> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ouim.me/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> Your own infrastructure layer for Claude. SSH, APIs, memory — all authenticated, all yours.

## What is Reacher?

Reacher is a self-hosted MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that turns Claude into a personal infrastructure agent. It gives Claude authenticated access to your machines, your APIs, and persistent memory — across every conversation.

You run it on a VPS you own. Claude reaches it over HTTPS. Everything in between — SSH keys, API tokens, Tailscale mesh access — stays on your server.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Get Reacher running in under 10 minutes with Docker or bare Node.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect to Claude" icon="plug" href="/reacher/connecting-to-claude">
    Link your running server to Claude.ai as a custom connector.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Tools reference" icon="wrench" href="/reacher/tools/overview">
    Explore all six tools: ssh\_exec, fetch\_external, gist\_kb, and more.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Add your own tools" icon="code" href="/reacher/extending/adding-tools">
    Every tool is a single file. Add your own in minutes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## The problem with official MCP connectors

Official connectors give you 40 tools when you need 3. They live in someone else's sandbox, they don't know your machines, and they reset when the conversation ends.

Reacher is the alternative. One server you own. One authenticated proxy. Every API you care about is just an allowed domain away — no new connector, no new tool, just a new line in your config.

***

## What Reacher actually is

A trust boundary with tools attached.

The VPS is neutral ground — not your laptop, not Anthropic's servers, yours. When Claude calls `ssh_exec` to reach one of your machines, it goes through a server you control, authenticated with a key you own, over your Tailscale mesh. The whole chain is yours.

### The fetch\_external insight

Adding GitHub support to Reacher is not "install the GitHub MCP connector." It's adding `api.github.com` to your allowed domains list. Same tool, same authenticated proxy, new target. Claude already knows REST APIs — it doesn't need a dedicated `github_list_prs` tool. It just needs a way to call the API with your token, without you pasting it into every prompt.

```bash theme={null}
PROXY_ALLOWED_DOMAINS=api.github.com,api.linear.app,api.notion.com
```

That's three integrations. *One tool.*

***

## Available tools

| Tool               | What it does                                               |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| `ssh_exec`         | Run shell commands on any Tailscale device                 |
| `tailscale_status` | List all devices with online/offline status, IPs, OS       |
| `fetch_external`   | Proxy HTTP requests with injected auth per domain          |
| `github_search`    | Search GitHub for pull requests or commits                 |
| `gist_kb`          | Read/write a private knowledge base backed by GitHub Gists |
| `browser`          | Control a headless browser via CDP                         |

***

## Architecture overview

```
Claude.ai  ──HTTPS──►  Reacher (your VPS)  ──Tailscale SSH──►  your machines
                              │
                              ├──► fetch_external ──► api.github.com (with token)
                              ├──► gist_kb ──────────► GitHub Gists (with token)
                              └──► browser ──────────► headless browser (CDP)
```

Reacher is stateless — a new MCP transport handler is created per request. No session state is stored server-side. Your tokens never leave your server.

***

## Prerequisites

* A [Tailscale](https://tailscale.com) account with your devices enrolled
* Node.js 18+ or Docker
* A VPS or always-on machine reachable over HTTPS from Claude.ai
* A Tailscale API key and a GitHub personal access token