Setting up this computer: the six steps
Last reviewed: 29 Sep 2026
The This computer card at the top of Connect lists six steps and ticks each one from what Naetive can see. Nothing on it is a promise: a step is done when the platform heard it happen. This page says, for each step, what ticks it and what to do when it does not.
The card belongs to the computer and browser you are using. An agent connected on another computer does not make this one ready, and a console reporting in from your desktop does not tick the laptop.
1. Install on this computer
What ticks it: the installer starts the approval, or anything from this computer reports in.
Paste the one command for your machine into a terminal (PowerShell on Windows). It installs Claude Code if it is missing, the console, the tunnel and the naetive command, then prints a link and a code and opens your browser. Nothing secret is in the command.
If it does not tick: the terminal shows why. bash missing: run it in a terminal, not by double-clicking a text file. Node missing: the installer installs Node 20 for you. On Windows, "running scripts is disabled": the command shown is the irm … | iex form, which needs no policy change. Already ran it and closed the tab? Type the code it printed into the card.
2. Approve this computer
What ticks it: you click Approve, on the page that opened or on the card, which shows the same code.
The code proves you are looking at the same installer the card is. Approving connects that computer to your account: its agents read and add to your projects' understanding. If the page says the request came from another network, tick the box only if you are running the installer on your own computer right now. That is not me denies it and the installer stops.
If it does not tick: codes last ten minutes; expired, used or denied codes say so on the card, with the install command back under step 1. Run the command again for a fresh code.
3. Console reporting in
What ticks it: the console's first report from this computer. The installer starts it; the first report arrives within a minute and then every minute.
If it does not tick: the card says "A console is reporting in on --restart; a plain start leaves a running console alone). It comes back in the background, so you can close that window. If you chose a tunnel-only install, there is no console and this step stays open.
4. Start the tunnel in your project folder
What ticks it: a tunnel session serving this project's folder.
Go into the project folder itself, not the folder above it, and run the start command. Leave the window open. It links to the project by the folder's name; a folder named after no project asks you to type the project's name, once. Ctrl+C ends it and every agent's access with it.
If it does not tick: "This folder holds --setup command the message names in a normal terminal. "Not linked to a project": name the folder after the project or start inside it. Windows asks "Terminate batch job (Y/N)?" on Ctrl+C: type y.
5. Pair this browser
What ticks it: this browser paired with this computer while its console or tunnel is up.
A terminal in a tab is a shell on your computer, so the computer decides who gets one, not a login. Click Pair this browser; the card shows a short code, the tunnel window shows the same code and asks; type it there. Once per browser.
If it does not tick: the tunnel has to be running for this project first (step 4). Codes last two minutes; three wrong codes refuse the request, and after three requests in ten minutes the machine waits ten minutes. Revoke any browser under Local services → Paired browsers.
6. Connect your first agent
What ticks it: any agent of any kind makes its first call to Naetive.
Pick the one you use in the rows under the card and follow its guide: Claude Code through the installer, ChatGPT and Claude through one connector URL, Codex through a short config block. Then ask it something about the project, such as "map this project".
If it does not tick: ask it "What's my current focus?"; a connected agent answers with your project. Claude Code: run /mcp and check naetive is listed. Chat agents: the connector URL must be the one Connect shows, with your key inside it.
When something stops later
The card turns red and names what stopped, with the fix beside it: the console (restart it) or the tunnel (start it again in the project folder). The Status page shows the same alert. A paired browser needs nothing; it works again the moment the computer is back.
Taking it off
See Removing Naetive from a computer. The uninstaller tells Naetive the computer is gone, and the card returns to "Nothing installed".