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Computers and pairing

Pair your phone with a computer running Escanor Desktop using a short code, then chat with it, check on it and approve what it asks.

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A computer in the phone app is a computer running Escanor Desktop. Pairing links the two so the phone can talk to that computer from anywhere.

Pair a phone with a computer

  1. Sign in to the same Escanor account on both.
  2. On the computer open Phone and read the pairing code (and QR).
  3. On the phone open Computers, choose Add, then scan the QR or type the code.

The code is single use, expires after five minutes and locks after wrong guesses. Pairing needs only the code, with no IP address, and works on any network.

How the phone reaches the computer

  • On the same Wi-Fi: directly, through the computer's local gateway (fast).
  • Anywhere else: through the Escanor relay. Everything is sealed end to end with a key only your two devices hold, so the relay stores and forwards ciphertext and cannot read it.

The phone prefers the local route and falls back to the relay by itself.

What you can do from the phone

Each computer opens to these tabs:

  • Chat: talk to that computer's assistant. Chats are kept per computer, and New chat starts a new conversation.
  • Activity: what the computer has done, loaded in pages.
  • Permissions: which groups of capabilities the phone is allowed to use.
  • Approvals: things waiting for your OK.
  • Settings: rename it, see how it is paired, forget it.

Permissions

Capabilities are grouped (files, shell, apps, background jobs, system control and so on), each with a risk level. Shell, file, app-install and OS-control groups are off for phones by default. To use one, the phone asks and the computer's owner approves it on the computer. Only the computer itself can approve pairing and permission requests; the phone cannot.

When something is blocked the phone says which switch to flip and offers "Ask my computer to allow it".

Forgetting a computer

Choose Forget from the computer's menu on the phone. The phone stops controlling it; you can pair again with a new code. Nothing on the computer changes. To remove a phone from the computer's side, open Phone on the computer.

Need help? Contact support with a redacted error and the affected version.