Start with a project
Keep work organised by project. Choose a project in the left rail to see its sessions, or use Project to add another.
In the screenshot: ExploreSingapore is selected in the left rail.
Your computer agents, files and apps in Otter Beam, from any device
Works with Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, Pi, Oh My Pi and Antigravity
First, install on your computer
Use it from your other devices, too
Explore the workspace
A project on the left. Its sessions beside it. Your conversation within reach. Scroll to find your way around, or choose an area below.
Find your agent sessions
See conversations and terminals together. Open an existing session to pick up where you left off, or start another from New session.
In the screenshot: the session list sits between the project rail and the conversation.
Continue the conversation
Read the agent's reply and send your next instruction from the composer. On a larger screen, your session list stays beside the conversation.
In the screenshot: Claude is working on a Singapore MRT route planner.
Keep the rest within reach
Use the bottom tools to move between conversations, files and your computer's displays. The work stays on your computer while you connect from another device.
In the screenshot: the folder and display controls are in the bottom toolbar.
Use it from your other devices, too
How Otter Beam works
- Install Otter Beam on your Mac or Linux computer first. That computer becomes the host. Your phone, tablet and browser connect to it, while your work stays on the computer.
- Sign in and approve each new device. Approval comes from a device you already trust; each keeps its own key.
- Connect over SSH — direct nearby, Otter Relay when you are away. On the same Wi-Fi, LAN or a VPN such as Tailscale, nothing passes through our servers.
- Open a session, a file or an app window from the device in your hand. The work stays in tmux, so disconnecting does not stop it.
AI agents
Find, resume or start terminal and coding-agent sessions
See what is running across your machines, resume a run you walked away from, or start a new one. Sessions waiting on an answer are pinned to the top; favourites can be starred.
View each session as a chat or as the plain terminal
The chat view lays the run out in reading order — prompts, replies, tool calls, diffs — with selectable text. The terminal view gives you the real TUI plus the control keys a touch keyboard lacks.
Choose your coding harness
Use Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, Pi, Oh My Pi (OMP) or Antigravity. Compatible configurations include Z.ai through Claude Code and DeepSeek through Codex. Available controls depend on the harness.
High-accuracy voice transcription and input
Dictate the long instructions a phone keyboard makes painful. When an agent asks a multiple-choice question, the options are tappable.
Get notified when a session needs your input
When a run stops and waits, your devices get a push. Tap it and you land on the exact session that asked.
Computer files
Browse your computers and add projects (folders)
Move around your machines' filesystems as you would locally. Add the folders you work in as projects and they are one tap away on every device.
View, edit and auto-save files (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, .md and more)
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Markdown and code open in a real editor and save straight back to the computer — no download-edit-re-upload round trip. PDFs, images, SVG, video and audio are readable too.
Upload and download files
Send a file from the device in your hand to the computer, or pull one back down. Opening it in another app stays available as an escape hatch.
Computer apps
Display support is beta on Linux. Windows alpha is a client; it does not host sessions or displays.
Watch a single app window, or a whole display
Share one app's window on its own: the rest of your desktop stays out of the picture, and the window arrives complete even when buried or tucked away by Stage Manager. To see everything, mirror a real display instead.
Or open an extra display, sized for your device
A second display that exists only for you to look at, handy for long runs and layout testing. It matches a foldable's full aspect, or a fixed 16:9, 16:10, 3:2 or 4:3.
Control it right from the app
Tap, scroll and type as if you were at the machine. Otter Beam brings the target to the front first, so what you touch is what you meant.
Multi-platform, adaptive layout
Layouts optimized for phones, foldables and tablets
One focused column on a phone, list and detail side by side once there is room, and a sensible answer when a foldable changes shape mid-task.
Use Otter Beam on Android, iOS, computers and the web
Native apps where you want one, the full client in a browser tab where you do not — same sessions, chats and file editing, not a cut-down viewer.
Continue projects, sessions, files and edits across devices (with sync on)
Put the phone down mid-session and pick the tablet up where you were, with what you had open, selected and were editing.
Details tuned for reading, navigation and quick actions
Long output stays readable and frequent actions sit within thumb reach. Working from a phone is a real option, not a compromise.
Security and privacy
View and manage every signed-in device under Profile → Devices
A new phone, tablet, computer or browser is approved from a device you already trust, and each keeps its own key — nothing to copy or paste. Remove what you no longer use from the same screen.
Direct SSH on your local network; away from it, Otter Relay forwards your encrypted stream
On the same Wi-Fi, LAN or a shared VPN such as Tailscale the connection is direct: nothing passes through our servers. Off that network Otter Relay carries it with no port forwarding, public IP or tunnel to set up — encrypted end to end between your own devices, so we move the bytes and cannot read your commands, output or files.
Sensitive data is end-to-end encrypted — keys never leave your devices
A device that has not been let in cannot read it, ours included. The full detail is in the Privacy Policy.
Plans
Otter Beam Pro and Premium subscriptions add:
More voice transcription time each month
Pro includes 200 minutes a month, Premium 500.
