RJ runs two Windows PCs side by side. Bruno Plus handles most of the heavy builds. Bruno OG is the backup machine and the one running when Plus is occupied. The problem was simple and painful: every AI memory file, hook, settings file, and knowledge base lived only on one machine. Any work done on Plus did not exist on OG. Any rule added to the AI on OG was invisible on Plus. That is not one brain. That is two separate AIs pretending to be the same one. We needed a real fix, and we needed it to cost nothing.

Google Drive and the Directory Junction

The core of the fix is a Windows directory junction. A junction is a folder on your local drive that actually points somewhere else. We moved the entire .claude folder (all memory files, hooks, settings.json, project files) into Google Drive Desktop's synced folder. Then we created a junction at the original location pointing to the Drive folder. To Windows and to Claude Code, nothing changed. The folder is still exactly where it always was. But now Drive is syncing it silently in the background, and the second PC gets the same junction pointing to the same Drive folder.

There is one rule that cannot be skipped. You must let Google Drive finish its full sync before you create the junction on the second PC. If you create the junction while Drive is still uploading, you get a half-baked folder and a corrupted AI setup. Move the folder. Wait. Confirm Drive shows everything uploaded. Then run the mklink /J command. Also, keep a copy of the original folder as .claude.OLD for at least seven days. Drive sync conflicts are rare but real. If something goes wrong, .claude.OLD is the rollback. Do not skip this step.

The junction trick means both PCs read from the same Drive folder. One update on Plus is live on OG in under 60 seconds. No manual copying, no duplicated setup, no drift between machines.

Tailscale and OpenSSH for the Network Layer

Google Drive handles the files. Tailscale handles the network. Tailscale is a free personal VPN that takes about three minutes to install. Once both PCs are on Tailscale, each gets a stable private IP address that never changes. Both machines are on the same private network even if they are on different Wi-Fi connections. This is what makes remote control possible without port-forwarding or any router configuration.

Windows 10 and 11 both ship with OpenSSH built in. You just have to turn it on. Once the OpenSSH server is running on both PCs and both are connected through Tailscale, you can open a terminal on Plus and run commands directly on OG. Restart a process, check a file, trigger a build, verify a sync. No third-party remote desktop software. No subscriptions. The full architecture costs zero dollars per month and runs on tools that were already installed. That is the Balay ni Bruno & Co. standard: build the right thing, not the expensive thing.

Key Takeaways

  • Windows directory junctions let Google Drive sync any folder, not just those inside the Drive root.
  • Create the junction AFTER Drive has fully synced the moved folder or you will corrupt it.
  • Tailscale gives every device a stable private IP that works across networks, behind NAT, everywhere.
  • Keep a .OLD backup of your AI config for 7 days after migration. One Drive conflict can wipe a session.