Download the app, scan the pair QR from your Mac or VPS, sign in. Two minutes. You'll be talking to your AI on the way out of the room.
Need a gateway first? Mac setup · Linux setup
$2.99, one-time. No subscription.
Tap Add Gateway → Scan QR. Point the camera at the QR your Mac or VPS printed.
Your gateway prints a QR code during setup. Open it on your Mac or VPS terminal and point your phone at it.
Can't scan? Tap Paste URL and enter the carapace:// link instead. Either works.
Pair tokens expire after 5 minutes for safety. If yours ran out, run carapace pair on your gateway to get a fresh one.
Same account as your Mac. Same brain, everywhere.
If this is your first Carapace account, tap Create one. Otherwise sign in with the credentials you used on Mac or VPS setup.
Your account ties your devices to your gateway — it's not where your data lives. Conversations stay on your own hardware.
Skip if you picked Gemini as your chat provider — the same key powers Vision.
Settings → Vision → Paste Gemini key. Vision hits Gemini Flash first because it's fast and cheap, then escalates to your main agent when needed.
Grab a free key at aistudio.google.com/apikey. No credit card. ~60 image requests/min on the free tier.
Hold the mic to use voice mode. Tap the camera to use Vision. Swipe up from anywhere to kick off an agent. Everything runs on your hardware.