Beam a screenshot straight to your server.
From the Mac menu bar or the iPhone share sheet, over your own SSH: a screenshot, or a PDF, a log, a recording, whatever you hand it. The file lands on your host; paste the path it copies and your coding agent gets the picture itself.
- No account
- No relay
- No telemetry
brew install --cask punkabeat/tap/hostbeamFree to use, with no limit, on macOS 13 and later.
Live demo — press Beam screenshot above.
Your coding agent can't see your screen. Paste what Hostbeam copied, and it gets the picture itself.
Or skip the paste: with Hostbeam's MCP server on the host, the agent opens the screenshot itself. Set it up →
The agent runs on your server. You're on your phone. Beam anyway.
Driving a coding agent from an SSH client on your iPhone is real work now, right up until you need to show it something. Hostbeam for iPhone beams any screenshot, photo or file to your host, straight from the share sheet.
Screenshot, PDF or recording → Share → Beam to host. The file lands on your server and its path is on your phone's clipboard: paste it and your agent sees the picture.
A “Beam last screenshot” shortcut for the Action Button or Back Tap: capture, tap the back of your phone, paste.
Hostbeam on the Mac shows a QR for any host; the phone scans it and gets its own SSH key, which never leaves the phone.
Live demo — tap Beam to host in the share sheet.
On the Mac: clipboard to remote path in one keystroke.
No window to find, no file to drag, no upload dialog. The whole loop is muscle memory; most beams land before you've switched back to the terminal.
Copy a screenshot
Cmd-Shift-4, a snip from any tool. Anything that lands a PNG on your clipboard works, and so does a file you copy in Finder.
Beam it
One hotkey, from any app. Hostbeam uploads it to your chosen host over your own SSH: the same keys, the same config, nothing new to trust.
Paste it
Your clipboard now holds the file's path on your server. Paste it to Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI or OpenCode and it attaches the picture itself, as if you were working locally.
Built like a tool, not a service.
Nothing in the middle.
What you beam goes from your device to your server over your own SSH, the same connection you already trust. No Hostbeam account, no cloud bucket, no telemetry. We never see the file; there's no “us” in the path.
The same rule sets up the iPhone: its key is installed through access you already have. Hostbeam inherits your access. It never creates it.
And nothing is left on your host that you can't take back. Preferences shows what Hostbeam has put on a host and deletes it when you ask — top level only, never recursive. It can only remove what it created.
Try it free. Pay once if it sticks.
Hostbeam is free to try for as long as you like. If you keep using it, please buy a license. No subscription, no account.
Free
$0for as long as you like
- Every feature, no limit, on the Mac and the iPhone
- No account, fully offline, all your SSH hosts
- On the Mac, a gentle reminder now and then; it never blocks a beam
License
$29once, if you keep using it
- Hides the reminder and supports development
- Covers up to 3 Macs; the iPhone app is free anyway
- Every Hostbeam 1 update included; the app never stops working
- A future Hostbeam 2 will be a discounted upgrade
Your key arrives by email right after checkout. Paste it into Hostbeam on your Mac and the reminder is gone.
Good questions.
Where do my screenshots end up?
In /tmp/hostbeam on the host you pick, by default. You can set a different folder per host, and the Storage view shows what Hostbeam has left there, with a one-click clean-up that only ever touches files Hostbeam named.
Can I beam files that aren't screenshots?
Yes. On the Mac, copy a file in Finder and press the shortcut, or drop it on the popover or the menu-bar icon; on the iPhone, share it to Hostbeam. It lands in the same folder, up to 100 MB a file, and its path is on your clipboard. Anything that looks like a secret, such as a .env or a private key, waits for you to confirm. Folders aren't sent.
Do I need a Hostbeam account?
No. Hostbeam uses the hosts already in your ~/.ssh/config and your existing keys. There's nothing to sign up for.
Which hosts work?
Anything you can ssh into: entries from your ~/.ssh/config, or a host you type in by hand. If ssh works, Hostbeam works.
Isn't this just scp?
It is scp. Hostbeam runs your system ssh and scp with your own config, then handles the parts a one-liner usually doesn't: the host key is checked before anything sends, a remote name never overwrites a file, your clipboard is untouched if a beam fails, and a batch that stops halfway tells you which files landed. The iPhone has no scp to run, so the app does the same work there.
How does the iPhone app connect?
The Mac app shows a QR for any host; the phone scans it and generates its own SSH key, which never leaves the phone. You authorize that key through access you already have — once per host, though only the first is manual: after that your Mac remembers the phone and adds it to the next host in a click. Hostbeam inherits your access; it never creates it.
What's the fastest way to beam from the iPhone?
Pick your favorite: the share sheet from any screenshot, a Home Screen widget that beams your latest screenshot in one tap, or the “Beam last screenshot” shortcut. The shortcut beams in the background without opening the app, and works with Back Tap (double-tap the back of your phone), Control Center, and the Action Button.
Does my agent get the picture, or just a path?
The picture. Hostbeam copies the file's path on your server, and when you paste a path to an image, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and OpenCode attach the image itself, just as they do on your own machine. Several screenshots at once attach as several pictures in Claude Code and Gemini CLI; Codex and OpenCode take one at a time and see the rest as paths they can still open.
Can I add words around the path?
Yes, in settings on either app: add a sentence around the {path} token, such as “Use this screenshot: {path}”. With words around it, most agents see a line of text rather than the picture, so it's off by default.
Can my agent read the screenshot without me pasting the path?
Yes, with Hostbeam's MCP server installed on the host. The agent asks it for your latest beam and gets the image itself. It only reads the screenshots Hostbeam beamed to that folder, and it never changes anything. It's free, open source and one command to set up.
What if a beam fails?
Hostbeam tells you why in plain language (host unreachable, key refused, folder not writable) and offers a retry or inline diagnostics. Your clipboard is never touched on failure.
Is Hostbeam free?
Yes: every feature, with no limit, on the Mac and the iPhone, for as long as you like. After the first week, the Mac asks now and then, just after a beam lands, whether you'd like a license. It never blocks or slows a beam, and the count behind it stays on your Mac. If you keep using Hostbeam, please buy one.
What does the license do?
It hides the reminder on up to 3 Macs and supports development. It's $29, once, with every Hostbeam 1 update included. No subscription, no account.
Does my license cover the iPhone?
There's nothing to cover: the iPhone app is free, with no in-app purchase and no reminder. The license is for the Mac.
Do I have to pay again for updates?
No. Every Hostbeam 1 update is included, however long it runs. If there is ever a Hostbeam 2, it will be a discounted upgrade — and until you upgrade, Hostbeam 2 just shows the reminder. Nothing you paid for stops working.
What ever leaves my machine?
What you beam, to your host, over your SSH. A licensed Mac also checks its key quietly with the license service. That's the whole list: no analytics, no crash reporters, no phone-home.
Put your screenshots and files where your code lives.
Download Hostbeam, point it at a host, and beam your first screenshot in under a minute.
brew install --cask punkabeat/tap/hostbeamFree to use, with no limit. macOS 13 and later; the iPhone app needs iOS 17.