explaingit

volter-ai/portable.dev

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

37TypeScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

TLDR

A free, local-first tool that pairs your phone with Claude Code running on your own PC via a QR code and an encrypted tunnel.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Portable.dev))
    What it does
      Mobile Claude Code client
      QR pairing with your PC
      Browses GitHub from phone
      Local data storage
    Tech stack
      TypeScript
      Bun
      Claude Agent SDK
      Expo React Native
    Use cases
      Chat with Claude on the go
      Manage GitHub issues from phone
      Keep AI chats fully local
    Audience
      Developers

Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Chat with Claude about your codebase from your phone while away from your computer.

USE CASE 2

Browse and manage GitHub repos, issues, and pull requests remotely through the mobile app.

USE CASE 3

Keep all AI chats and repo data stored locally on your own PC instead of the cloud.

USE CASE 4

Self-host the relay server to keep full control of the routing infrastructure.

What is it built with?

TypeScriptBunClaude Agent SDKExpoReact NativeSQLite

How does it compare?

volter-ai/portable.devcosmosshadow/usechathotakus/opencode-visual-cache
Stars373737
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultymoderatehardeasy
Complexity3/54/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires the Bun runtime, an active Claude subscription, and the mobile app to pair via QR code.

License terms are not shown in this excerpt of the README.

In plain English

Portable lets you use Claude Code from your phone by connecting a mobile app to a small program that runs on your own computer. You install a command line tool, run one command called portable, and it prints a QR code in your terminal. You then open the Portable mobile app, sign in, and scan that code to pair your phone with your PC. From then on you can chat with Claude about your code, browse your GitHub repositories, issues, and pull requests, and let the AI read files or manage issues on your behalf, all from your phone. Because it uses your own Claude Code subscription, there is no extra cost and no separate billing layer in between. It is described as free, open source, and private, since your chats, repo data, and settings are stored locally on your PC in a small local database rather than on any company's servers. AI requests go straight from your computer to Anthropic's API. Under the hood, the backend runs only on your own machine, listening on your local network address. A small launcher program publishes that local server to the internet through a temporary tunnel and registers it with a public relay server, so your phone can reach a stable address that always points at your current PC session. The relay only forwards traffic and never sees your AI credentials or your data. Communication between the app and your PC is end to end encrypted using a key that is shared only inside the pairing QR code itself, never sent over the network, so even the relay server cannot read what passes through it. If you want full control over that routing layer too, you can run your own relay instead of the shared one. To use it you need the Bun JavaScript runtime, an active Claude subscription signed in through the Claude CLI, and the Portable mobile app, which you either build yourself with Expo or install from the team's published build. Two other tools, a tunnel program called cloudflared and a Chromium browser, are downloaded automatically the first time you run it, so you generally do not need to install them yourself.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through installing and pairing Portable.dev with the mobile app.
Prompt 2
Explain how Portable.dev keeps app-to-PC traffic end to end encrypted.
Prompt 3
What does the relay server in Portable.dev's architecture actually see and not see?
Prompt 4
What do I need installed on my PC before running the portable command?
Prompt 5
How does Portable.dev use my existing Claude subscription instead of a separate API key?

Frequently asked questions

What is portable.dev?

A free, local-first tool that pairs your phone with Claude Code running on your own PC via a QR code and an encrypted tunnel.

What language is portable.dev written in?

Mainly TypeScript. The stack also includes TypeScript, Bun, Claude Agent SDK.

What license does portable.dev use?

License terms are not shown in this excerpt of the README.

How hard is portable.dev to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is portable.dev for?

Mainly developer.

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