--- title: Connect to your own server | Relic Help description: Point the Relic apps at a sync server you run yourself. The address, the Test button, the passphrase, and the QR that saves you typing an address on a phone. canonical: https://relic.space/help/self-host-connect source: https://relic.space/llms.txt --- Sync and devices # Connect to your own server Point the Relic apps at a sync server you run yourself. The address, the Test button, the passphrase, and the QR that saves you typing an address on a phone. Updated 10 September 2026 · Every platform ## [Before you start](#before) Relic can sync through a server you run instead of ours. This page is about pointing the apps at that server. Setting the server up is a separate job: the [self-host guide](https://relic.space/self-host) covers the one Docker command that runs it and how to reach it from outside your home. You need three things before you open the app: * **The server running.** Check it answers before you start, so a typo in the app is the only thing left to go wrong. * **Its address**, as a URL with the port. On a home network that looks like `http://192.168.1.10:8787`, which is also the hint the app puts in the field. * **A vault passphrase.** There is no account here. The passphrase is the whole of your identity, and every device has to use the same one. Check the server first curl http://192.168.1.10:8787/health Everything except health answers 401 A self-hosted server refuses every other request until a device has joined. That is what a healthy server does before its first device. ## [Connecting a computer](#steps) 1. Open Connect Open Settings›Sync and account and press **Connect…**. That button is on the account row whenever the computer is not connected. If it is already syncing somewhere else, press **Disconnect** first. 2. Choose Your own server A dialog opens headed **Connect to your vault**, asking _Where should this device sync?_ The two cards are **Relic Cloud** (_We host it. Nothing to set up._) and **Your own server** (_Self-hosted. We can't see it._). Pick the second one and press **Next**. 3. Type the address and test it Put your server's address in **SERVER ADDRESS**, then press **Test**. The line under the field tells you what happened, from _Not tested yet._ to _Reachable._ Do not carry on until it is reachable. 4. Enter the passphrase Type your vault passphrase under **PASSPHRASE**. The line under it says _Same passphrase on every device._ and it means it. See [The same passphrase everywhere](#passphrase). 5. Open Advanced only if your server asks for it Most servers need nothing here. If yours is set up to require a joining secret, expand **Advanced** and put it in **ENROLLMENT SECRET**. The hint under the field says _Only if your server sets RELIC\_ENROLL\_SECRET._ 6. Press Connect Press **Connect**. The button reads **Connecting…** while it works, and anything that goes wrong is shown in red under the fields. The first device you connect creates the vault and shows you a [recovery kit](https://relic.space/help/recovery-kit). Save it before you close that screen. The line under the address field has four states, and it is the fastest way to find a wrong address: _Not tested yet._ You have not pressed Test. _Checking…_ Relic is asking the server. It gives up after a few seconds. _Reachable._ The server answered. Carry on. _Can't reach that server._ Wrong address, wrong port, the server is down, or this computer cannot see it from the network it is on. Once connected, the account row says **Connected to your own server, end-to-end encrypted**with the server's host under it, and the [Plan](https://relic.space/help/settings-sync-and-account#plan) row reads _Self-hosted_. There is no account and nothing to pay. ## [Connecting a phone](#phone) A phone does the same thing from its welcome screen. Under the sign-in buttons, tap **Use your own server**. The screen is headed **Your own server** and explains that your server only ever sees encrypted bytes. Fill in the same two things: * **The address**, in the field hinted _http://192.168.1.10:8787_. Typing an address on a phone keyboard is a chore, so use [the QR](#qr) instead. * **Vault passphrase**, with the same reminder under it: _Same passphrase on every device._ * **Advanced** holds _Enrollment secret_, for the servers that use one. Tap **Connect** and the phone joins the same vault. On a home network the phone reaches the server directly. From outside, the address has to be one your phone can actually reach. ## [Passing the address with a QR](#qr) A device already connected to your server can hand the address to the next one. On the connected computer, open Settings›Sync and account›Add a device and press **Show QR**. That row appears only on a self-hosted connection. The dialog is headed **Add a device** and says: _Scan this in the Relic app on your other device (Add this device → Use your own server → Scan QR), then enter the same passphrase._ A dialog headed Add a device. A short line of instructions, then a square QR code on a white tile, the server address written under it in a monospace face, and a Done button. The QR carries the address, and the joining secret when the server uses one. It never carries your passphrase. On the phone, tap **Scan QR from another device** on the **Your own server** form. The camera opens with the reminder _On the connected device: Settings → Add a device → Show QR, then point this camera at it._ Scanning fills the address in for you, and the joining secret too when there is one. You still type the passphrase yourself, because it is never in the QR. ## [The same passphrase everywhere](#passphrase) Relic Cloud has accounts. Your own server does not. The vault passphrase is what proves the device is yours and what unlocks the vault, so there is nothing else to get right. The first device to connect creates the vault and fixes the passphrase. Every device after that has to use the same one. A different passphrase does not fail with a warning, it simply does not open that vault. Because there is no account to reset, the passphrase and the recovery kit are the only ways in. Keep the kit somewhere safe, away from the server itself. [How sync works](https://relic.space/help/how-sync-works) is the same on your own server as it is on ours, at the same speed and with the same offline behaviour. Related [How sync worksSync and devices](https://relic.space/help/how-sync-works)[Add a deviceSync and devices](https://relic.space/help/add-a-device)[Your devicesSync and devices](https://relic.space/help/your-devices)[Settings: Sync and accountSettings reference](https://relic.space/help/settings-sync-and-account)