Your first shared workspace

By the end, you’ll have two local project folders exchanging edits through current. This uses a disposable playground, so you can understand the workflow before connecting your real game.

1 Start your current node

In Terminal 1, make a folder for the server and start it. This tutorial binds to your own machine; it is not exposed to your network.

mkdir -p ~/corotation-playground/current
cd ~/corotation-playground/current
ssh-keygen -q -t ed25519 -N '' -f ../playground-key
cor current --bind '[::1]:8787' --authorized-key ../playground-key.pub

Current prints its address, SSH host fingerprint, and data location, and begins making baselines every five minutes. Leave this terminal running.

2 Connect your first workspace

In Terminal 2, create Alice's folder and connect using the disposable playground key. Compare the prompted SSH host fingerprint with Terminal 1, then confirm it.

mkdir -p ~/corotation-playground/alice
cd ~/corotation-playground/alice
cor remote add 'ssh://[::1]:8787' --identity ../playground-key
mkdir -p src
printf 'export const speed = 1;\n' > src/game.js
cor work

Alice’s worker checks the folder and submits its initial content. Leave it running. The output will include Up to date once the exchange finishes.

3 Bring in a second workspace

In Terminal 3, create Bob’s empty project and connect it to the same address, using the same disposable playground key. For a real team, authorize a different key for each person:

mkdir -p ~/corotation-playground/bob
cd ~/corotation-playground/bob
cor remote add 'ssh://[::1]:8787' --identity ../playground-key
cor work

Bob receives Alice’s project. In your editor or file browser, open ~/corotation-playground/bob/src/game.js. It should contain export const speed = 1;.

A teammate with a copy of the project’s corotation.json can start with just cor work; Corotation discovers the address and verifies the SSH host on first connection.

4 Make an edit and watch it arrive

Keep both workers running. In your normal editor, change Alice’s src/game.js to:

export const speed = 2;

Save, then check Bob’s copy. Corotation waits for one second of quiet before syncing. Several quick saves are grouped; continuous editing caps the batching delay at five seconds. Local hashing and transfer time come after that delay.

Once both copies show speed = 2, edit Bob’s file to speed = 3. Alice receives the return edit. You’ve now synced in both directions.

5 Keep generated files out

Open Alice’s .gitignore and append the following line. Preserve the Corotation entries already there:

dist/

The rule itself syncs to Bob. Files you create under dist/ are excluded, and their activity does not delay real project edits. Nested .gitignore files are supported too. Learn about overrides in the ignore guide.

6 Stop and pick up later

Press Ctrl+C in a worker terminal. The files stay on disk. From the same project folder, inspect status and restart with no connection arguments:

cor status
cor work

A configured worker also retries when current is unavailable. If you stop before a pending batch syncs, restarting rescans the workspace and finds your edits.

You’re connected. What next?

When you’re done with the playground, press Ctrl+C in both worker terminals and then in the current terminal. Keep the folders if you want to resume this tutorial later.