Support

Get in touch

For help, write to support@thumbdesk.com. We aim to reply within one business day. Please include:

• the email address on your account;
• the app version and your phone’s OS (both in Settings), and the host’s OS and agent version;
• what you were trying to do, what happened, and what you expected;
• a screenshot or screen recording if it is visual.

Install and pair a machine

Install the host agent on the machine you want to reach, using whichever suits it:

• Mac (macOS 13 or later, Apple Silicon): brew install --cask yashagldit/thumbdesk/thumbdesk, or the install script below.
• Linux (x86_64 or arm64): curl -fsSL https://thumbdesk.com/install.sh | bash
• Windows 10 or 11 (x64): npm i -g thumbdesk

Then show a pairing QR code on the machine and scan it with the Thumbdesk app:

thumbdesk pair

Scan the QR code to complete pairing. Machines you cannot install software on can be added in the app as SSH hosts instead, with a password or key.

Pairing fails or hangs

• Check the agent is running: thumbdesk status shows the daemon state and whether the backend is reachable. Start it with thumbdesk daemon start.
• A pairing QR is valid for about five minutes. If it is older, stop thumbdesk pair and run it again for a fresh one.
• To pair a machine again from scratch, run thumbdesk pair --reset. Agents older than 1.4.0 only have the old name: use pocketshell pair, or update first with pocketshell update.
• On Linux without a desktop keyring, the agent keeps its secrets in a file readable only by its owner under ~/.thumbdesk/. Make sure the user running the agent can write there.
• Behind a strict firewall, the agent needs outbound HTTPS and WSS to api.thumbdesk.com:443. Agents older than 1.4.0 use api.pocketshell.app:443, so allow both.

Slow connection, or a RELAY or SIGNALING badge

• Most home and mobile networks connect phone and machine directly. Some carrier-grade NATs do not, and then Thumbdesk uses a TURN relay automatically: still end-to-end encrypted, with a little more latency. The app shows an amber RELAY tag.
• An amber SIGNALING badge on a terminal means it is running over our signaling connection while WebRTC starts or is blocked. This path uses TLS encryption in transit rather than end-to-end encryption; our servers can read the traffic while forwarding it, without storing it. See connection modes for details. If the badge persists, check that outbound UDP is not blocked on the host’s network.
• Screen sharing needs a direct or TURN path and does not use the signaling fallback, so a network that blocks both will not share the screen.
• Connection handshakes are timestamped. If a host keeps failing to connect, check that its clock is synced (NTP), then thumbdesk restart.

Screen sharing problems

Mac: black picture or no control

macOS needs two permissions for Thumbdesk: Screen & System Audio Recording to show the picture, and Accessibility to move the pointer and type. The app shows a guide for each when it detects the problem; both live in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Windows: the picture freezes or input is ignored

• While a UAC prompt or the lock screen is showing, Windows hides the screen from every app and the picture stops. Answer the prompt or unlock the PC and the share carries on.
• Clicks and typing do not reach apps running as Administrator: Windows blocks input from a non-elevated agent into elevated windows.
• Some virtual machines have no GPU video processor, which screen sharing on Windows needs.

Linux

• Screen sharing needs a signed-in desktop session; there is nothing to share on a headless server.
• If the app says the desktop can’t be shared, sign in with an X11 (Xorg) session if your login screen offers one.
• Some desktops do not allow remote control, and the viewer is then view only.

The first share may ask someone at the machine to allow it. On the free plan, screen sharing is limited to 2 minutes an hour.

Face ID or fingerprint lock won't work

• Make sure Face ID, Touch ID or a fingerprint is set up in your phone’s own settings.
• If you re-enrolled Face ID or changed the screen lock after installing Thumbdesk, the phone may refuse the old biometric binding. Sign out from the lock screen and sign in again with your email.

Notifications don't arrive

• Check that notifications are allowed for Thumbdesk in your phone’s settings.
• If you moved between a TestFlight build and the App Store build, the push token changed. Open the app once while online so it can register the new one.
• Alerts fire only when the rule is on and not cooling down. “Needs attention” pushes (a command or agent finishing) are off by default and turned on per host.

I bought Pro, but the app still says Free

• Use Restore Purchases on the upgrade screen.
• Make sure you are signed in to the store with the same Apple ID or Google account that made the purchase.
• If you were charged and Pro still does not appear, email support@thumbdesk.com with the store receipt and we will fix it.

Lost your phone

• On another signed-in device, open Settings → Security → Logged in devices, choose the lost phone and pick Log out & revoke access. You confirm with a code sent to your email. New connections from that phone are blocked straight away; a connection it already had open closes when the host next syncs its trusted devices, within five minutes by default.
• On the host itself, thumbdesk devices list and thumbdesk devices revoke <id> do the same for that machine.
• If you have no other device, email support@thumbdesk.com from the address on your account and we will revoke it on our side once we have verified you own the address.
• Revoke a lost device promptly, even if you have enabled the phone’s screen lock and the app’s biometric lock.

Manage your subscription

• iPhone and iPad: Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Thumbdesk. Change plan, cancel or resubscribe there.
• Android: Google Play → your profile → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions → Thumbdesk.
• A cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have paid for, and you keep Pro until then.
• Refunds come from Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com or from Google Play support. If you need help finding the right refund process, contact support@thumbdesk.com.

Delete your account

In the app: Settings → Account → Delete Account, confirmed with a code we email you. It unpairs every host, revokes every device, removes your push tokens and scrubs personal data from audit-log entries; the privacy policy describes the limited deletion record retained. To remove the agent from a machine too, run thumbdesk uninstall there. If you cannot open the app, email support@thumbdesk.com from the address on the account and we will delete it within 30 days.

Report a security issue

Email support@thumbdesk.com with “Security” in the subject and steps to reproduce the issue. Request a PGP key before sending sensitive details. We reply to genuine reports within five business days and credit researchers in release notes if they wish. Please allow a coordinated disclosure window, typically 90 days, so we can investigate and release a fix or mitigation. Reports are welcome; there is currently no paid bounty programme. See the security architecture for design details.

Service status

To check whether the API is responding, use its health endpoint:

curl https://api.thumbdesk.com/api/v1/health/live

A 200 response means the API is running. If several hosts go offline together, check your internet connection and this endpoint. Share the results with support@thumbdesk.com if you need help investigating.

Host agent commands

• thumbdesk on its own opens an interactive menu with every option below.
• thumbdesk status: host id, paired devices, backend reachability and daemon state.
• thumbdesk daemon start | stop | restart | run: control the background service.
• thumbdesk pair: show a pairing QR code.
• thumbdesk update: update the agent, verifying its checksum and signature first.
• thumbdesk expose <port>: let the phone preview a dev server on that port.
• thumbdesk hooks install: report running Claude Code, Codex and Grok agents to the phone.
• thumbdesk uninstall: remove the service, keys, local state and the binary.
• Verbose logs: RUST_LOG=debug thumbdesk daemon run.

On agents older than 1.4.0 the command is pocketshell; the old name keeps working on every version. For anything else, support@thumbdesk.com.