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Tailscale Status Directions

Check Tailscale VPN status — daemon state, tailnet identity, online peers, Serve config

When to use

user asks about Tailscale, VPN status, or published ports

Slash command: /wb-tailscale-status

  • status/tailscale_status

Directions

Run mcp__work-buddy__wb_run("tailscale_status") and read the result as a diagnostic, not a state dump. The capability returns daemon state (installed, running, backend_state), this device's tailnet identity (self.online, self.name, tailnet), peers (peers[].online, peers[].last_seen), and Serve config (serve.Web handlers). Match what you see against the table below and lead with the fix.

Common diagnoses

Symptom Likely cause Fix
installed=false or error set tailscale CLI missing / not on PATH Run setup_help with component="tailscale" and click Fix on integrations/tailscale/installed (spawns a guided install).
running=false or backend_state ≠ Running daemon stopped Open the Tailscale tray app (Windows / macOS) or sudo tailscale up (Linux). On Windows, net start Tailscale from elevated PowerShell.
self.online=false this device signed out / paused / node key expired Open the Tailscale app and toggle on / sign in. If a long time has passed, reauthenticate at https://login.tailscale.com/admin/machines.
serve is null or has no Web handler matching the dashboard port Serve config dropped (Windows daemon restarts can lose it) Click Fix on integrations/tailscale/serve-configured in the dashboard Settings tab, or run tailscale serve --bg 5127 manually (5127 is the dashboard's local port; HTTPS is Serve's default mode).
Peer with online=false and a stale last_seen (e.g. weeks old) device-side Tailscale toggled off; on Android, often the app killed by battery optimization Open Tailscale on that device, sign in / toggle on. On Android, set Settings → Apps → Tailscale → Battery → Unrestricted so the OS stops killing the background tunnel. Work-buddy can't probe the remote device — this is observation only and lives here, not in the wizard.

Surfaces and division of labour

  • For this device's setup — run setup_help(component="tailscale") (or setup_wizard(mode="diagnose", component="tailscale")). That's where laptop-side requirements (CLI installed, Serve published) and runtime checks (daemon running, self online) live with click-to-fix affordances.
  • For peer-side problems — stay in this directions unit. Work-buddy has no introspection into the remote device; the diagnosis is informational only.

This split is intentional. The wizard implies agency ("we can examine and recommend a fix"); for a phone with Tailscale toggled off, only the user, in person, can make it green again.