Terminal / Setup guide · 15 minutes in all

Set up your machine for Firebrik Terminal

A fifteen-minute path for a Mac or Linux computer: Herdr on the computer, SSH switched on, the computer reachable on the same network or over Tailscale, then the server and this phone's key added in the app.

Firebrik Terminal talks to your own computer. Nothing goes through Firebrik. These tutorials get a Mac or Linux computer ready in about fifteen minutes, one short step at a time. Do them in order; each one ends with a check so you know it worked before moving on.

What you need

  • A Mac or Linux computer where your coding agents run. Herdr also runs on Windows, but these tutorials cover macOS and Linux.
  • An account on that computer that can install software.
  • An Android phone with Firebrik Terminal installed from Google Play.
  • A way for the phone to reach the computer: the same Wi‑Fi at home, or Tailscale from anywhere.

The path, in short

  1. Install and start Herdr on the computer, and run your agents in its panes.
  2. Switch on the computer's SSH server.
  3. Make the computer reachable: its local address on the same network, or its Tailscale name.
  4. Install Firebrik Terminal from Google Play.
  5. Add the server in the app: host, port, username, and herdr as Run on connect.
  6. Add this phone's key to the computer once, with your SSH password or by pasting it into ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.
  7. Open a pane and work in its live terminal.

The tutorials

Five short steps, then one reference.

Step 01 · 3 minutes

Install Herdr on the computer

Herdr is the terminal workspace where your coding agents live. Firebrik Terminal attaches to it, so the machine must be running Herdr whenever you want to connect.

Open →

Step 02 · 3 minutes

Turn on SSH

The phone connects over SSH, the same protocol you use between computers. Switch it on once; the app uses the server's default settings.

Open →

Step 03 · 5 minutes

Make the computer reachable from the phone

The phone needs a network path to the computer's SSH server. At home, the same Wi‑Fi is enough. Anywhere else, Tailscale puts the phone and the computer on a private network, with no port forwarding and nothing exposed to the internet.

Open →

Step 04 · 3 minutes

Add the server in Firebrik Terminal

Install the app, fill in the server form once, let the phone create its key, and add that key to the computer with your password or by pasting it.

Open →

Step 05 · 2 minutes

Open a pane and answer an agent

The point of all this: find the pane your agent runs in, work in its live terminal, and answer the agent there when it stops to ask.

Open →

Reference

When something does not work

Every message the app can show during setup, what it means, and the one thing to do about it.

Open →

Security, in short

  • The phone connects to your computer only. No Firebrik relay, no analytics, no account.
  • The SSH key is created on the phone in the Android Keystore and is never exported or synced.
  • The computer's host key is pinned on the first connection, so a changed machine is caught.
  • Tailscale traffic is encrypted end to end, and the computer is not reachable from the public internet.
  • Optional Google sign-in only stores your server list in your own Google Drive. Each device keeps its own key and asks once, per server, to add it.

Questions: [email protected]. Privacy policy: firebrik.com/terminal/privacy/1.10.6.