Run Continue's cn CLI on Your Phone (iPhone + Android)

You can run Continue's cn CLI on your phone today, iPhone or Android, but not by installing an app, because Continue ships no mobile build. The wrinkle is timing: Continue was acquired by Cursor and its last main-branch commit is dated 2026-06-19, so development has stopped. The Apache-2.0 code and the cn binary still install and run. The fastest phone path: install Cosyra for iOS or Cosyra for Android, open the Ubuntu container, then npm i -g @continuedev/cli and point cn at your own API key. 1 hour free on signup, no credit card.

This guide was written by the Cosyra team. We installed and ran @continuedev/cli ourselves on 2026-07-11, and we cross-checked every claim against Continue's official cn CLI README and continue.dev, verified the same day.

What is Continue's cn CLI?

Continue is an open-source AI coding agent published under Apache-2.0. Most people met it as a VS Code and JetBrains extension, but it also ships a terminal agent: the cn CLI, distributed on npm as @continuedev/cli. The same agent logic runs in the editor and in the shell, so behavior is familiar whether you are in VS Code or a terminal.

We ran cn --help on 2026-07-11. Running cn with no flags starts an interactive terminal chat where you reference files with @ and approve tool calls; cn -p "your prompt" runs headless for scripts, CI, and git hooks, which is the mode the README calls out for "Scripts and automation, CI/CD pipelines." The model is BYOK: you bring your own provider and key rather than a single hosted router.

The opinion we hold that a Continue booster would push back on: right now the most important fact about Continue is not a feature, it is the acquisition. We would not start a new long-term project on it today, because the team that shipped it has moved to Cursor and the main branch stopped moving on 2026-06-19. The honest reason it is still worth running from a phone is narrow and real — the Apache-2.0 cn binary is BYOK, so it keeps working on your own key after the hosted platform is gone. That is different from "Continue is thriving." It is not, as of 2026-07-11.

How can you run cn on a phone?

You can run cn on a phone three ways, and all three put the actual Node process somewhere with a real shell: a cloud Ubuntu container reached from a native mobile app (Cosyra), Termux on Android, or an SSH client into a VPS you own. Comparison current as of 2026-07-11.

1. Cosyra: cloud Ubuntu container, you add cn with npm

This is what we built: a native iOS and Android terminal connected to a persistent Ubuntu 24.04 container. Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and Gemini CLI are already installed; Continue is the one you add. On a clean container it is a single npm i -g @continuedev/cli and you are running.

• Works when: you want an x86_64 shell that does not fight Node-native builds, dual-platform iOS and Android, and the same container from your phone, tablet, and the web.
• Breaks when: you are offline. The container lives in the cloud, so no internet means no terminal. Full trade-off list in Cosyra vs Termux.
• Cost: 1 hour free on signup, no credit card. Extend with a 10-hour, 7-day trial when you want more. After that, $29.99/month or $300/year. Model tokens are billed by your provider. See pricing.

2. Termux on Android (untested for cn)

Install Termux from F-Droid, pkg install nodejs, then npm i -g @continuedev/cli. On paper this could work. We have not run cn under Termux as of 2026-07-11, so we will not tell you it works or that it fails. Termux runs on Android's Bionic libc and an arm64 userland, which is where Node CLIs with native or pty dependencies tend to break, and we have watched other Node agents fall over there. If you try it, test on a throwaway session first; do not trust a blog that promises a clean Termux install without showing the run.

• Works when: you are an Android power user who accepts install debugging and keeps everything local and free.
• Breaks when: a native dependency does not build on arm64, or Android 12+'s phantom-process killer terminates a long session. See the Termux-for-iPhone reality check for why Termux is Android-only in the first place.
• Cost: free Termux, free CLI, you pay your model provider.

3. SSH from an iOS client into your own VPS

On iPhone or iPad, an SSH client like Blink Shell into a VPS works. Spin up a box (Hetzner, Scaleway, DigitalOcean), install Node and npm i -g @continuedev/cli on it, SSH in inside a tmux session, and run cn. A local config with your own key is the simplest path here, since a hub round-trip over SSH is awkward and the hub is going away regardless.

