REFERENCE / FAQ QUICKFIRE
FAQ quickfire
One-line answers with a source for each. If the answer isn’t here, use the ask box: it searches this guide and exe.dev’s live docs.
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What is exe.dev? | Subscription VMs with persistent disks, HTTPS and auth handled, created with ssh exe.dev new. | https://exe.dev/docs/what-is-exe |
| How do you pronounce it? | “EX-ee”. “But you don’t have to.” | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/pronunciation |
| How fast is a new VM? | About two seconds. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/how-exedev-works |
| Which hypervisor? | Cloud Hypervisor, “a bit of an implementation detail (and may change!)”. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/how-exedev-works |
| Can I pick a kernel? | No. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/how-exedev-works |
| Can I run Docker? | Yes: docker run --rm alpine:latest echo hello. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/docker |
| Can I use my own image? | Yes: new --image=..., plus --registry-auth for private registries. | https://exe.dev/docs/customization, https://exe.dev/docs/private-image |
| How do I copy files? | scp file.txt my-vm.exe.xyz:~/, or pipe through ssh/tar. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/copy-files |
| VS Code? | Dashboard links open vscode://vscode-remote/ssh-remote+<vm>.exe.xyz/home/exedev. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/vscode |
ssh vm.exe.xyz fails? | ssh vm+my-vm@vm.exe.xyz always works. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/ssh-destination |
Why does ssh exe.dev ask me to register? | It decides on the first key offered. Pin a key with IdentitiesOnly yes. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/heisen-connect, https://exe.dev/docs/faq/ssh-key |
| Multiple accounts? | Use one SSH key per account. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/ssh-key |
| Tab completion for VM names? | Query ssh exe.dev ls --json with jq from zsh/bash completion. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/tab-completion |
| What host key should I see? | SHA256:JJOP/lwiBGOMilfONPWZCXUrfK154cnJFXcqlsi6lPo. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/host-key |
| Is disk persistent? | Yes, local NVMe streamed to another server in the regional cluster. | https://exe.dev/docs/architecture |
| How is disk usage measured? | Filesystem usage (ext4), with periodic fstrim. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/disk-usage |
| Which port is public? | 80 if exposed, else the smallest exposed port ≥1024; change it with share port. | https://exe.dev/docs/proxy |
| Other ports? | 3000 to 9999 for users with access; only one public port. | https://exe.dev/docs/proxy |
| Custom domain? | CNAME/ALIAS to vm.exe.xyz, then domain add. Unregistered domains get a 421. | https://exe.dev/docs/cnames |
| Cloudflare proxy? | Use DNS only, or a Snippet/Worker rewrite. | https://exe.dev/docs/cnames |
| Can VMs talk privately? | No private network. Use Tailscale, SSH or VM-to-VM integrations. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/cross-vm-networking |
| Receive email? | Yes, on *.exe.xyz. “No custom domains yet.” | https://exe.dev/docs/receive-email |
| Can I restrict outbound traffic? | egress <vm> integrations. | https://exe.dev/docs/internet-access |
| Use GitHub without a token on the VM? | The GitHub integration: git clone https://github.int.exe.xyz/owner/repo.git. | https://exe.dev/docs/integrations-github |
| Minimal GitHub token instead? | A fine-grained PAT for one repo with “Contents”, using HTTPS URLs. | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/github-token |
| Is there an MCP server? | Yes, https://exe.dev/mcp. | https://exe.dev/docs/mcp |
| What does an agent use to propose an action? | A suggest link: https://exe.dev/suggest?command=..., checked with &preflight=1. | https://exe.dev/docs/suggest-links |
| Can I use undocumented commands? | “Only if you will enjoy us breaking it later.” | https://exe.dev/docs/faq/undocumented |
| Cheapest plan? | Personal 2 vCPU at $15/month. | https://exe.dev/docs/billing/personal |
| Is there a free trial? | 7 days, by linking a paid ChatGPT subscription at signup. Trial invites also exist. | https://exe.dev/docs/billing/overview, https://exe.dev/docs/invites |
| Do more users cost more on Work? | No. It’s $75 for the whole team. | https://exe.dev/docs/billing/work |
| Moving a team to pools? | pool adopt --vm=<vm> --pool=<pool>. | https://exe.dev/docs/migrating-to-pools |
| Leaving exe.dev? | “rsync will get you pretty far.” | https://exe.dev/docs/lockin |
| What’s an SLA? | Enterprise: 99.9% monthly, with service credits. | https://exe.dev/docs/enterprise-sla |
| Where do I get help? | support@exe.dev, Discord, and grant-support-root <vm> on. | https://exe.dev/docs/getting-help, https://exe.dev/docs/community |
| What are “long tail docs”? | Extra docs that “may be LLM-generated (though still human reviewed!)”. | https://exe.dev/docs/what-are-long-tail-docs |