Get it running

You run the server and the app on macOS. Start the server on your machine, then connect the app to it.

Get the bundle

Download the zip from Get started on the product site. It holds buster7.app, bin/server, bin/b7, and a short README. Unzip it and you have everything you need.

Put the app in place

Move buster7.app into your Applications folder. Leave bin/ wherever you unzipped it; you can run it from there.

The bundle carries a Developer ID signature notarized by Apple, so buster7.app opens on the first try — no "unverified developer" warning. bin/server and bin/b7 carry the same signature and notarization; they check with Apple on first run, so that one run may pause for a moment.

If it still refuses to open, clear the quarantine flag:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/buster7.app

1. Start the server

From the folder you unzipped:

./bin/server

It prints the address and the token.

buster7 server listening on http://127.0.0.1:8787
  websocket : ws://127.0.0.1:8787/ws
  sessions  : http://127.0.0.1:8787/sessions
  token     : xxxxxxxx   (generated; fix it with --token or BUSTER7_TOKEN)

The token is the key to the server. It changes on every start. To fix it, pass BUSTER7_TOKEN:

BUSTER7_TOKEN=mytoken ./bin/server

On startup the server stands the previous sessions back up. To begin from a clean slate, pass --no-restore.

2. Connect the app

Open the app and fill in the address and the token on the settings screen, then press "Save and connect".

Field	What goes in
Server	Host and port. On the same machine, `127.0.0.1:8787`
Token	The string the server printed on startup

The settings are saved, and later launches connect on their own. To change them later, open Connection in Settings.

3. Drive it from a shell

The bundled bin/b7 is the way to let an agent drive buster7. Leave the server running and, in another terminal:

export BUSTER7_TOKEN=(what the server printed)
./bin/b7 status

See CLI (b7) for the rest.

From another machine or a phone

From another machine, use the address of the machine running the server. Over a home or office network, or from a mobile connection, set up a tunnel such as Tailscale and put that host name in Server (for example macmini.tailnet-xxxx.ts.net:8787).

By default the server listens only on the same machine. To use it over a tunnel, change the address it listens on:

./bin/server --bind 0.0.0.0:8787

The iOS app is not distributed yet.

Keep the token to yourself

Anyone with the token can drive your server. Keep it out of screen shares and screenshots.