NOME Code

NOME Code is the repo-aware coding surface. It runs your work on a host — a computer or workspace you pair to your NOME account — and streams every file edit, shell command, and test run back as typed receipts attached to a canonical work item. The host can be the Mac in front of you, a Linux box you own, a free or cheap VM you spin up yourself, or a managed NOME Cloud Workspace.

NOME is the front door. You start work from the iPhone, Mac, or web app and pick which paired host runs it. You never open a provider CLI or a raw terminal yourself — NOME launches the right runtime on the host you chose and reports back. Pair a computer to get a host, then point Code at it.

Pairing makes a machine a trusted NOME runner. Install the NOME CLI on the machine, run nome pair, then in NOME on iPhone or Mac open Settings → Computers & Coding Accounts → Pair a computer and scan the QR code or type the 8-character pairing code shown in the terminal.

The machine mints a one-time pairing token, you claim it from a signed-in NOME client, and you confirm. A device token is written to ~/.nome/device_token (mode 0600) on the host. The token authorizes that one machine as a runner; it is not your account password and carries no provider credentials. Full walkthrough: Pair a computer.

The simplest host is the Mac you already use. Install the NOME CLI, run nome pair, and select This Mac as the Code host. Work runs locally with your files, your toolchain, and your network — nothing leaves the machine except the receipts NOME needs to show progress.

If you have signed in to a provider CLI on that Mac (for example the OpenAI Codex CLI), NOME can detect it and run a turn through that local seat. Details: Use your Mac & local CLI.

A Linux machine you own — a desktop, a home server, or a box on your network — can be an owner-edge host. Install the CLI, pair with the QR/code flow, and optionally reach it over Tailscale or SSH when it lives behind a NAT. Run it as a systemd service so it survives reboots, and read health and logs to confirm it is online. Guide: Local CLI & owner-edge.

If you want a host that is not your daily machine, you can create your own VM — for example an Oracle Cloud Always Free instance or a low-cost VPS — install the NOME host agent on it, and pair it like any other computer. This is an option, not the default: you own the VM, the bill, and the uptime. Free tiers can be reclaimed or rate-limited, so treat them as best-effort. Step-by-step: Oracle free VM & cheap VPS.

When you do not want to run or maintain a host yourself, a NOME Cloud Workspace is the managed option. NOME provisions an isolated per-session workspace, runs your work there, and tears it down when the session ends or times out. You pay with NOME Credits, or attach your own API keys (BYOK). Cost, timeout, and isolation details: NOME Cloud Workspaces.

Bring Your Own Keys (BYOK) connects API keys from the major frontier providers directly. NOME provides the interface, memory, routing, and receipts; you pay the provider. Keys are validated on entry and stored encrypted. BYOK works on any host — your Mac, owner-edge, your VM, or a Cloud Workspace. See BYOK & NOME Credits.

NOME Credits are the managed billing lane: subscribe and NOME handles provider negotiation, rate limiting, failover, and metering across models. Credits are consumed by hosted inference. Work that runs on-device with local models, or through a provider seat you signed into yourself, consumes no NOME credits. See BYOK & NOME Credits.

On a capable host you can run local models with no per-token cost and no network round-trip. On Apple Silicon, NOME MLX runs an on-device model after a one-time, login-gated download. Local execution uses the same run contract and receipts as hosted runs; tool calls that need the network queue until connectivity returns. See Provider seats & models.

If you have signed in to the OpenAI Codex CLI on your own machine, NOME can detect it and launch it there to run a turn — NOME is the harness, you never open the Codex CLI directly. The sign-in stays in the Codex CLI's own config on your machine. NOME cloud does not copy your ChatGPT/Codex subscription tokens. The cloud-workspace Codex seat is not implemented; the seat runs only on a host where you signed in. Details: Provider seats.

For Anthropic models, NOME supports API key, BYOK, and Claude on Vertex. A local Claude Code seat — running the Claude Code CLI you signed into on your own machine — is host-local and policy-gated; it never runs in NOME cloud. NOME does not support Claude.ai / Claude Pro / Claude Max cloud login, and does not copy Anthropic subscription tokens. See Provider seats.

Credentials are host-scoped: a device token authorizes one machine, provider sign-ins stay in each provider CLI's own config, and BYOK keys are stored encrypted. Receipts never contain raw tokens — secret-shaped lines are scrubbed before anything is logged. Risky actions are approval-gated, capabilities are explicit, and any host can be revoked. Full model: Security.

Every external action emits a typed receipt — tool name, risk tier (read/write/danger), redacted inputs, an output summary, duration, and success. Dangerous operations pause for approval, and the approval queue is visible across your devices. Seat runs additionally record auth_lane and cost_lane metadata (for example a provider-subscription lane) but never the token itself. See Security.

Common issues and fixes — CLI not found, daemon not running, host offline, provider not logged in, model unavailable, a route that failed closed, the iPhone seeing a host it can't run on, and a work item that isn't syncing — are collected on the dedicated page: Troubleshooting.

Do I need a server to use Code? No. Your Mac is enough. Owner-edge, your own VM, and Cloud Workspaces are options.

Does NOME store my ChatGPT or Claude subscription? No. NOME cloud does not store, copy, or relay subscription tokens. Provider sign-ins stay on the machine where you ran them.

Can I use my Claude subscription from the cloud? No. Use provider seats on your own trusted computer or private workspace. For Anthropic in the cloud, use an API key, BYOK, or Vertex.

Is the Oracle / self-hosted VM the recommended setup? No — it is an option you own end to end. Most users start with This Mac or a NOME Cloud Workspace.