Where Astro runs
When Astro's work runs on your Companion, when it runs on FounderHQ's servers, and how long it waits.
Astro's work runs in one of two places: on a machine of yours through Companion, or on FounderHQ's servers. Which one depends on the kind of AI provider you connected.
The rule
| Your provider | Where the work runs |
|---|---|
| A subscription (Claude, ChatGPT, Google Antigravity) | On your Companion |
| An API key | On your Companion when one is online. Otherwise on FounderHQ's servers, at once. |
A subscription is tied to you as a person, so it runs on your own machine. An API key is built to be used from a server.
When you are chatting and no Companion is online
With an API key, nothing changes. The reply runs on FounderHQ's servers.
With a subscription, Astro shows a card: No companion apps are online. You have two choices.
- Open Companion on your computer, then send the message again. This is the recommended way.
- Run on server. The reply runs on FounderHQ's servers with your subscription, for this chat.
Read the warning on the card before you choose the server. Your provider sees the request come from an unusual place, and repeated use that way may get your account flagged or banned by the provider. Companion avoids this.
If Companion goes offline in the middle of a reply, the reply waits: Waiting for an available companion…
Work that runs while you are away
Some work runs with nobody watching: a scheduled article in Publish, a step in a sequence, your writing voice in Compose.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| First | The work waits for a Companion, for up to 12 hours |
| After 12 hours | It runs on FounderHQ's servers with an API key, if you connected one |
| With no API key | It keeps waiting for a Companion |
| After 7 days | It fails |
A subscription never runs on FounderHQ's servers while you are away. So if you use a subscription only, keep Companion running on a machine that stays on. A server works well for this.
With API keys only, this work never waits.
Which machine, when you have several
The Companion picker under the text box chooses. Auto picks an online machine for you. A green dot means a machine is online.
Your own provider and your own machine are used first. If your organization shares AI, a teammate's are used when you have none. See Share AI with your team.
Check where a reply ran
Hover a finished reply. Reply origin shows the AI provider that answered, and Ran on: the name of the machine, or FounderHQ's cloud.