Docs

FAQ & help

General

Why is it called Mob?

After mob programming, where a whole team works on one computer together: one person at the keyboard, the others steering. In Mob the team is you and your agents. They work on your office computer; you steer from your phone or laptop, wherever you are.

Does the office computer have to stay on?

Yes. mobd and the agents run on it; while it is off or asleep, devices can't connect and turns pause. On a Mac the display may sleep; a Linux server needs no display at all.

Which systems does mobd run on?

macOS 13 or later on Apple Silicon, and Linux: Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 and Debian 12/13 on amd64 or arm64, other distributions built from source. Intel Macs are not supported. mobd for Windows is planned.

Which apps are there?

Mob Desktop for macOS (Windows and Linux on the way) and Mob Mobile for iPhone, iPad and Android. Any of them works with mobd on macOS or Linux.

Can several conversations run at once?

On Linux, yes: each has its own desktop, and up to maxRunning turns (4) run side by side. On a Mac conversations share the screen, so their turns take turns in a queue. See Desktops & live view.

Do mobd and the apps need the same version?

Not the same number, but keep both up to date: new features usually need a new mobd and new apps together. If something is missing or fails after updating one side, update the other. Mob Desktop updates itself; for mobd see macOS or Linux. Every version's changes are in each part's releases on GitHub: mobd, Mob Desktop, Mob for Android.

Is my data uploaded anywhere?

Mob runs no server of its own: your devices connect to mobd directly, or through the remote-access service you choose (Tailscale, Cloudflare). Whether task content goes to a model service depends on the agent and model you use. See the privacy policy.

Where are my settings and conversations?

Settings in ~/.mobd. Conversations in ~/Library/Application Support/mob on macOS and ~/.local/share/mob on Linux, where each conversation's desktop files and browser profiles are too.

Problems

Start with mobd status on the office computer, and on Linux mobd desktops doctor. mobd logs shows what happened.

Mob says the machine needs pairing

This device's credential was revoked, or authentication was reset on the office computer. Run mobd link again, choose Pair again in Mob and scan or paste the new link. Conversations are kept.

The pairing link is “invalid, expired or already used”

Invitations last 10 minutes and work once. Run mobd link again and use the new code.

Mob can't reach mobd

Is mobd running (mobd status)? Is the device on the same network, or is remote access working (mobd remote)? On Linux, is a firewall blocking port 8080 (firewall)? More in Remote access → Problems.

I can chat, but there is no live view

Mob shows the reason. On macOS, grant Screen Recording and run mobd restart. On Linux, mobd desktops doctor shows whether an H.264 encoder is available; a desktop starts with the conversation's first turn. If UDP 9527 is blocked, the live view uses a WebSocket.

Linux: a new conversation waits and doesn't start a desktop

Memory or disk is below its floor, or maxDesktops is reached. Mob shows a banner; close desktops you don't need (Close desktop in Mob, or mobd desktops close).

Linux: pages show boxes instead of text

Fonts are missing: sudo apt install fonts-dejavu-core fonts-noto-cjk.

Linux: the browser won't start

Snap and Flatpak browsers can't open the conversation's profile. Install Google Chrome's .deb, Debian's chromium or firefox-esr, or Firefox from Mozilla's apt repository (browsers).

A turn failed

Mob shows the agent's error. Agent sign-in and model setup are the agent's own: check them by running the agent once in a terminal as the user that runs mobd. Mob's machine settings show whether each agent is installed.

Report a problem

Mob is open source. Search the issues or open a new one on GitHub, for the part that misbehaves:

Include the versions (mobd --version, and the app's in its settings), the office computer's system, and what you did. Leave out addresses, pairing links and logs with private data: issues are public. For anything about security, write to [email protected] instead.