FAQ
Do I need a Claude Pro or Max subscription?
Section titled “Do I need a Claude Pro or Max subscription?”Yes. Restful is the machine; you bring the Claude account. We don’t resell Claude — you authenticate to your own Pro/Max via claude /login (same flow as setting up Claude Code on a fresh laptop). If you’d rather pay per token, an Anthropic API key works too.
What does the $39/mo cover?
Section titled “What does the $39/mo cover?”The machine itself, your subdomain, the wildcard TLS cert, the restful-agent + browser console + uploads modal, ongoing platform updates, and basic support. Your Claude bill is separate and goes straight to Anthropic.
How is this different from a $5 droplet plus elbow grease?
Section titled “How is this different from a $5 droplet plus elbow grease?”You can absolutely run Claude Code on a bare DO/Linode/Hetzner box if you enjoy maintaining it. Restful does the parts you’d otherwise spend a weekend on: TLS issuance + auto-renewal, wildcard certs across every app you deploy, an in-browser terminal that survives WS disconnects, a one-command deploy story, custom-domain reconciliation, agent auto-update, fleet health observability. Plus the restful-vps skill so Claude knows about the conventions.
Can I SSH in?
Section titled “Can I SSH in?”Yes. Root login is disabled, password auth is disabled, you sign in with your SSH key as the restful user. Passwordless sudo, full root access via sudo.
Where do my files live? Can I take them out?
Section titled “Where do my files live? Can I take them out?”Standard Linux files under /home/restful/. SSH + scp or rsync out anytime. Nothing is in a proprietary format.
How big is the machine?
Section titled “How big is the machine?”4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 80 GB disk, Ubuntu 24.04. Comfortably runs 10+ Node/Python apps with their databases, or one production app serving thousands of daily users. See the what’s installed page for the full software inventory.
What about backups?
Section titled “What about backups?”Phase 1: not yet built-in. DigitalOcean droplet snapshots cost $1/mo and you can enable them in the DO panel. Coming as a managed feature.
Can I have multiple machines?
Section titled “Can I have multiple machines?”Not yet. One machine per user during the beta. Teams + multiple machines are on the roadmap once the single-user experience is fully polished.
What if I want to cancel?
Section titled “What if I want to cancel?”Cancel anytime from the Stripe customer portal (link in your dashboard). Your subscription continues through the paid-through date, then your machine is destroyed and the DNS records are cleaned up. Existing beta subscribers keep their $39/mo rate as long as they stay subscribed continuously.
Is my Claude session / code private?
Section titled “Is my Claude session / code private?”Yes. Restful’s control plane never sees your Claude conversations, your code, or your file contents. The agent’s heartbeat sends versions + service-health booleans only. Files you upload go browser → your VPS directly (the control plane is not in the path).
Found a bug. Where do I go?
Section titled “Found a bug. Where do I go?”Email or the GitHub repo at github.com/asidiali/restful-host. For security issues specifically: please don’t open a public issue — email instead.