use your pack

what this is

your pack is your own carnivore computers, linked into one group. each computer keeps its own sessions. you see and drive all of them from any one of them, your phone too (see "from your phone"). one computer is marked "alpha", so it is always clear which one is in charge.

this page starts after link a second computer. not sure you did it? open "menu", "pack": if you see more than one computer row, you did. your main computer is the one that showed you the 6 digit code.

to have an agent do any of this: open a claude code session on your main computer and type what you want, like "move my shop project to my other computer". any claude or codex session you start in carnivore has carnivore's tools; one that was already running gets them after its next restart. it asks your permission the first time it uses a tool, and changes wait for your approval in carnivore.

what you get

one list: every computer's sessions side by side, each marked with its computer's name.
open a session from another computer and type in it as if it were here.
start a new session on any connected linked computer.
one count: the agents bar at the top of the agents tab counts agents on every linked computer.
live load for every computer: cpu, memory, disk, battery.
heavy jobs (browser runs, test suites, builds, renders) can go to the computer with the most room.
a compute reserve: keep part of each computer free for you.
move a whole project, or a whole company, to another computer, and move it back with one click.
move one running session to another computer without interrupting it.
the old copy of a moved project is kept and locked, never deleted.
moved projects resume the same conversations on the new computer.
each computer sets what the others may do on it. the computer being asked always decides.
share one claude login with your other computers without logging in again. it is on by default for every account, you can turn it off per account, and each computer's owner says yes first and picks which accounts.
find your pack on the same network with one click ("look for a pack") when you add a computer. you still type the 6 digit code.
give your pack a name (optional) so a computer that is looking can tell it from another.
one set of notification settings for all your computers, if you want it.
turn a linked computer to "one way": you can drive it, it cannot change anything on yours.
remove a computer, or leave a pack, any time.
agents can run all of this for you too.

see your computers

open carnivore. open the menu, then "pack". on a phone, tap the carnivore button at the top, then the house tab, then "pack". the "computers" tab opens first.
every linked computer is a row, with this computer first. each row has its name, an "alpha" badge if it is the alpha, a computer icon (tooltip "this computer") on the one you are on, a link icon (tooltips "linked to this computer", "connecting", "link down", "link error") and a short key that tells it apart from any other computer. under that: "last seen" and how long ago ("never" if it has not answered yet).
under each name: cpu, mem and disk bars, a line like "reserve in use 30% / 20%": right now 30% of its cpu and 20% of its memory are kept free for you. then a row of "installed tools". a tool that computer lacks is struck through, and jobs that need it go to another computer.
for a picture of all of them: go to "home", press "edit layout", and add the "pack machines" card. each computer shows a load bar with a line marking the share kept free for you. the bar turns red when the computer crosses that line, and new work goes elsewhere.

your sessions and the other computers' sessions share one list. a session on another computer wears that computer's name as a small tag. if that computer is off or asleep its sessions turn dim.

from your phone

pick one computer for your phone to reach, best the one that stays on. on it: "settings", "remote & security", "mobile sync". switch it on and click "pair a mobile device", then scan the qr code. the phone opens that computer's carnivore, with the linked computers' sessions in the same list. the phone cannot add, remove or leave a computer.

make a computer the alpha

"menu", "pack", "computers".
find the row of the computer you want to be alpha and click "make alpha" beside its name. the button is on the other computers' rows, so you do it from a computer that is not the one you want. every computer follows within seconds.

pick the computer that is on and has carnivore open the most. if the alpha is unreachable, the pack-wide settings and the sysop agent stop until you pick another.

the alpha holds the settings that cover the whole pack: "spread work across the pack automatically" and "enhanced placement". you can change them from any computer, under "menu", "pack", "work", where it says "held by the alpha" and names it. the alpha keeps them and they reach every computer.

on the "work" tab, "follow the alpha" is on by default. while it is on, an update that lands on any computer in the pack also updates this one, as long as this computer allows updates from the pack ("may update carnivore").

keep part of a computer free for you (compute reserve)

use it so agents never slow down the computer you are working on. example: keep 30% of the cpu free while you work, 10% at night.

