First login and setup

After installing Companion Hub, open the dashboard and finish setup. A new Hub asks for three things, in this order: pair the device with your CI Account, create your admin account or sign in, and complete the onboarding wizard.

Open the dashboard

Method	URL
Desktop app	Opens automatically when the Hub is ready
Browser (same machine)	`http://localhost:5002`
Browser (LAN / SSH)	`http://<server-ip>:5002`
Tailscale	`https://<device>.<tailnet>.ts.net/` (name from Settings → Network), or `http://100.x.y.z:5002` when Tailscale runs on the Hub machine itself

The desktop app opens the dashboard in its own window. You can also use any browser at the URLs above.

Pair the device with your CI Account

A Hub that isn’t paired yet sends you to the device registration page before anything else, and the page has no skip option. A CI Account at hub.ci.computer is required: it provisions your Hub’s web address and unlocks the App Store, remote access, and Organizations.

Device registration page: Step 1, Get your pairing code, with Sign in to CI Account and Create account buttons, each with a Scan QR option; Step 2, Connect this device, with the current device ID, an Enter Pairing Code field with the placeholder ABC123, and a Register button — Device registration. Step 1 opens your CI Account in a browser; Step 2 takes the six-character code.

In Step 1: Get your pairing code, select Sign in to CI Account, or Create account if you don’t have one. Both open hub.ci.computer in your browser. On a machine with no browser, select Scan QR and open the link on your phone.
In your CI Account, select Add Device, name your Hub, and copy the six-character pairing code.
Back on the Hub, in Step 2: Connect this device, enter the code in Enter Pairing Code and select Register. The code must be exactly six characters.

Hub then shows Pairing accepted. Provisioning your domain. DNS and the secure tunnel usually take a few minutes. Keep the window open; it moves on by itself. Partway through, the screen reads Setting up your Hub while Hub turns on its local services and your public connection, and DNS propagation can add another minute or two. Check again looks now.

A card with a spinner and the heading Setting up your Hub, the text We are turning on local services and your public connection. DNS propagation can add another minute or two, and a Check again button — The Setting up your Hub screen, shown while DNS propagates after a pairing code is accepted.

If you start Add Device on the same machine as the desktop app, the cihub:// link fills in the code for you. See Device pairing for the details and for re-pairing a Hub that already has an account.

Setting up over SSH? Skip the browser: run cihub register --code <pairing-code> on the Hub, then cihub claim --email you@example.com to create the admin account. See Installation.

Next, Hub shows the sign-in page, titled Login to your local admin account.

Hub sign-in page titled Login to your local admin account, with a Sign in as button for the remembered CI Account, an email address and password form, a Login button, and a Forgot password link — The sign-in page, with the CI Account button above the email and password form.

On a Hub that has no admin yet, either of these creates the first admin:

Sign in using your CI Account. Select the button. Hub opens CI Account sign-in in your browser and returns you to the Hub. In the desktop app, your browser then shows Opening Companion Hub and asks whether to open the app: allow it, or select Open Companion Hub. Continue in this browser carries on in the browser instead. When the app has taken the sign-in, the tab reads Companion Hub is signed in and you can close it. This is the quickest route after pairing, because you’re already signed in to the same account.
Create local admin user for this device. If Hub shows this page instead, enter an Email address, a Password, and Confirm password, then select Create Local Admin User. The password needs at least 8 characters with an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, a number, and a symbol.

Create local admin user for this device form, with a note that the local administrator account is separate from your CI Account, Email address, Password, and Confirm password fields, and a Create Local Admin User button — The form Hub shows on a Hub with no admin yet, when you don't sign in with your CI Account.

Sign-in has limits. If you turned on two-factor authentication, Hub asks for the 6-digit code after your password. You have five minutes and five tries, and the fifth wrong code ends the attempt with Too many incorrect 2FA codes. Sign in again to get a fresh attempt. After ten failed sign-ins in a minute from one address, Hub answers Too many attempts. Try again in <N> seconds. Behind Docker Desktop’s port mapping or a proxy that Hub doesn’t trust, everyone shares one allowance.

Creating a local admin also signs up the same email address and password with CI Account. If that email already has a CI Account — which it does if you just paired with it — Hub answers User already exists; use Sign in using your CI Account instead. With a new email, your CI Account currently requires email verification: verify the address from the email you receive, then sign in on the Hub with the same email and password.

Complete the onboarding wizard

After you sign in, the Onboarding wizard configures remote access, an AI agent, local AI, and Companion Memory, and recommends apps — all on one page with an Install & Finish button.

Review settings

Open Settings (the gear icon in the top bar). Useful first stops:

Security — change your username or password and turn on two-factor authentication.
Network — connect Tailscale and see your Hub’s Tailscale address.
AI — change the inference engine, models, and cloud provider keys you picked in the wizard.
Settings — domain, ports, and Allow anonymous error monitoring. Crash reporting is on by default in distributed builds; turn the switch off to stop it. See Crash reporting.

The wizard runs once. After it finishes, every login lands on the dashboard:

Companion Hub dashboard: Home, App Store, and Resources in the top bar, disk space, CPU load, and memory used cards, a Batch actions button, and a grid of installed app tiles for Companion Memory, OpenClaw, Immich, Jellyfin, and Nextcloud — The dashboard: Home, App Store, and Resources in the top bar, resource gauges, and installed apps. The apps shown are example data.

Your Hub sign-in is your CI Account. Keep its password secure: the Hub also keeps a hashed copy on your machine so you can sign in when the CI Account can’t be reached.