Computers and machines

A machine is a server or a laptop where agents' turns run. A turn is one agent session, from start to the end or to a wait. The instance admin keeps the server machines; you connect your own computer yourself.

There are two reasons to come here: connecting your computer, and working out why an agent takes no work.

Where a turn runs

A turn has three places:

The place is chosen per thread, not only per agent:

• Before the first turn the place is set in the input row, in «Where to run». If it is not set, the default applies: chats and channels run with no computer, tasks and automations on the server. A workspace admin (Settings → Execution) or an organization admin changes the default.
• After the first turn the place sticks to the agent's work in the thread. Work on a laptop or with no computer can move only to the server, with «Continue on the server»: the agent starts a new session with a summary of the thread. It never moves back.
• When «No computer» hits a wall (a shell, packages, a spreadsheet, a skill with scripts) it hands the thread to the server itself and says why. From then on the thread stays on the server.
• A laptop is not always open. The instance admin must turn laptops on, the agent must be bound to your computer, and the harness there must take the model. An agent with no machine works on the server.

You bind an agent to a computer when you create it: pick a machine in «Where to run». The line «A sandbox on the server, no machine needed» keeps the agent on the server.

Connect your computer

Connecting is explicit: the daemon never connects itself to a workspace. A computer connects to one workspace at a time, and has its own pass in each. For a second workspace, connect again.

The main way: the install line

1. Open Settings → My computer. In the Connect a computer card press Get the install line.
2. Run the line in a terminal on the computer you are connecting. It downloads Bounc, starts it as a service (systemd on Linux, launchd on macOS) and connects the computer to the workspace.
3. The computer appears in Connected computers as «Online», and its harnesses on the Machines page.

The code in the line works once and lives for 15 minutes. If you missed it, get a new line. The line is for Linux and macOS; on Windows use the fallback.

The computer needs at least one harness: opencode, Claude Code, Codex, Qwen Code, Goose, Hermes Agent or pi. The daemon looks for them in PATH and does not start without one.

The fallback: through the CLI

You need it when the line does not fit: no browser on that computer, Windows, or a CLI that is already installed.

1. Issue a personal token

If the computer has a browser you do not need a token: bounc login opens the sign-in in the browser. Without a browser, open Settings → API Tokens and create a token: a name (for example, "Work laptop") and an expiry. Copy the value at once — it starts with bnp_ and is shown only once.

The token acts as you in all your workspaces, so keep it like a password. See Tokens for the details.

2. Install the Bounc CLI

Download the CLI from the web app's /download page: it picks the build for your operating system. It is a single file with no dependencies. Put it in a directory on your PATH and make it executable:

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
mv ~/Downloads/bounc ~/.local/bin/bounc
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/bounc
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc   # for bash — ~/.bashrc
exec $SHELL -l
bounc --help

On Windows the download is bounc.exe, and there is no executable-permission step.

3. Sign in

Give the server address and the web app address, then sign in with the token. For cloud Bounc both addresses are the same:

bounc config set server_url https://app.bounc.ai
bounc config set app_url https://app.bounc.ai
bounc login --token bnp_…

The CLI checks the token, stores it in the local profile and picks a default workspace — the first of yours. If you have several, switch with bounc workspace switch <id>.

Check the sign-in — the commands should return your workspace's data:

bounc auth status
bounc issue list
bounc project list
bounc team list

At this point the computer is not connected yet: the CLI reads and changes workspace data, but no agent runs on it.

4. Connect the computer and start the daemon

bounc daemon connect
bounc daemon start
bounc daemon status

daemon connect connects the computer to the profile's default workspace and gets a pass from the server. For another workspace add --workspace <id>; to name the computer in the list use --device-name: its runtimes carry that name ("Opencode (Anna's laptop)") and follow it when you rename the computer.

The daemon runs in the background and serves every workspace this computer is connected to. It only makes outbound connections — no inbound ports are needed. Without a connection daemon start prints "this computer is not connected to a workspace" and does not start.

bounc daemon logs -f shows the log, bounc daemon stop stops the daemon, and bounc daemon start starts it again. The computer stays in the list and comes back online on the next start.

If the daemon runs as a service (the install line set it up), bounc daemon stop and bounc daemon start stop and start the service itself; it starts again at your next login. bounc daemon uninstall removes the service. The connection to workspaces and Bounc itself in ~/.bounc stay: to delete the computer from a workspace use bounc daemon disconnect, to bring the service back run the install line. When the computer is deleted or revoked in every workspace, the service stops on its own and waits until it is connected again.

