Browser, devices, and other machines

Let Oktapod use a browser, run commands on your other machines, and learn from approved folders and agent sessions elsewhere.

Oktapod runs on one machine, but it can work with others. Everything here is managed from Settings → Apps & permissions → Devices, and every action still goes through the normal approval rules.

The Devices page keeps three things apart:

#Browser automation

With browser automation, Oktapod can open pages, read them, and complete steps on websites. On the Devices page, choose Request Browser Pair, then connect the browser-capable machine and refresh. From a terminal:

oktapod browser status
oktapod browser doctor

A browser session is not an app connection. Being signed in to a website in that browser does not give Oktapod access to your mail or calendar, and Oktapod does not revisit private pages just because they are in your history.

#Remote hosts

Hosts are machines Oktapod may run commands on, such as a build server. The list can be imported from your Tailscale network:

oktapod hosts discover
oktapod hosts list
oktapod hosts verify --strict

Commands are recorded like any other action. Commands that change something on the host need an explicit flag and still follow the approval rules. Accept a new host key only after you have verified the machine yourself.

#Observer hosts

An observer is a small helper for another computer, such as a laptop. It sends Oktapod approved context from that machine: coding agent session archives and a folder of text notes you choose. It is not a second Oktapod. It has no planner, model, channels, or memory database, and it can only send observations and a heartbeat.

To add one:

1. On the Devices page, choose Add a machine, then Observer host.
2. Optionally choose a folder Oktapod may read.
3. Choose Create setup instructions. You get a one-time command that is valid for 10 minutes.
4. Run that command on the other machine. It installs a small per-user service for macOS, Linux, or Windows. The machine needs Node 24 or later.

Treat the command like a short-lived password. You can revoke the observer from the Devices page at any time; it stops sending immediately.

What an observer sends:

• Only text files from the folder you chose. It skips hidden folders, build folders, symlinks, binaries, very large files, and credential stores, and redacts things that look like secrets before anything leaves the machine.
• Changes only. Unchanged files send nothing, and deleted files are removed from Oktapod's memory with everything derived from them.

For PDFs, Office files, images, audio, and video, upload them in chat or connect a document app instead.

#Other observation sources

For advanced use, another tool can hand Oktapod observations as a JSONL file in Oktapod's observation format. A dry run checks the file without saving anything:

oktapod observations ingest --input /absolute/path/observations.jsonl --dry-run
oktapod observations ingest --input /absolute/path/observations.jsonl

Observations from email, calendars, and meetings are treated as restricted. They are not sent to a model for analysis unless you explicitly allow it. oktapod observations report shows what was captured and what it cost.