Computer commands

remote and pairfob are the same program; the installer on this site adds remote beside it. Either name takes every command below.

After install, Remote runs in the background. Typing remote with no subcommand in a terminal prints status and exits: running or not, how many devices, whether Herdr is open. If it is not running, the command prints recovery advice and exits non-zero.

Remote is running.
1 device paired.
Herdr is on.

  remote pair     pair a device
  remote list     what's paired
  remote doctor   full check

If it is not running, follow the suggested service command, or use remote run for foreground use. Sleep and logout stop the login service until you are back in that session.

Daily commands

remote pair      # pair a phone, tablet, or another computer
remote list      # paired devices
remote forget 1  # unpair #1 (index from list)
remote doctor    # local checklist
remote run       # foreground daemon
remote update    # latest binary and restart the user service
remote version
remote help

forget also accepts a device name; collisions require the index. unpair is an alias of forget.

remote machine list shows the SSH machines Herdr has saved on this computer, and remote machine link NAME pairs a device with one of them. See Machines Herdr reaches over SSH.

setup

remote setup installs the latest stable Herdr when missing, starts it when needed and verifies its API. --no-install-herdr disables downloads; --non-interactive does not disable dependency installation. Existing installations are reused. doctor remains diagnostic. Use remote setup --update-herdr for a Remote-managed runtime update; see Herdr updates.

doctor

Remote <version>

  Installed   <version>
  Process     <version> (PID 1234)
  Running     yes
  Paired      1
  Herdr       ready (0.8.2, protocol 20)
  P2P         on
  Origin      remote.tmts.ca

Field	Healthy	When it is not
Running	yes	service not installed → remote service install; service stopped → remote service start; service running but not answering → remote service restart; status unavailable → remote service status
Paired	≥ 1	Nothing paired yet. Run remote pair
Herdr	ready	not installed / installed but not running / incompatible server / unavailable
P2P	on	off means this computer is relay-only (PAIRFOB_P2P=0); unknown clears after a restart
Origin	remote.tmts.ca	Not enrolled

doctor exits non-zero when Running or Herdr is unhealthy, so scripts can branch on it.

Installed describes this command's version; Process describes the daemon answering local requests. A mismatch calls for remote service restart. Very old daemons cannot report their actual version; the phone shows it as unknown instead of treating the old 0.1.0 placeholder as a release.

Service

The installer puts a user service in place. doctor and the not-running status suggest the matching install, start, restart, or status command without changing the service. For foreground use, run remote run. Typing pairfob in a terminal only shows status; login services still start the daemon the same way as before. When you need to touch the service:

remote service status
remote service restart
remote service stop
remote service start
remote service uninstall
remote service install

Push environment variables are not written into the service file automatically. See Notifications.

Update

remote update

Replaces the binary and restarts an installed user service. Do not rerun install.sh to update. Hosted binaries use SemVer (remote version); the site build stamp is separate.

Even when the file is already current, the command verifies the responding daemon's version and image against the user service's PID. Install and restart also wait for the matching daemon to stay ready before reporting success. An independent old daemon is stopped only when its user, executable and state directory can be verified; otherwise the command identifies the conflict for manual resolution. Pairings are preserved.

Downloads report bytes received and retry once after a transient failure. Each attempt allows ten minutes total, with a 45-second limit without progress. SHA-256 verification still runs before replacement. If a proxy repeatedly stalls, inspect the terminal's proxy configuration; the updater does not change it.

The phone checks for new computer versions and shows an update reminder. In Settings, supported service-managed installations offer Update to v… with the new version in its name. Confirming briefly disconnects the phone while the verified binary starts; completion is shown only after the running version is confirmed. Failed startup can restore the previous binary. Older daemons require one manual remote update to enable this flow. Updates are never installed automatically.

Advanced (omitted from default help)

Still available for automation and debugging:

Command	Use
remote pair new	Open pairing and print the code; no interactive confirm
remote pair accept / deny	Confirm or refuse without Enter
remote enroll	Retry enroll. The installer already does this
remote relay rekey	Rotate the reconnect credential
remote device revoke <id>	Revoke by device id (forget N is the usual path)