Install the agent and pair a computer

The agent is the part of Tether Studio that runs on the computer next to your phones. It watches for phones on USB, streams their screens, runs flows, and connects out to your studio. It never opens a port on your computer.

It runs on macOS (Apple silicon or Intel), Windows (64-bit) and Linux (x64). You need to be an owner or admin of the studio to install it.

1. Get your install command

1. In the studio, open Settings → Computers and click Install the agent.
2. Under Install with one command, pick Mac / Linux or Windows (it picks the computer you're on by itself).
3. Click Get install command and copy it.

The command has a one-time pairing code in it. It works once, for 10 minutes. If it runs out, click New code.

2. Run it on the computer

On a Mac or Linux computer, paste it into Terminal. It looks like this:

curl -fsSL https://tether-studio.app/install.sh | sh -s -- --pair TTHR-XXXX-XXXX

On Windows, paste it into PowerShell. It looks like this:

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://tether-studio.app/install.ps1))) -Pair TTHR-XXXX-XXXX

The installer:

1. Finds the right version for your computer and downloads it from your studio.
2. Checks the download against its checksum. If it doesn't match, nothing is installed.
3. Installs it to ~/.tether/bin (on Windows, the .tether\bin folder in your user folder).
4. Starts the agent and pairs this computer with your studio.

The first line it prints names the studio it downloads from. It should be your studio's address. After a few seconds the computer shows under Settings → Computers → Connected computers, and you can plug in a phone: Connect an Android phone.

Android phones need adb

The agent uses adb (Android's own connection tool) to talk to Android phones. If it's missing, the installer tells you.

• Mac: brew install android-platform-tools
• Linux: sudo apt install adb on Debian or Ubuntu, or your distribution's android-tools package.
• Windows: the agent downloads it by itself the first time it starts. You can also run winget install Google.PlatformTools.
• Any computer: ~/.tether/bin/tether-agent tools install downloads a checked copy of adb and the screen helper into the agent's own folder.

Start it again later

The agent runs in the Terminal or PowerShell window you started it from. Closing that window, restarting the computer or letting it sleep stops it, and its phones show as Offline. To start it again:

• Mac / Linux: ~/.tether/bin/tether-agent
• Windows (PowerShell): & "$HOME\.tether\bin\tether-agent.exe"

No code is needed the second time: the agent remembers your studio.

It updates itself

You install the agent once. After that it keeps itself up to date: it checks when it starts and every few hours, and never updates in the middle of a run. Owners and admins choose the Update channel for the whole studio on the Install the agent page: Stable (tested releases, rolled out gradually) or Beta (new versions first). More: Updates and versions.

More than one computer

Repeat the steps on each computer: get a new install command and run it there. Each computer can hold several phones.

Check your setup

~/.tether/bin/tether-agent doctor checks adb, the screen helper and whether your phones have allowed this computer, and says what to do about anything missing. On Windows, run & "$HOME\.tether\bin\tether-agent.exe" doctor.

Remove the agent

1. Stop the agent: press Ctrl+C in its window, or close the window.
2. Delete the agent's files. Mac / Linux: rm -rf ~/.tether. Windows (PowerShell): Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$HOME\.tether", "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Tether".
3. In the studio, open Settings → Computers and click Revoke next to that computer's key, so it can't connect again.

Keep the agent running while you want flows and schedules to run. If the computer sleeps or the agent stops, its phones show as Offline.