Longer Otter Relay sessions on the go
A single relay session runs up to 4 hours on Pro and up to 7 days on Premium. Direct connections on your own network are unaffected.
Pricing, billing frequency and automatic-renewal terms are shown before purchase and governed by the Terms of Service. Manage or cancel in the store you bought from; purchases restore from the Plan screen.
Questions
What is Otter Beam?
Otter Beam is a multi-platform workstation for using the AI agents, files and apps on your computers from a phone, tablet, another computer, or the web. Sessions keep running in tmux on the host, so disconnecting does not stop the work.
How do I use Claude Code or Codex from my phone?
Install Otter Beam on the computer where the agent runs, then open the same session from the Android, iOS, desktop or web app. Read it as a chat or as the real terminal, and change model and permissions from there.
Does Otter Beam work away from my Wi-Fi?
Yes. On the same network the connection is direct SSH; away from it, Otter Relay forwards the already-encrypted stream, with no public IP, port forwarding or tunnel of your own.
Is Otter Beam end-to-end encrypted?
Yes. Device keys stay on your devices and are never uploaded. On Otter Relay we move encrypted bytes and cannot read the commands, output or files that cross.
What platforms does Otter Beam support?
Set the host up on a Mac (macOS 11 or later) or Linux computer, then connect from Android, iOS, another computer or the web. Windows is available as an alpha client. The same sessions, chats and file editing are in the native apps and in the browser.
Do I need to know tmux to use Otter Beam?
No. Sessions run in tmux so they survive disconnects, but Otter Beam lists what is running, resumes or starts a session, and pins the ones waiting on an answer.
Otter Beam on Linux
Four builds, one per kind of machine. Not sure which? uname -m prints x86_64 for Intel and AMD, aarch64 for 64-bit ARM.
- .deb — x86_64 for Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04 / 26.04 and Debian 13 on an Intel or AMD machine.
- .deb — arm64 for those same distributions on a 64-bit ARM machine.
- AppImage — x86_64Beta for every other distribution — Arch, Fedora, openSUSE, NixOS and the rest. One file, no package manager, nothing installed system-wide.
- AppImage — arm64Beta for those same distributions on 64-bit ARM.
Install a .deb from the folder you downloaded it to:
sudo apt install ./otterbeam_*.deb
An AppImage just needs to be marked executable:
chmod +x OtterBeam-*.AppImage && ./OtterBeam-*.AppImage
An AppImage bundles Otter Beam's own libraries and borrows the rest from your desktop — GTK 3, GStreamer, PulseAudio, libsecret and Mesa. Any normal desktop install already has them. A minimal or server install may not; on Arch that is:
sudo pacman -S --needed gtk3 gst-plugins-base-libs libxtst libpulse libsecret mesa
Other distributions ship the same libraries under their own package names. You do not need FUSE: without it the AppImage unpacks itself and runs anyway.
Every build needs glibc 2.34 or newer, which means Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 36 and RHEL 9 and up. Older releases, and distributions built on musl such as Alpine, cannot run it.
Updates arrive in the app itself — the Update button downloads, verifies and installs the same kind of build you are already running. You never come back to this page for a new version.
Verify any download against SHA256SUMS, its signature and our signing key.
Known limitations
- Display support is beta.
- No native notifications.
- No in-app web preview.
- Autostart needs systemd.
- Passwordless auto-login can leave the desktop keyring locked — unlock it before signing in.
Otter Beam on Windows (alpha)
The Windows alpha is a portable zip for Windows 10 (2004 or later) and Windows 11 on x64 PCs. It is an early test build for connecting to an existing Otter Beam host; using a Windows PC as the host is not part of this alpha. Unzip the whole folder anywhere you can write to, keep its files together, and open:
otterbeam.exe
The alpha is not code-signed yet, so Windows may show “Windows protected your PC” on first launch. Check that you downloaded it from beam.otterd.com, then click More info → Run anyway. Don’t turn off Defender or your organisation’s policies to run it — tell us instead.
To update, quit Otter Beam from its tray icon, download the new zip and replace the folder. Your data stays in your AppData folder, not in the zip.
Known limitations
- No sign-in at startup, no notification click-through, no automatic return from the payment page.
- No Windows push notifications after the app is closed.
- Links open in your system browser; there is no in-app browser.
- Office previews need the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, which Windows 11 includes.
- The built-in Chinese/Japanese input engine is unavailable; use the Windows IME.
- Windows-as-host (WSL2) and the virtual display driver are not enabled.
Report problems to peter@otterd.com with the build number (Profile → About) and, for connection issues, the text from Profile → Devices → Connection diagnostics → Copy.
Before you start
Last updated: September 13, 2026
An Otter Beam account is required to link devices, and can be deleted from Profile → Account or the account deletion page. Reaching a computer requires installing and setting up Otter Beam on it.
Otter Beam is independent software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any AI coding-agent provider.
Otter Beam is built by Otter Digital Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. Questions, bug reports and privacy requests go to peter@otterd.com — see the support page for what to include.