"menu", "pack", "work". find the computer and click "edit".
under "compute reserve", set how much to keep free while you use the computer ("in use cpu %", "in use mem %") and while you are away from it ("away cpu %", "away mem %"). each can be 0 to 90.
set the hours you use it with "in use from" and "in use until", and tick the days.
optional: tick "treat a recent keypress as in use". set "minutes without a keypress before away".
click "save reserve".

the first time, the settings are 30% cpu and 20% memory kept free from 08:00 to 23:00 every day, and 10% and 10% the rest of the time.

what it does: a higher reserve sends work to another computer sooner. when a computer eats into its reserve, agents that carnivore started on it drop to background priority. they go back to normal after it stays out of its reserve for about a minute. nothing is ever stopped or moved because of a reserve.

where new work runs (placement)

carnivore picks the computer for each agent a project agent starts.

light work stays on the computer the project lives on.
heavy work, like browser runs, test suites, builds and renders, goes to the computer with the most room left after its reserve.
a computer on battery never takes heavy work.
a computer missing a tool the job needs is never picked. a computer without enough free disk is never picked.
if no computer has room, the job waits in a queue and tries again.
the computer's own rules ("may host agents", "most agents") always apply.

to see why an agent was placed where it was, open that agent's chat in the swarm page. under the title it says "placed on {computer}: {reason}". nothing shows when no reason was recorded.

options, in "menu", "pack", "work", under "pack settings":

"spread work across the pack automatically": tick it to place every agent on the computer with the most room, not only heavy jobs.
"enhanced placement": tick it to let an ai model choose among the computers that already passed. if it does not answer in 3 seconds, the plain rule decides.

move a project or a whole company

what moves: the folder, its agents and their memory, threads, board cards, conversations, and notes. sessions resume the same conversations on the new computer.

what you need first: nothing running in the project. stop or sleep every session and agent in it: open its row menu, then "sleep agent" (the row stays, "wake agent" brings it back) or "kill agent" (ends it). both computers must allow receiving projects (see "what each computer allows" below).

from the projects page:

go to "projects". open the menu of a project or a company. click "move to another computer...".
pick the computer. a computer that refuses projects is greyed out, with the reason.
read the plan. it shows how the code will travel, what moves, and anything that blocks.
click "move". watch the steps: "asking the other computer", "sending the code", "sending sessions, agents and cards", "sending conversations", "checking the copy", "making it home there".
done: "moved to {computer}. the old folder here is kept, inactive."

or from "menu", "pack", "work": under "move a project or company", choose one in "pick one" and click "move...".

you do not have to pick the way ahead of time. the plan in step 3 shows how the code will travel and tells you if anything is missing. never used github? over the link needs nothing set up, and you can skip the rest of this list. the ways are:

over the link: carnivore sends the project's history itself, straight between your computers. no github needed.
by git, for a project that has git. this needs an empty folder on the other computer, a github login and the gh tool on that computer, and your latest commit pushed. if that is not possible, the plan tells you to send it over the link instead.
for a project with no git, you can click "publish private repo" first. carnivore makes a private github repo and pushes the first commit. nothing is made until you click.
a one-way archive. you must tick "i understand the copies will not stay in sync" and then click "move one way".
an air-gap project never touches github. its code always goes over the link.

if something fails, nothing is kept on the other computer and your project is unchanged.

move it back

the old project shows "moved to {computer}" with a "move back" button. or use the project's menu: "bring home...".
click "bring home". it can take a while.

both computers must allow receiving projects. while a project is moved away, nothing can start in its old folder here.

no surprise prompts

claude code normally asks "trust this folder?" and "allow external CLAUDE.md imports?" in a new folder. for a moved project, the new computer answers those two from your approval on the first computer. only for a folder it made for this move. every other question still waits for your click.

start a session on another computer

start a new session as usual. once you have a linked computer, a window titled "run this on" asks where.
pick the computer. one you cannot pick is greyed out, and a line says why: "not connected right now" or "its owner does not allow it to host agents".

move one running session

first, the other computer must already have a copy of the session's project. no copy? add one with "add replica" (see "share one project between computers" below).
find the session in the list. open its row menu. click "move to another computer".
confirm "move {session} to {computer}?". click "move". if you have several computers, "next computer" shows the next one.
the session finishes its current turn first. it is never interrupted. it then sleeps here and wakes on the other computer in the same conversation.

rules: the other computer must be connected. if it has no copy of the project, carnivore says so in plain words and nothing moves. if the other computer refuses, the session wakes again here. if the link drops mid-move, the session stays asleep here, so one conversation is never live in two places.

use this to run a claude account on a second computer without logging in there. there is nothing to switch on at the computer that owns the login: sharing is on by default for every account.

when a computer in your pack offers a login, a box pops up in the middle of the screen of the computer that would receive it. it says "allow logins from this pack?" and lists each account as "{account} from {computer}", with an "all accounts" box (it also covers accounts added later).
tick the accounts this computer may use and click "yes": its claude sessions then work without you logging in here. click "no" to allow nothing. the box has no close button, so you must pick "yes" or "no".
the computer now stays logged in to the accounts you allowed. it gets a fresh short-lived copy of the login before the old copy runs out.

