Debugging a remote server: Ask mode vs Agent mode
Most ops debugging is one loop: read, guess, verify. When to use Ask mode, when Agent mode, and why risky commands still stay with a human.
When production breaks, the time goes into the loop: read logs, guess a cause, run a command, find you were wrong, repeat. Every round costs a login and a few minutes of context switching.
Dr T approaches this with two modes, matching two different mindsets.
Ask mode: one question, one answer
Best when you already suspect something:
- How many times has this service restarted in the last 24 hours?
- Which directories are using the most disk?
- When did the 502s cluster yesterday?
One detail worth knowing: sessions are remembered per device. Context carries over, so on day three it still knows which deployment you are chasing.
Agent mode: chain the steps
Best when the goal is clear but the path is long — a pre-release checklist, a certificate rotation. It works through the steps and shows intermediate results.
The boundary matters: consequential actions still require your confirmation. AI can prepare the command and flag the risk. Pressing enter should stay with a human.
Bring alerts into the same place
HTTP and MQTT alerts can feed into Dr T. Instead of watching a dashboard, you ask follow-up questions in the session: did this host show anything similar before the alert fired?
A habit that pays off
- Use Ask mode to establish facts first: when it started, how wide, what changed.
- Then use Agent mode to test one hypothesis at a time.
- Keep the commands in the session so the next incident starts faster.
Bring your own model: 12+ providers are supported, including local ones at the cost of speed.
Installers are on the Dr T product page, with both SSH remote diagnostics and a local mode.