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Pairing links one machine to your Alike account. After pairing, the hooks on that machine can send sessions to Alike and receive context back.

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How pairing works

1

The installer prints a link and a code

The code has 8 characters in two groups of 4. It uses capital letters and the digits 2 to 9. It does not use the digits 0 or 1.
2

Open the link on any device

Use the same machine, a laptop, or a phone. Sign in to Alike first. If you are not signed in, the link opens the Alike home page instead. If you have not finished setup in the web app, the link opens your setup page. In both cases, see Enter the code by hand.
3

Approve the code

Check that the code on the page is the code in your terminal. Then approve it.
4

The installer continues

The installer saves the machine’s credential to ~/.alike/credentials.json. Only your user account can read this file. The installer never prints the credential.
Approve only a code that you generated yourself, a moment ago. A person who sends you a pairing link can get access to your account if you approve their code.

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Enter the code by hand

You can also type the code in the web app:
  • During setup: on the Connect your agents page, under Enter your pairing code.
  • Later: in Settings → AI Agents.
When the code works, the web app shows <hostname> paired — your agents are wired to this workspace. If the code does not work, it shows That code is invalid or has expired. Ask your installer for a fresh code and try again.

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Time limits

A code is valid for 10 minutes. The installer also stops waiting after 10 minutes. After that, you see one of these messages:
  • pairing timed out (10m)
  • pairing code expired
Your agents stay wired. To get a new code, run:
The doctor finds the wiring, sees that the machine is not paired, and starts a new pairing.

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If you close the browser or stop the installer

Nothing is lost. The installer wires your agents before it pairs, so a pairing problem never removes the wiring. Run npx @alikeai/setup --doctor to finish pairing.

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Headless machines and SSH

The installer does not open a browser. Open the printed link on another device and approve the code there. The code works from any device where you can sign in.

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Pair more than one machine

Run the installer on each machine. Each machine gets its own credential.
Give each machine a different hostname. When you pair a machine, Alike cancels your older credentials for machines with the same hostname. Two machines with the same name, for example two cloud VMs called ubuntu, disconnect each other each time one of them pairs.
Check a machine’s hostname with hostname.

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Switch to a different Alike account

The installer always reuses a credential that still works. To pair the machine with a different account:
  1. Delete the credential: rm ~/.alike/credentials.json
  2. Run the installer again: npx @alikeai/setup
  3. Sign in to the other account in your browser before you approve the code.

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When pairing happens again

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Remove a machine from your account

You cannot remove a single machine from the Alike web app yet. To stop a machine from sending data, run the uninstaller on that machine. It deletes the machine’s credential file. See Uninstall. The uninstaller does not cancel the credential on Alike’s side. If you think a copy of ~/.alike/credentials.json was taken, or you do not have access to the machine anymore, contact support@alike.work.