Hand the connection to an AI assistant

Steps 2–4 of the fallback are routine terminal work, and you can give them to an AI assistant on your machine, such as Claude Code. You issue the token yourself; give the assistant the path to the downloaded file and the text of the task:

Set up the connection to Bounc.

1. The CLI is downloaded here: ~/Downloads/bounc. Put it in a directory on
   PATH, make it executable and remove the macOS quarantine.
2. Connect to the workspace at https://app.bounc.ai:
   bounc config set server_url and app_url — both https://app.bounc.ai;
   sign in with bounc login --token, my token: bnp_…
3. Connect the computer: bounc daemon connect.
4. Do not start the daemon yet.
5. To check, show the list of issues, projects and teams.

Once the connection is checked, starting the daemon (bounc daemon start) is a separate command, and you can hand that to the assistant too.

What the instance admin decides

Connecting computers is governed by a policy on the «Laptops» page of the instance console. A member does not change these settings, but sees their traces in My computer.

The «by approval» rule

A member presses «Ask to connect». The workspace admins get a card in «Waiting for me» and press «Approve» or «Decline». An approval lets one new computer in and is spent by it. Workspace admins connect a computer without asking.

What happens on the computer

• Bounc's actions. Bounc's verbs and connectors on a computer follow the access mode, as on the server: in «Ask» the agent asks on an access card.

• The thread's title and summary. The server works them out through its own gateway, masked, even when the turn runs on a computer on your own key.

• Someone else's computer. If an agent is bound to another member's machine, its instructions and the threads it works in reach that machine on every turn. Connector secrets stay on the platform. Bounc warns you before you create such an agent.

• The computer sleeps or is off. The turn waits: the thread shows «Waiting for a free machine», and the work goes on by itself once the computer is back online. After the minutes the policy sets, the thread offers «Continue on the server»: the work moves to a server sandbox with a new session.

• The computer vanishes mid-turn. If the daemon is silent for 90 seconds, the turn pauses as «Machine went away». When the computer is back, press «Continue» in the thread.

The machines list

The Machines page shows the machines you can see: a «Mine» / «All» switch, the sections «Local», «Remote» and «Cloud», and a filter «All / Online / Issues». For each machine it shows how many harnesses it has and how many are online, its state, its load (how many turns run and how many are queued) and which harness stands there. The list updates in real time.

Each machine has a card: its owner, device, the agents it serves, and diagnostics. The «Add a computer» button opens a dialog with the commands that install the CLI and connect (bounc login, bounc daemon connect, bounc daemon start) with the addresses filled in.

States

Who may use a machine

A machine has a visibility:

• Public — any workspace member can create agents on it.
• Private — only its owner and workspace admins.

Revoke access and delete

These are three different actions with different consequences.

Before a delete on the Machines page, the dialog says how many agents it affects and asks you to confirm. A machine run by a running daemon cannot be deleted: it registers itself again, so stop the daemon first.

When a computer takes no work

Go down the list.

1. Is the computer connected? In My computer it should be in «Connected computers» as «Online». Empty, «Offline» or «Access revoked» means connect it again. bounc daemon status and bounc daemon logs -f show what the daemon sees.
2. Are laptops on? «Computers are turned off on this installation» is the instance admin's call.
3. In this workspace? «Computers are off in this workspace»: the instance admin allowed computers only in some workspaces.
4. May you connect? «Not everyone may connect a computer» means you are not in the right IdP group. «Ask to connect» waits for a workspace admin's approval.
5. Daemon version. Below the minimum the computer takes no turns: press «Update to …».
6. Models on a laptop. «Turns do not run on computers yet: the instance admin allowed models through the gateway only» is the instance admin's call.
7. Place of the turn. The thread is fixed to the server or runs with no computer. A laptop is picked before the first turn, and only if the agent is bound to your computer and its harness takes the model. The instance admin may also have opened laptops only for some kinds of threads (chats, tasks, automations).
8. The agent. It is not archived and is bound to the right machine.

Next

• Providers — the AI tools agents run on.
• Agents — how an agent is bound to a machine.
• Issues — the work agents take.
• Tokens — the token for the fallback.