Download the package, run the installer for that device, enter an Open Brain API key, and the device will register, heartbeat, and stage capture summaries in Capture Inbox for review.
Use this as the source of truth when debugging device installs. Devices also report their installed agent version back to Device Hub.
| Version | Status | Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026.05.01.8 | current | 2026-05-03 | Three fixes: (1) em-dash hotfix for v0.6 (Windows PowerShell 5.1 was misreading BOM-less UTF-8 and failing to parse the API-key error messages); (2) wscript.exe + VBS launcher so the PowerShell window no longer flashes on each scheduled run; (3) rolling local log at %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenBrain\device-agent.log plus server-side error reports + stale-heartbeat Telegram alerts -- helper failures are no longer silent. |
| 2026.05.01.6 | superseded | 2026-05-03 | Helper hardening -- installer + runtime now reject API keys with non-printable bytes or <32 chars (fixes the silent corrupt-key install caused by a stray Ctrl+V at the SecureString prompt). Note: the v0.6 PowerShell files contained em-dashes that broke parsing on Windows PowerShell 5.1 -- superseded by v0.8. |
| 2026.05.01.5 | previous | 2026-05-01 | Windows command wrappers bypass execution policy and work immediately after install. |
Use this helper before installing a new laptop or phone. It creates a scoped Open Brain key from your dashboard session, or temporarily remembers a key you paste here, so you can copy it when the installer asks. The key is kept in this browser session only.
Run this in PowerShell on the target machine. It installs Task Scheduler jobs for restart and sleep recovery, then asks which automatic summaries you consent to enable.
iwr https://open-brain-project-production.up.railway.app/install-device-capture.ps1 -UseB | iex
Run this in a shell on the target machine. It configures user systemd timers or cron and writes a local consent manifest.
curl -sL https://open-brain-project-production.up.railway.app/install-device-capture.sh | sh
Run this in Terminal. It uses LaunchAgents for heartbeat and hourly summaries. Install Homebrew jq and sqlite first if prompted.
curl -sL https://open-brain-project-production.up.railway.app/install-device-capture.sh | sh
Run this inside Termux. It creates cron jobs, a Termux:Boot script and a Termux:Widget shortcut for consented summaries.
curl -sL https://open-brain-project-production.up.railway.app/install-device-capture.sh | sh
During install, Open Brain asks which collectors to enable and saves the choices locally as capture-consent.json. The background agent wakes hourly but uses a balanced cadence so collectors are spread through the day. Browser extension captures can carry the same device/cadence/consent metadata when enabled. It sends summaries to Capture Inbox; it does not upload keystrokes, hidden screenshots, clipboard contents, cookies, passwords, private app screens, raw browser databases, diffs, or file contents.
ob "Remember this from my other device"
Then review the staged capture at Capture Inbox filtered to Device Capture. Automated captures remain review-first.
The installer adds an ob-access helper. Use it to increase or decrease safe summary collectors, change cadence, pause background capture, or run one collector for testing.
ob-access status ob-access enable documents ob-access disable shell ob-access cadence compact ob-access window 12 ob-access run Activity ob-access run GitActivity ob-access pause ob-access resume ob-access run BrowserHistory
ob-access status ob-access enable documents ob-access disable shell ob-access cadence compact ob-access window 12 ob-access project-paths "$HOME/code_projects:$HOME/Documents" ob-access run activity ob-access run git-activity ob-access pause ob-access resume ob-access run browser-history
ob "test from windows".OpenBrainDeviceHeartbeat and OpenBrainDeviceCapture.Auto-start tries Task Scheduler first. If Windows denies task registration, the installer creates a per-user Startup loop that begins at login, heartbeats every five minutes and runs capture hourly. The installer also adds ob.cmd and ob-access.cmd wrappers to the user PATH so execution policy does not block normal capture commands.
ob "test from linux".systemctl --user list-timers | grep openbrain or crontab -l.Auto-start uses user systemd timers when available and cron as a fallback.
ob "test from android" and review Capture Inbox.Android can auto-run Termux cron when Termux is allowed to run. Full cross-app app usage needs the native Android app with explicit Usage Access or Notification Access permissions.
brew install jq sqlite.launchctl list | grep openbrain and Device Hub heartbeat.ob-access status to confirm package version and collectors.The current macOS path is a LaunchAgent shell package. A signed native menu-bar app is still the future polished package.
android-capture-app/ with Android Studio.source=android-native in Capture Inbox.The native app is consent-first. It does not record taps, keystrokes, passwords, editable input fields, hidden screenshots, raw browser databases or non-allowlisted app screens.
chrome://extensions.chrome-extension folder.Screenshots are manual visible-tab captures only and are staged as sensitive Capture Inbox items.
