Rig gives coding agents persistent cloud desktops for parallel development

Summary

Rig is an open-source command-line tool that gives each coding-agent task or Git branch its own Linux desktop in the cloud. The agent continues to run on the developer's laptop, while the cloud desktop handles the dev server, tests, browser automation and other resource-intensive processes. Rig supports Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and other shell-capable agents through an installable skill, generated guidance and an MCP server. A desktop can start from a saved environment containing tools, files, browser state and an already-running Chrome session, and it can be viewed or controlled in any browser tab for logins and two-factor authentication. Rig can copy browser logins into cloud desktops, excluding banking and payment sites by default, while stating that cookie values are not printed and that sessions should be handled carefully. Its computer-use commands expose screenshots, mouse clicks, keyboard input, scrolling and dragging; its browser commands operate on page structure, and local edits can be synchronized with the remote repository copy. Desktops pause after 15 minutes of inactivity while retaining their state and typically wake in about two seconds; paused desktops cost nothing, while Rig users pay E2B for runtime, listed at about $0.33 per hour for a 4-CPU, 8-GB desktop. The setup requires Bun 1.2 or newer and an E2B account, with image construction taking about 10 minutes as part of an approximately 20-minute setup. The included image is based on Ubuntu 24.04 with Xfce and Chrome and includes Node, Bun, Python, testing, deployment and cloud CLIs, databases and agent tools. Rig keeps ports private and restricts several credential and repository operations, but users must avoid saving sensitive sessions in shared default desktops and should review the project's security guidance.