Handoff

Leave your Mac. Pick up your terminal on your phone.

What it does

You're working in a terminal on your Mac. You need to leave - meeting, commute, couch. You type handoff. Your phone buzzes with a connection ready. You tap it and you're in the same session, same directory, same everything.

First-time setup (5 minutes)

Mac:

brew install handoff
handoff setup

This:

• Installs and starts Tailscale (secure private network)
• Enables SSH on your Mac
• Configures iTerm2 to run inside tmux automatically (invisible - your terminal looks and feels exactly the same)
• Generates an SSH key for passwordless phone access

Phone — Android:

1. Install the Handoff app on your Android phone
2. On your Mac, run handoff pair - it shows a QR code
3. Open Handoff on your phone and scan the QR code
4. Sign in to your Tailscale account (one-time, in browser)

That's it. Tailscale networking is built into the app - no separate VPN app needed.

Phone — iOS:

1. Build the iOS app from ios/Handoff/ (requires Xcode 15+ and a free Apple ID). See ios/README.md
2. Install Tailscale from the App Store and sign in with the same account as your Mac
3. On your Mac, run handoff pair - it shows a QR code
4. Open the Handoff app on your iPhone → tap Scan QR Code → point at the QR

You're paired. The app saves the SSH key in Keychain and connects over your Tailnet.

Daily use

You don't change anything about how you work. Open iTerm2, run claude, run vim, run whatever. Everything is quietly running inside tmux - you won't notice.

When you need to leave:

$ handoff

  * piko        (claude, 2 windows)
  * dotfiles    (vim)

  Ready. Open Handoff on your phone.

On your phone, open Handoff:

  * piko
  * dotfiles

  > piko

  Connecting...
  [you're in]

Same session. Same state. Keep going.

When you're back at your Mac - it's still there. Both sides stay in sync.