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Use Overdeck on your phone

The phone app is a small version of the dashboard at /m. It shows what needs you and your conversations, and it answers agent questions. You install it from the browser to the home screen. It connects to one machine through that machine’s Tailscale address and signs in with its own pairing, never with the machine’s root token.

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Before you start

  • Tailscale Serve with HTTPS on the machine. A phone app needs an https:// address. Publish the dashboard port with tailscale serve, so the machine is reachable at an address such as https://desk.tailnet.ts.net. See Remote access for trusted addresses and pairing.
  • Require a token to sign in. Turn on Settings → Access Tokens → Require a token to sign in (dashboard.require_token_mint: true in ~/.overdeck/config.yaml). Tailscale Serve forwards phone traffic from the machine itself. With the setting off, the dashboard treats the phone as a browser on the machine and gives it full access without pairing.

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Set up a phone

On the machine, open Settings → Anywhere → Set up a phone. The dialog has four steps:
  1. Install Tailscale. Scan the QR code with the phone, install Tailscale, and sign in with the same account as the machine.
  2. Choose this machine’s address. The list offers only trusted https:// addresses that other devices can reach. To add one, type it and select Add. An http:// address is refused, because a phone app needs HTTPS.
  3. Require a token to sign in. The dialog checks the setting. While it is off, step 4 stays hidden. Select Open the setting, turn it on, then select Check again.
  4. Scan the pairing code. Choose Android or iPhone, then select Create pairing link. The code works once and expires after 10 minutes. Select Create another code for a new one.

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Android

Scan the pairing code with the camera. Chrome opens the phone app and pairs it. Then select Install app at the top of the screen to add it to the home screen.

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iPhone

The iPhone needs two scans, in this order:
  1. Scan the first QR code. It opens the app in Safari. Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
  2. Open the app from the home screen. Tap Scan pairing code and scan the second QR code. You can also paste the pairing link instead.
The order matters. An app on the iPhone home screen keeps its own storage, so it cannot use a pairing made earlier in Safari. Pair inside the installed app. Notifications need iOS 16.4 or later.

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Answer a question

When an agent asks a question, it needs three taps:
  1. Open the app (or tap the notification).
  2. Tap an option.
  3. Tap Send.
The first open question is already expanded. A notification link opens its own question. To give an answer that is not an option, tap Type an answer.

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What the phone can and cannot do

The phone answers questions from agents and conversations, including questions with more than one part and Codex approval menus. It uses the same delivery as the desktop dialog. Other kinds of waiting input are shown but not answered on the phone. These include permission prompts, plan approvals, choice menus, rate-limit menus, session resume, held handoffs and turns that ended. For a conversation, tap Open to read it. For an agent, answer it on the desktop. The phone lists conversations and opens one full screen. It does not show terminals.

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Notifications

In the phone app, tap Turn on notifications at the top of the screen and allow notifications. A notification opens the question it is about, or the Needs-you list. See Push notifications for what is sent and how it is encrypted. The phone app’s service worker only shows notifications. It never stores pages, so the phone always shows the current state of the machine.

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Remove a phone

On the machine, open Settings → Anywhere → Paired devices and select Revoke next to the phone. The next time the phone app opens, it shows Pair this phone again.