• Works when: you want a box that is yours and an iOS-native keyboard.
• Breaks when: you do not want to be a sysadmin. Patching, hardening, and backups are on you. More in SSH from your phone.
• Cost: the SSH client (Blink is $19.99/year) plus the VPS ($5 to $40/month). No Android equivalent for Blink.

How do you set up cn on iPhone or Android?

You set up cn on iPhone or Android in about five minutes with Cosyra: install the app, open the container, install the CLI with npm, point it at a local config with your own key, and run cn. The config step is the one that keeps you off the winding-down hub.

Step 1: Install Cosyra and open a container

Download from the App Store or Google Play. Sign in with Apple, Google, or email. On first launch we provision a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 container with Node.js, Python, Git, and tmux already on it.

Step 2: Install the cn CLI with npm

Continue is not one of the four agents we ship in the image, so you add it yourself. The command is straight from Continue's CLI README. When we ran it on 2026-07-11 it added 13 packages in about 3 seconds, and cn --version printed 1.5.47.

Step 3: Point cn at a local config, not the hub

Here is the part specific to a product being absorbed. cn --model and cn --mcp take Continue Hub slugs, and the hub is the hosted layer winding down. Skip the hub: write a local config under ~/.continue with your own provider and API key, so cn reads its model from a file you control rather than a hosted catalog that may not be there next quarter.

Step 4: Run cn interactively or headless

Run cn to open an interactive session where you reference files with @ and approve tool calls, or cn -p for a single headless answer. Keep it inside tmux so a dropped signal on the train does not kill the session.

What can you actually do with cn on your phone?

The honest pitch for cn on a phone is a BYOK terminal agent that outlives the platform it came from. Two sessions we run from a phone.

Review a diff on the train with your own key

You pushed a branch before leaving the office. On the train home, open Cosyra, cd into the repo, and run cn -p "review the diff against main and flag anything risky." Because cn reads its model from your local config, there is no hosted account to log into and no metered surprise — you are billing your own provider directly.

Compare cn against the agents we pre-install

Since Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and Gemini CLI already sit in the same container, a phone session is a low-stakes place to run the same prompt through cn and through one of them from the couch and see which reasoning you prefer. We do this when deciding which agent to keep on a repo. It also answers the practical migration question directly: if you were a Continue user, running cn next to OpenCode tells you fast whether the open-source agent you are moving to feels like a step down.

What are the real limits of running cn on a phone?

Knowing where cn stops helps you match it to the right job instead of fighting it.

• The hub is winding down. Anything that depends on the Continue Hub — hosted config, saved history, hub-slug models — is on borrowed time. Run cn with a local config and your own key, or it will get flakier as the platform is retired.
• Development has stopped. The main branch's last commit is 2026-06-19. No new features, and bug fixes are unlikely. Treat the current cn as the version you get.
• No offline mode. The container and the model API both live in the cloud. No internet, no cn.
• Termux is untested here. We route the Android phone path through a cloud container because we have not verified a clean cn install on Termux's arm64 userland. Do not assume it works.
• Not pre-installed on Cosyra. Unlike Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and Gemini CLI, you install cn yourself. See the AI coding agents on mobile pillar for the cross-agent picture.

How does Cosyra compare to Termux and Blink+VPS for cn?

Cosyra wins on a clean x86_64 shell and dual-platform use; Termux is the free local option if you are willing to test the install yourself; an SSH client plus a VPS wins on iOS if you want a box you own. None is strictly best. Comparison as of 2026-07-11.

Who should pick each option?

Choose Termux if you are on Android, you live in the terminal, and you are willing to test the cn install yourself and debug native-build failures to keep everything local and free. Choose an SSH client plus a VPS if you are on iOS, you already run a box, and you want full control of the host. Choose Cosyra if you want a clean x86_64 shell on both iOS and Android without maintaining a machine, with Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and Gemini CLI sitting next to cn in the same container — which matters more than usual here, because if Continue's cn stops getting fixes, having a live agent one command away is the migration path.

For the same walkthrough with the agents we pre-install, see Gemini CLI on phone, OpenCode on phone (the still-maintained open-source agent), and Codex CLI on phone. For another install-it-yourself CLI with the same not-pre-installed caveat, see Aider on phone.

Frequently asked questions