to change your answer later, on the receiving computer: "menu", "pack", "logins". under "this computer receives" tick or untick accounts and click "save". the "may receive credentials" switch on that tab turns receiving on or off for the whole computer.

to stop sharing an account from the computer that owns it: "menu", "pack", "logins", "credential relay". switch the account off.

rules:

on for every account unless you turn it off in the app. a switch you turned off stays off. it goes only to linked computers whose owner said yes, and only for the accounts that owner picked. a computer refuses any account it did not accept. an agent can switch it off. it can never switch it on, and it cannot answer the box.
other computers get only a short-lived copy of the login, the access token. the refresh token that renews it never leaves the computer that owns the login.
only the computer that owns a login ever refreshes it. the others never get the part that renews the login, so no computer gets logged out.
the other computer keeps the copy in its own separate profile. it never overwrites a login someone made there.

what each computer allows (restrictions)

each computer decides what the others may do to it.

"menu", "pack", "work". find the computer and click "edit".
under "restrictions" tick or untick: "may host agents", "may receive projects", "may install tools", "may receive credentials", "may update carnivore".
at first everything is allowed, except "may receive credentials", which is off. answering "yes" in the allow logins box turns it on, and "no" keeps it off. you can also switch it under "menu", "pack", "logins".
"most agents" caps how many agents it will host. empty means "no cap".

rule: you can loosen a computer's rules only on that computer. from any other computer you can only tighten them. a computer that is asked always checks its own rules, so another computer cannot get around them.

name your pack and look for a pack

naming your pack is optional and off by default. it helps when a new computer looks for a pack and finds more than one.

on the alpha: "menu", "pack", "computers". the "pack name" field is at the top.
type a name and click "save". use letters, digits, spaces, dots, dashes and underscores, up to 32 characters. empty the field and save to remove the name.

the name is sent on your local network only while it is set. a new computer sees it when it clicks "look for a pack", always with a short key next to it, as "join {name}?". a pack with no name shows the alpha's computer name and the short key. to add a computer this way, see link a second computer.

run one project on two computers at once, with a replica (a second copy):

go to "projects", open the project's page and click "transport...".
under "run on another computer", pick a computer and click "add replica". only connected linked computers that do not already hold a copy are offered.
to stop, click "remove" on the replica's row, then press again to confirm.

this is hidden on a project that has moved away. an agent can do it too. agents on both computers work the same project side by side and can message each other. agent memory stays on the project's home computer. to push to github from the second computer, set up a github login there first.

to choose how a project's code travels between computers, go to "projects", open a project's page and click "transport...":

"air-gap": carnivore never contacts github for this project.
"github account": see which account the project uses and why. pick one, or "clear".
"publish a private repo": for a folder with no remote.

notifications

"settings", "notifications", "routing", "sync with paired computers". the settings, destinations and their secrets are shared with each linked computer that has sync on. click "sync now" to push it right away. a setting you pin to one computer stays there.

a computer you share with can read and change these destinations, secrets included. only link computers you control.

one way

on your main computer: "menu", "pack", "computers". each computer has a switch: "{name} can control this computer". turn it off for one way. that computer can no longer change anything on yours. yours still drives it. work is never sent to it.

when a computer is asleep or off

a linked computer is reachable only while it is awake and carnivore is open.
its link icon shows "link down", its row says when it was "last seen", and its sessions turn dim.
you cannot move anything to it. it is greyed out with "not connected right now".
the agents bar says "not counted, computer not reachable: {name}".
it reconnects by itself when it is back.
to keep a computer reachable: joining a pack already makes carnivore open when you log in to that computer. to stop it sleeping, start any session on it, open that session's row menu and click "keep awake" (the coffee cup). while any session is kept awake, the computer will not go to sleep on its own, and the session is not auto-slept. closing the lid still sleeps it.

remove a computer, or leave

on your main computer: "menu", "pack", "computers". click "remove" on the computer, then "remove" again to confirm. it leaves your pack. if it was off, it keeps its old link until you click "leave pack" on it.

on a linked computer: "menu", "pack", "computers", click "leave pack", then confirm. it becomes a plain computer again.

agents can drive it

an agent can do every pack action on this page for you, and so can a program, through carnivore's api. an agent can plan a move, explain a placement, move a session, or start work on another computer. an agent can switch login sharing off for an account. it cannot switch it on, and it cannot answer the allow logins box.

security in plain words

every computer must be one you linked. the link is encrypted.
credentials only go to a computer whose owner allowed them, for the accounts that owner picked. the computer receiving them checks this itself.
"look for a pack" only lists packs. it never joins by itself, and you still need the 6 digit code. the pack name is sent on your network only while you have one set.
a computer that receives a project checks everything itself: its rules, its disk, the files it was sent.
an agent's brief from another computer only runs when you wake that agent.