How-to guides
Problem-solving recipes. Each guide assumes you already have helmdeck installed and answers a single, focused question: how do I do X?
Operations
- Troubleshoot the install — symptom-first table for the known sharp edges in the install path: 502 on first session, GHCR pull failures, lost admin password, sidecar build hangs, blank UI panels, accidental
--reset.
Client integrations
Wire helmdeck into your MCP-capable client of choice:
- Claude Code — install + sidecar wiring + Phase 5.5 code-edit loop.
- Claude Desktop — Mac/Windows desktop client.
- Gemini CLI — Google Gemini's terminal client.
- Hermes Agent — self-hosted agent runner.
- OpenClaw — open-source Claude-compatible agent.
- OpenClaw sidecar research — running OpenClaw alongside helmdeck.
- OpenClaw upgrade runbook — version-bump procedure.
- OpenClaw upstream issue tracker — known regressions, workarounds.
- Nemoclaw — Nemo's agent client.
- Webhooks — pushing pack results to external systems.
Sidecars
Extend helmdeck's sandboxed execution surface:
- Extending a sidecar — add a new capability to an existing sidecar image.
- Adding sidecar languages — ship a new language runtime (Ruby, Java, …) as a four-file contribution.
What goes here
How-to guides are problem-oriented. Unlike tutorials, they assume the reader has prior context and is looking for the shortest path between a real problem and its solution. They list trade-offs but don't teach foundations — that's what tutorials are for.