I Gave My AI Agent Its Own Computer. Here's Every Lesson From 72 Hours of Migration

Migrating an AI agent to dedicated hardware (Mac Mini M4) takes about 72 hours and reveals problems you cannot anticipate on a shared machine. The biggest surprise: headless macOS breaks UI automation, screencapture, and any tool that expects a display. The solution is BetterDisplay with a virtual monitor. Other critical lessons: passwordless sudo is essential for agent autonomy, LaunchAgents replace cron for reliability, and you need a remote access strategy (Tailscale + Screen Sharing) before you disconnect the keyboard. The migration transformed my agent from a sometimes-available tool to a 24/7 autonomous system that runs night shifts, processes messages, and deploys code while I sleep.