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Extend documentation for using detach option with agent containers#34

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nezhar merged 3 commits into
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issue-25
Mar 10, 2026
Merged

Extend documentation for using detach option with agent containers#34
nezhar merged 3 commits into
mainfrom
issue-25

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@nezhar nezhar commented Mar 10, 2026

This pull request adds documentation for the "detached mode" feature, which allows users to start agent containers in the background without attaching their terminal. The updates clarify usage, workflows, and caveats for detached mode, and enhance both the agents and quickstart documentation to guide users through these workflows.

Detached mode documentation:

  • Added a comprehensive section to docs/agents/index.md explaining how to use -d / --detach to start agent containers in detached mode, including basic usage, customisation workflows, management commands, and important caveats.

Quickstart improvements:

  • Updated docs/quickstart.md to show how to check running agents with vp list --running and linked to the new detached mode documentation for further details.

Implements #25

Summary by CodeRabbit

  • Documentation
    • Added comprehensive "Detached mode" guidance for running agents in the background, customizing container startup, inspecting, reattaching, managing detached instances, and known caveats, with example commands.
    • Updated Quickstart with an example for listing running agents and a cross-reference to the new Detached mode documentation.

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coderabbitai Bot commented Mar 10, 2026

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info
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Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 5aa8ec2 and bdc3735.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)
  • docs/agents/index.md
🚧 Files skipped from review as they are similar to previous changes (1)
  • docs/agents/index.md

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Adds documentation and quickstart cross-reference for running agents in detached/background mode, including examples for starting with -d/--detach, inspecting and managing detached containers, customization-before-startup workflows, caveats, and a vp list --running example.

Changes

Cohort / File(s) Summary
Detached Mode Documentation
docs/agents/index.md
New "Detached mode" section documenting -d/--detach usage, basic examples, customization-before-startup and reattachment workflows, commands to inspect/manage detached agent containers, and caveats.
Quickstart Guide
docs/quickstart.md
Added vp list --running example to show running detached agents and a cross-reference to Agents > Detached mode documentation.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Possibly related issues

Poem

🐰
I hopped through pages, tidy and bright,
Detached agents resting out of sight,
A peek, a list, a cheerful reattach,
Commands like carrots along the path,
Hop on—containers hum through the night. 🥕✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 3
✅ Passed checks (3 passed)
Check name Status Explanation
Description Check ✅ Passed Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check ✅ Passed The title directly and accurately summarizes the main change: documentation extension for the detach option with agent containers. It is clear, specific, and matches the changeset's primary objective.
Docstring Coverage ✅ Passed No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.

✏️ Tip: You can configure your own custom pre-merge checks in the settings.

✨ Finishing Touches
🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)
  • Create PR with unit tests
  • Post copyable unit tests in a comment
  • Commit unit tests in branch issue-25

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Actionable comments posted: 1

🤖 Prompt for all review comments with AI agents
Verify each finding against the current code and only fix it if needed.

Inline comments:
In `@docs/agents/index.md`:
- Line 169: Replace the British spelling "customisations" in the sentence "Apply
your customisations — install packages, edit config files, set environment
variables, etc." with the American spelling "customizations" and run a quick
grep/search for any other occurrences of "customisations" in the docs to
standardize them to "customizations" to match the existing use (e.g., the
earlier "customization") across the repository.

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Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 853cb3b7-d23f-4cd2-b3bc-8e69275ab6cd

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Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 944b5dd and eeedc0a.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)
  • docs/agents/index.md
  • docs/quickstart.md

Comment thread docs/agents/index.md Outdated
Co-authored-by: coderabbitai[bot] <136622811+coderabbitai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
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Actionable comments posted: 2

♻️ Duplicate comments (1)
docs/agents/index.md (1)

135-135: ⚠️ Potential issue | 🟡 Minor

Inconsistent spelling: use "customize" to match American English convention.

The document uses "customizations" (American spelling) on line 169 but "customise" (British spelling) here. For consistency, standardize on American English throughout.

📝 Proposed fix
-Use `-d` / `--detach` to start an agent container in the background without attaching your terminal. This is useful when you want to customise the container environment before launching the agent interactively.
+Use `-d` / `--detach` to start an agent container in the background without attaching your terminal. This is useful when you want to customize the container environment before launching the agent interactively.
🤖 Prompt for AI Agents
Verify each finding against the current code and only fix it if needed.

