kitty. In other terminals, paste still types text into the VM, but an image needs OSC 5522. [How to paste images into Claude Code over SSH](https://zydra.sh/articles/paste-images-into-claude-code-over-ssh/) explains how it works.

The desktop runs a notification server, so `notify-send` works, and so do programs that print OSC 9, 99 or 777 notifications. A terminal with no notification support gets a bell instead. With a paired phone, notifications also arrive as Web Push messages, encrypted end to end. On an iPhone, add the phone page to your Home Screen first. [Get notified when Claude Code needs you](https://zydra.sh/articles/claude-code-notifications-from-a-remote-machine/) has the setup.

## Can I use Zydra from my phone?

Yes, on the paid plan. Pair a phone from the desktop's menu and open the phone view, a web page that shows your desktop's windows live.

To pair, scan the code the menu shows with your phone's camera and tap Continue on the page that opens. The desktop then asks "Pair this phone?", and nothing is paired until you say yes there.

On the phone you swipe between windows, type into a text field and press Send, and use a key row with Ctrl-C and the other keys a phone keyboard lacks. Taps click, and a long press right-clicks. A window you hold upright reflows to the phone's shape. The phone has the timeline too. There is no app to install. [Using Claude Code from your phone](https://zydra.sh/articles/use-claude-code-from-your-phone/) compares it with the other ways.

## What is the timeline?

The timeline records your desktop so you can scrub back to see what happened, restore the whole virtual machine to an earlier point and branch from there, like git for the VM.

It stores terminal text as text, windows as video of their visible part, and layout as events. About once a minute while you are active, it snapshots the whole virtual machine, memory included. On the paid plan you can also pin points to keep. A demo keeps only the last hour.

Recording is on by default. The status bar shows it, a pause key stops it, and you can delete a time range. The timeline player exports a time range as a video. The timeline is not a backup, so keep a copy of anything you can't lose somewhere else.

## Does anyone at Zydra look at my desktop or train on my code?

No. We don't index, scan or train anything on your desktop.

No one at Zydra looks at your desktop except to help with a support case after you consent, to fix an error that stops an automated process, to investigate a use the [Terms of Service](https://zydra.sh/terms-of-service/) forbid as a last resort, or when the law requires it. The site has no third-party analytics, ads or tracking pixels.

## Where is my data, and how do I delete it?

Your desktop, its files and its timeline are on our servers in the New York metro region of the United States. Demo saves and pinned timeline points are also stored on Backblaze B2, encrypted with a key that stays on our server. Your desktop's disks on our server are not encrypted at rest.

Files you delete in your desktop leave it at once, but stay in older timeline snapshots until those age out. Pinned points stay until you delete them. From the desktop you can delete a time range of the recording, unlink GitHub and revoke a paired phone.

To erase everything, write to `privacy@zydra.sh` with the fingerprint of an SSH key on your account. We delete your account, desktop, timeline and archives, except billing records we must keep. When a plan ends, we keep its workspace with no deletion timer so it is there if you pay again, and the same address deletes it. The [Privacy Policy](https://zydra.sh/privacy-policy/) has every retention period.

## Can I get a refund?

Yes. Within 3 days of your first payment, choose "Refund my payment" in Settings, in the desktop's menu or on your phone page, and the full $40 and its tax go back to the card or PayPal account you paid with. No reason is needed.

The guarantee covers the first payment only, never a renewal, and works once per person and card. Your plan ends at once, your workspace stays saved, and the account gets no more demo time.

We also refund a month you meant to cancel and haven't used, a double or wrong charge, and a desktop that was never usable because of a fault on our side. Consumers in the EU, the EEA and the UK also have 14 days to withdraw. The [Refund Policy](https://zydra.sh/refund-policy/) has the full rule.

## How does Zydra compare with exe.dev?

exe.dev sells a pool of CPU and memory that up to 50 persistent VMs share, with HTTPS hosting, custom domains and login built in, from $15 a month. Zydra sells one VM with a graphical desktop drawn in your terminal, a GPU, a phone view and a timeline that rewinds it, for $40 a month.

Choose exe.dev to run many machines and host what you build. Choose Zydra when your agents need to see and use graphical apps and you want to watch them. [Zydra vs exe.dev](https://zydra.sh/articles/zydra-vs-exe-dev/) compares them point by point, as of November 2026.

## How does Zydra compare with a VPS?

A VPS or a spare mini PC with tmux, Tailscale and an SSH app costs less and gives you more control. Zydra costs $40 a month, but it starts with one command and adds a graphical desktop with a browser next to the agent, Ctrl+V image paste, notifications on your computer and phone, a phone view and a timeline.

If you only need agents in a terminal and enjoy setting things up, build the box yourself. [Zydra vs a VPS with tmux and Tailscale](https://zydra.sh/articles/zydra-vs-vps-tmux-tailscale/) goes through the trade-offs one by one.

## Can I host a website on Zydra?

No. Zydra gives apps in the virtual machine no public address, and the [Terms of Service](https://zydra.sh/terms-of-service/) forbid using it as a host for public servers, a VPN or a proxy.

A dev server still works for you. The browser runs on the same machine as the agent, so `localhost:5173` opens in it with no port forwarding.

## How do I contact Zydra?

Join the [Zydra Discord server](https://discord.gg/FEpBjPhATz) or email `hello@zydra.sh`.

Payment questions go to `billing@zydra.sh`, privacy requests to `privacy@zydra.sh`, security reports to `security@zydra.sh` and abuse reports to `abuse@zydra.sh`.

Related: [What is Zydra?](https://zydra.sh/articles/what-is-zydra/) and [Running Claude Code on a remote server](https://zydra.sh/articles/claude-code-on-a-remote-server/). Or browse [all articles](https://zydra.sh/articles/).