Herdcats

Support

SSH setup & configuration guide. Herdcats connects directly from your iPhone to your remote machine over SSH to orchestrate Herdr workspaces, Git worktrees, and autonomous coding agents.

🔒
Direct & Secure: No intermediate relays, proxies, or cloud daemons. Credentials stay encrypted in your iPhone’s on-device Keychain.Tailscale Recommended

Setting up SSH on macOS

Follow these steps to enable SSH access on your Mac and generate an ed25519 key for Herdcats.

Before you start: install Herdr on the Mac and keep a Herdr session running. Herdcats drives the herdr CLI over SSH.

  1. 1

    Enable Remote Login

    Open System Settings on your Mac:

    Apple Menu () → System Settings → General → Sharing → turn on Remote Login.

    Ensure your user account is permitted under “Allow access for”.

  2. 2

    Generate an Ed25519 Key & Authorize It

    Open Terminal on your Mac and run this one-line command:

    ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -N "" -f ~/.ssh/herdcats_key && cat ~/.ssh/herdcats_key.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys && chmod 700 ~/.ssh && chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
  3. 3

    Transfer the Private Key to Herdcats

    You can bring the private key into Herdcats using either method:

    Method A (AirDrop / Files):

    AirDrop ~/.ssh/herdcats_key (without .pub) to your iPhone and save to Files. In Herdcats, tap Import… and select it.

    Method B (Clipboard):

    Copy to clipboard: cat ~/.ssh/herdcats_key | pbcopy. Paste directly into the private key field in Herdcats.

  4. 4

    Find Host & Username

    In Terminal on your Mac, find your connection details:

    • Username: Run whoami (e.g. alice).
    • Host: If using Tailscale (recommended), run tailscale ip -4 or use your MagicDNS hostname (e.g. mac-mini.tailnet-name.ts.net). Otherwise use your local network IP (e.g. 192.168.1.50).
    • Port: Default is 22.