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Latch is an Android app and a small gateway that you own. Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any other MCP app connects to your gateway and can read your screen, tap, type, and move files, but only in the apps you switch on, and never past a payment, a password, or the Stop button. Developers can also switch on full ADB shell access over Wi-Fi.
Your phone connects out to a gateway you run: on your computer, your free Vercel account, or your own server. No cable, and no Latch server in the middle.
[!NOTE]
Latch is in beta. Every change passes CI, including the real app on an Android emulator, but it has not yet been tested on many phones. Report what breaks.
How it works
flowchart LR
AI["<b>Your AI app</b><br/>Claude · ChatGPT · Cursor"] -- "MCP" --> GW["<b>Your gateway</b><br/>your computer, Vercel, or a server"]
Phone["<b>Latch app</b><br/>your Android phone"] -- "connects out, signed" --> GW
- The app reads the screen through Android's accessibility service and performs the taps. Every rule is checked again on the phone, against what is on screen at that moment.
- The gateway speaks MCP to your AI app and passes typed commands to the phone. It cannot do anything the phone refuses.
- You choose which apps the AI may use, approve anything risky on the phone, and stop everything with one tap.
Quick start
1. Install the app on an Android 11+ phone: latch-android.apk.
2. Run a gateway. Pick one:
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On your computer, for a phone on the same Wi-Fi:
| |
|---|
| macOS, Linux | curl -fsSL https://github.com/aspershupadhyay/latch/releases/download/beta/install-gateway.sh | sh |
| Windows (PowerShell) | irm https://github.com/aspershupadhyay/latch/releases/download/beta/install-gateway.ps1 | iex |
| From v0.1.0 | brew install latch · winget install AspershUpadhyay.Latch · scoop install latch (how) |
Then run latch start and, in the app, tap Scan the QR code.
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Anywhere, on your free Vercel account: in the app, tap Create my own gateway, copy the owner key, and
3. Connect your AI app. Add the gateway's /mcp address as a remote MCP server (latch start prints the exact command for Claude Code), then approve the 4-letter code on the phone.
Start a session on the phone and ask: "What's on my screen right now?" Every tap, screen by screen: setup guide.
Why Latch
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|---|
| Any AI app | One MCP address for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Codex, VS Code, and the rest. Each signs in with OAuth that you approve on the phone, or gets its own key. |
| You stay in charge | Every app is off until you switch it on. Send, Pay, Install, and permission prompts ask you first. Password, PIN, and one-time-code fields are refused. Screen text is data, never an instruction. A Stop button is always on screen. |
| Every gesture, fast | Tap, swipe, drag, pinch, and any multi-finger gesture. Actions return only what changed; run_steps and saved skills do several steps in one call. |
| Full ADB, no cable | Optional and off by default: pair wireless debugging once, and your AI app runs any adb shell command over Wi-Fi, with complete output. You turn it on; Stop ends it. Compared with ADB agents → |
| Files and a live mirror | Files up to 2 GB over encrypted 15-minute links, and the phone's screen live in your browser, with mouse and keyboard. |
| Yours to run | Your computer, a free Vercel deploy, or a small container. No Latch server in the middle, and Latch collects nothing. AGPL-3.0. |
Documentation
| Guide | What it covers |
|---|
| Setup · Install the gateway · Connect your phone | Getting started, screen by screen |
| Troubleshooting | Play Protect, Restricted setting, sessions that drop, slow actions, updating your gateway |
| Safety and privacy | What the AI can and cannot do, and what is stored where |
| MCP tools | Every tool an AI app can call, including any gesture and full-access ADB |
| Run on Vercel · Self-host · Releases | Operating a gateway, keys, big files, and how releases are made |
| Device protocol · Decisions · Handbook | The phone ↔ gateway contract, why it looks this way, and the roadmap |
Stuck? "App blocked", a greyed-out accessibility switch, a session that stops with the screen off, or slow actions: troubleshooting has each fix. Anything else: open an issue.
iPhone: iOS has no public way for one app to operate another, so a full iPhone version is not possible (why).
Develop
scripts/cloud-session-setup.sh # once: Rust, the Android SDK, and the test clients
scripts/dev.sh # a local gateway and a simulated phone, no device needed
scripts/check.sh # everything CI runs
CI runs on every pull request: Rust, both gateways end to end, the official MCP SDK client, the Android build, the real app on an emulator, both installers on Linux and Windows, the container image, and a dependency audit. Read CONTRIBUTING.md first, and report vulnerabilities privately via SECURITY.md. Also: GOVERNANCE.md · CHANGELOG.md · SUPPORT.md.
License
GNU AGPL-3.0, with the attribution terms in NOTICE. You may use, study, and change Latch. If you share a changed version, or run it as a service other people connect to, publish your source under the same license and keep the credit Based on Latch by Aspersh Upadhyay. The name and logo are not licensed for forks: see TRADEMARKS.md.
