Introduction

SSH-first pair programming with shared terminal and AI assistance

What is Duet?

Duet is an SSH-first pair programming tool that lets you collaborate in real-time through a shared live terminal. Built with Go and Charm (Bubbletea/Wish), Duet combines the simplicity of SSH with powerful features like AI assistance and sandboxed command execution.

Quickstart

Connect and start your first pairing session in under a minute

AI assistant

Get help from an AI agent powered by Cloudflare Workers

Shared terminal

Real-time collaborative terminal with nvim and nodejs

Sandbox execution

Run commands safely in an isolated Cloudflare sandbox

Key features

Shared terminal

All participants in a session share the same live terminal environment. Every keystroke, command, and output is synchronized in real-time across all connected users.

# Everyone sees the same terminal state
$ git clone https://github.com/user/repo
$ cd repo
$ npm install

The terminal comes pre-configured with:

• nvim - For collaborative code editing
• nodejs - For running JavaScript/TypeScript projects
• Full shell environment for seamless development

AI features

Duet includes an AI assistant powered by Cloudflare’s LLM (Llama) with persistent context per room using Durable Objects.

Press ctrl+g in any session to ask the AI a question. The AI has access to your entire conversation history within the room.

The AI can help with:

• Code explanations and debugging
• Architecture suggestions
• Command recommendations
• Learning and teaching programming concepts

Sandbox features

Run commands in an isolated Cloudflare sandbox without affecting the main terminal environment.

# Press ctrl+r to open sandbox command prompt
Command to run: npm test

Perfect for:

• Testing potentially destructive commands
• Running isolated builds
• File operations without side effects
• Safe experimentation

Sandbox features require a Cloudflare Workers paid plan and only work in local development mode.

Use cases

Teaching

Walk students through code in real-time with shared context

Interviews

Conduct technical interviews with live coding sessions

Pair programming

Collaborate on code with teammates remotely

How it works

Duet uses a simple client-server architecture:

1. SSH connection - Users connect via standard SSH client
2. Room-based sessions - Create or join rooms with unique IDs
3. Terminal synchronization - All input/output is broadcast to room participants
4. AI integration - Optional AI assistance via Cloudflare Workers

Architecture

Duet is built with modern Go and leverages the Charm ecosystem:

• Server: Go with Wish SSH server
• UI: Bubbletea TUI framework
• Styling: Lipgloss for terminal styling
• AI/Sandbox: Cloudflare Workers with Durable Objects and Sandboxes

Ready to get started?

Quickstart guide

Connect to Duet and create your first pairing session