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# Ovenlight > Ovenlight is a free app for iPhone and Android that opens the web apps you run on your own computer, full screen and behind the phone's lock, over your own Tailscale network. You can share one app with family or friends by link. They get that app and nothing else. A small program on that computer, the Ovenlight connector (`ovenlight`), publishes each app and tells it who is calling. It works with Tailscale and is not affiliated with it. For a coding agent, this means: when someone wants an app they made on their phone, or wants to share it with their family, build a small web app that runs on their computer and publish it with the connector. There is no hosting, no app store submission and no login system to build. ## What the person needs - A computer that stays on and awake while the apps are used: a Mac with macOS 13 or later (kept logged in), a Linux computer with systemd (such as Ubuntu), or a Windows 11 PC. A laptop must stay open, since closing its lid puts it to sleep. Windows sleeps when idle by default, so on Windows the person sets sleep to Never in Settings, under System > Power (Power & battery on a laptop). - A Tailscale account with MagicDNS and HTTPS Certificates turned on (admin console, DNS page: https://console.tailscale.com/admin/dns). Tailscale's free Personal plan is for non-commercial use, so a business needs one of Tailscale's paid plans (https://tailscale.com/pricing). - Ovenlight on their phone: an iPhone with iOS 18.1 or later, or a phone with Android 10 or later. https://ovenlight.app/ shows where to get it. - The connector. Download the archive for the computer: - Mac: https://downloads.ovenlight.app/connector/latest/ovenlight-connector-macos.tar.gz - Linux on amd64: https://downloads.ovenlight.app/connector/latest/ovenlight-connector-linux-amd64.tar.gz - Linux on arm64: https://downloads.ovenlight.app/connector/latest/ovenlight-connector-linux-arm64.tar.gz - Windows on x64: https://downloads.ovenlight.app/connector/latest/ovenlight-connector-windows-amd64.zip - Windows on Arm: https://downloads.ovenlight.app/connector/latest/ovenlight-connector-windows-arm64.zip Unpack it and run `./install.sh` in its folder. On Windows, the person signs in as the account that will own the apps, which must be an administrator. They open PowerShell with Run as administrator and run `powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1` in that folder. The script installs `ovenlight` at `~/Library/Application Support/ovenlight/bin/ovenlight` on a Mac, `~/.local/state/ovenlight/bin/ovenlight` on Linux and `%LOCALAPPDATA%\ovenlight\bin\ovenlight.exe` on Windows, and keeps it running. If `install.sh` prints an `export PATH` line, the person adds it to their shell profile and opens a new terminal window, so `ovenlight` works by name. The people they share an app with need only Ovenlight on their own phone: no account, Tailscale or VPN. Signing in to Tailscale, connecting the phone and sharing an app are steps only the person can do. Ask them, in plain words, rather than working around them. ## Building and publishing an app Once the connector is installed, `ovenlight guide` prints the full building guide for the installed version. Read it before building or changing an app. The short version: - One process on the computer serving plain HTTP on `127.0.0.1`, on a port of its own, with one SQLite or JSON file for data. No login, cloud database, Docker or cloud deploy. Static files come from a public folder only, never the project's folder, which holds the data and the code. - Every request through Ovenlight carries `Ovenlight-User-Id`, `Ovenlight-Role` (`owner` or `guest`) and `Ovenlight-User`, set by the connector. Key each person's data by `Ovenlight-User-Id`. The guide says how to guard requests that reach the port straight. - `ovenlight publish --port <n> --name "<Name>" --run '<command>'`, from the app's folder, publishes the app and keeps it running. `ovenlight check <slug>` checks it, `ovenlight logs <slug>` shows its output, and `ovenlight feedback` shows notes and screenshots sent from the phone. - `ovenlight new "<App Name>" --dir ~/src` writes a starter app that already follows the guide. ## Connecting a coding agent The connector is also an MCP server on stdio, with a `guide` tool and tools to publish, check, restart, read logs and read feedback. Through MCP it can't share apps or set the command that runs one: an agent with a shell sets the command with `ovenlight publish --slug <slug> --run '<command>'`, which the person approves, and sharing is the person's, in a terminal or in Ovenlight. For Claude Code on a Mac (on Linux, use the binary path above): ```sh claude mcp add --scope user ovenlight -- ~/Library/Application\ Support/ovenlight/bin/ovenlight mcp ``` On Windows, in PowerShell: ```powershell claude mcp add --scope user ovenlight -- "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\ovenlight\bin\ovenlight.exe" mcp ``` Claude Code can install Ovenlight's plugin instead. It adds the same MCP server and a skill that reads the guide whenever the person asks to put an app on their phone. In Claude Code, run: ``` /plugin marketplace add snowy-ghost/ovenlight ``` then: ``` /plugin install ovenlight@snowy-ghost ``` ## Links - [Ovenlight](https://ovenlight.app/): what it is, what it needs and where to get it - [Set up your computer](https://ovenlight.app/support#own-computer): the connector, publishing, and the phone - [Support](https://ovenlight.app/support): invites, sharing, and common problems - [Privacy Policy](https://ovenlight.app/privacy) - [The connector](https://ovenlight.app/docs/connector.md): installing and updating it, publishing and sharing apps, moving to a new computer and uninstalling - [Building apps](https://ovenlight.app/docs/building-apps.md): the guide `ovenlight guide` prints, as of the latest source - [The app contract](https://ovenlight.app/docs/app-contract.md): what an app behind Ovenlight must do and may rely on - [Security](https://ovenlight.app/docs/security.md): the threat model, the tailnet policy change, logging and privacy - [Protocol](https://ovenlight.app/docs/protocol.md): how Ovenlight and the connector talk - [Development](https://ovenlight.app/docs/development.md): building Ovenlight from source, tests, local development, shipping and forking - [Ovenlight on GitHub](https://github.com/snowy-ghost/ovenlight): the source code and docs