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Mobile and remote workflow

The engineering workflow is designed to survive changes in location and device. At a desk, the primary implementation environment is the Cursor desktop application on macOS. When moving between locations, implementation can continue on the development Linux server through Cursor CLI inside a persistent tmux session. A phone SSH client can reconnect to the same server and inspect the running session without requiring the MacBook to stay open.

Two operating modes

The development server becomes the stable execution environment while the user interface can change.

Mobile loop

Why tmux matters

Mobile SSH sessions are temporary. The engineering task should not be. tmux keeps the implementation process alive across:
  • network changes
  • phone lock/unlock
  • SSH disconnects
  • movement between Wi-Fi and mobile networks
  • switching between laptop and phone
This separates the lifetime of the coding task from the lifetime of the terminal connection.

Telegram as the completion signal

Long-running implementation and test work should not require watching a terminal. Cursor is configured to send a Telegram message when its task finishes. The completion signal changes the operating pattern: Telegram is a notification channel only. It is not a source of truth and should not carry secrets or canonical engineering state.

Current manual seam

The remaining mobile workflow still contains a small manual bridge:
The broader Engineering System is intentionally moving state away from these copied summaries and toward repository-scoped durable state such as GitHub Work Packets. Even while some mobile steps remain manual, the authority order does not change: repository state, tests, CI, and actual runtime evidence remain more important than copied terminal summaries.

Independent verification

When a result needs deeper review, ChatGPT does not need to rely only on the pasted Cursor summary. With Desktop Commander Remote MCP connected to the authorized development server, ChatGPT can inspect:
  • repository HEAD and branch
  • dirty worktree state
  • changed files
  • running processes
  • test output and artifacts
This makes the mobile workflow practical without turning the phone into the primary debugging interface.
Last modified on September 19, 2026