For a normal upgrade, rerun the installer. It refreshes helpers and startup jobs. Use the uninstall commands when you want to remove the agent or reset the device cleanly.
Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskName OpenBrainDeviceHeartbeat -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskName OpenBrainDeviceCapture -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "OpenBrainDevice*" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Unregister-ScheduledTask -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\OpenBrainDeviceCapture.cmd" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\OpenBrain" -Recurse -Force
# Optional: clear user env vars
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("OPEN_BRAIN_API_KEY", $null, "User")
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("OPEN_BRAIN_DEVICE_ID", $null, "User")
Reinstall by running the Windows installer again. Remove the profile aliases manually only if you want to clean up ob and ob-access.
systemctl --user disable --now openbrain-device-heartbeat.timer openbrain-device-capture.timer 2>/dev/null || true rm -f ~/.config/systemd/user/openbrain-device-heartbeat.* ~/.config/systemd/user/openbrain-device-capture.* systemctl --user daemon-reload 2>/dev/null || true crontab -l 2>/dev/null | grep -v "openbrain-device-agent" | crontab - rm -f ~/.local/bin/open-brain-capture ~/.local/bin/open-brain-device-agent ~/.local/bin/open-brain-access # Optional full reset rm -rf ~/.config/openbrain
Reinstall with the Linux installer. Skip the final config reset if you want to keep the existing device id and key.
launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/uk.openbrain.device-heartbeat.plist 2>/dev/null || true launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/uk.openbrain.device-capture.plist 2>/dev/null || true rm -f ~/Library/LaunchAgents/uk.openbrain.device-heartbeat.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/uk.openbrain.device-capture.plist rm -f ~/.local/bin/open-brain-capture ~/.local/bin/open-brain-device-agent ~/.local/bin/open-brain-access # Optional full reset rm -rf ~/.config/openbrain
Reinstall with the macOS installer command. Reopen Terminal afterwards so the ob and ob-access helpers are available.
crontab -l 2>/dev/null | grep -v "openbrain-device-agent" | crontab - rm -f ~/bin/open-brain-capture ~/bin/open-brain-device-agent ~/bin/open-brain-access rm -f ~/.shortcuts/open-brain-capture rm -f ~/.termux/boot/openbrain-start # Optional full reset rm -rf ~/.config/openbrain
Reinstall from Termux with the Linux/Android installer, then reopen Termux:Boot and keep Termux exempt from battery optimisation.
The current website package includes a LaunchAgent shell installer for heartbeat and scheduled summaries. The polished product path is still a signed, notarized macOS app or pkg installer with a native consent screen and clear Full Disk Access prompts when browser/document metadata collectors are enabled.
The right package is a native App Store or TestFlight app plus a Share Extension. iOS will not allow background scraping of other apps, browser history, keystrokes or private messages. Useful capture should be explicit and OS-permission based.
The Termux package supports quick notes, heartbeat, startup recovery and optional notification metadata summaries. It does not silently scrape private social app content, taps, keystrokes or Android Chrome history. Richer Android app-usage and visible LLM/browser session capture requires the native Android app with explicit Usage Access, Notification Access or Accessibility consent.
The package includes a Chrome extension for selected text, page summaries, right-click capture, Open Brain search, manual ChatGPT/Claude session summaries and manual visible-tab screenshots. It now mirrors the installer metadata model with Browser Device ID, consent status, capture mode, cadence/window and machine-query tags. Optional page metadata records visible headings and linked-domain counts only. Screenshots are compressed, marked sensitive and staged in Capture Inbox for review.