Your devices

Every computer signed in to your IXEL account joins one private network. Devices connect directly to each other, through home routers, firewalls and NAT, with nothing to open or configure. Every connection is encrypted end to end with WireGuard.

IXEL’s coordination server only does the handshake: it checks who you are, shares devices’ public keys and helps them find each other. It never sees your traffic.

See your devices

In the app, Devices shows your computers as icons, each with its name and state. Choose one to open its page: an overview of the computer and its tools.

From the command line:

ixel devices

It lists this computer and your others, with their addresses and whether they’re online.

Turn it on and off

The switch in IXEL One connects and disconnects this computer. It stays signed in, so connecting again is instant. Connect when IXEL One starts in Settings decides whether it connects by itself.

From the command line, ixel up connects and ixel down disconnects.

Names

Every device has a name, like studio, and an address. Inside your network the full name ends in .ixel, like studio.ixel.

Reach another device

Programs on this computer reach your other devices through IXEL One’s local proxy, a SOCKS5 proxy at 127.0.0.1:1055. Device names work as host names there.

# A web service on another device
curl --socks5-hostname 127.0.0.1:1055 http://studio.ixel:8080/

# SSH, from macOS or Linux
ssh -o ProxyCommand='nc -X 5 -x 127.0.0.1:1055 %h %p' you@studio.ixel

Browsers and many other apps can use a SOCKS5 proxy in their network settings. To use another address, or turn the proxy off, use ixel up --socks5 <address> (an empty address turns it off).

What your devices can reach on this one

Only your own devices can connect. Anything else is dropped.

• In the desktop app, your devices can reach every port on this computer. To change that, turn off Your devices can reach every port on this Mac (or PC, or computer) in Settings. Then they reach only what IXEL One itself shares, such as Screens and Agents.
• On the command line, your devices reach only what IXEL One shares, plus the ports you list:

ixel up --expose 22,8080,53/udp   # these ports, while it runs
ixel up --expose-all true         # every port (saved)

On a managed computer, change these from your other devices or app.ixel.ai instead.

Mixed versions

Devices still running the older IXEL Mesh app connect to IXEL One devices as usual.