In `@docs/agents/index.md` at line 135, Replace the British spelling "customise"
in the sentence "This is useful when you want to customise the container
environment before launching the agent interactively." with American
"customize"; search the document for other British variants like "customise",
"customised", "customising", or "customisations" and standardize them to
American spellings ("customize", "customized", "customizing", "customizations")
so the file uses consistent American English.
🧹 Nitpick comments (1)
docs/agents/index.md (1)

196-196: Consider showing the exact YAML structure for auto_remove configuration.

For consistency with other configuration examples in this document (lines 71-75, 85-88, 113-117), consider showing the exact YAML structure for setting auto_remove: false instead of just mentioning it.

📋 Optional improvement
-- **`auto_remove` (default: `true`)** — By default, containers are automatically removed when they stop. This means you cannot restart a stopped detached container; you need to `vp run` again. Set `auto_remove: false` in your [configuration](../configuration.md) if you want stopped containers to persist.
+- **`auto_remove` (default: `true`)** — By default, containers are automatically removed when they stop. This means you cannot restart a stopped detached container; you need to `vp run` again. Set `auto_remove: false` in your [configuration](../configuration.md) if you want stopped containers to persist:
+
+    ```yaml
+    agents:
+      claude:
+        auto_remove: false
+    ```
🤖 Prompt for AI Agents
Verify each finding against the current code and only fix it if needed.

In `@docs/agents/index.md` at line 196, Add an explicit YAML example showing how
to set auto_remove to false in the configuration instead of just mentioning it;
update the paragraph that currently references **`auto_remove` (default:
`true`)** to include a small code block with the exact keys (e.g., agents: →
<agent_name>: → auto_remove: false) so readers can copy/paste the config
consistent with the other examples; reference the same structure used elsewhere
in the doc and ensure the snippet points to the configuration discussed in
configuration.md.
🤖 Prompt for all review comments with AI agents
Verify each finding against the current code and only fix it if needed.

Inline comments:
In `@docs/agents/index.md`:
- Line 150: Change the British spelling in the header "### Customising the
container before starting the agent" to American English by updating it to "###
Customizing the container before starting the agent" and scan the surrounding
content (notably the occurrence of "customizations") to ensure all related
headings and body text consistently use "customizing"/"customizations" in
American spelling.
- Line 171: Update step 4 to include the exact commands to start each agent
inside the container: after exec-ing in, show concrete examples like running the
agent binary by name (e.g., use "claude" for Claude, "gemini" for Gemini,
"opencode" for Opencode, "auggie" for Auggie, "copilot" for Copilot, "codex" for
Codex) and mention that the user should invoke the relevant agent command (agent
name) to start the process; ensure the text in the guide replaces the vague
"start the agent process" with these specific commands and a short note that the
command is run inside the container shell.

---

Duplicate comments:
In `@docs/agents/index.md`:
- Line 135: Replace the British spelling "customise" in the sentence "This is
useful when you want to customise the container environment before launching the
agent interactively." with American "customize"; search the document for other
British variants like "customise", "customised", "customising", or
"customisations" and standardize them to American spellings ("customize",
"customized", "customizing", "customizations") so the file uses consistent
American English.

---

Nitpick comments:
In `@docs/agents/index.md`:
- Line 196: Add an explicit YAML example showing how to set auto_remove to false
in the configuration instead of just mentioning it; update the paragraph that
currently references **`auto_remove` (default: `true`)** to include a small code
block with the exact keys (e.g., agents: → <agent_name>: → auto_remove: false)
so readers can copy/paste the config consistent with the other examples;
reference the same structure used elsewhere in the doc and ensure the snippet
points to the configuration discussed in configuration.md.

ℹ️ Review info
⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 5daf8750-8a14-4e96-aefc-e2768a0c3944

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between eeedc0a and 5aa8ec2.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)
  • docs/agents/index.md

Comment thread docs/agents/index.md Outdated
Comment thread docs/agents/index.md
Co-authored-by: coderabbitai[bot] <136622811+coderabbitai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
@nezhar nezhar merged commit 531760b into main Mar 10, 2026
17 checks passed
@nezhar nezhar deleted the issue-25 branch March 20, 2026 13:55
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