What Shahi does
Shahi connects to a server you run to read and control your terminal sessions. The native app and hosted web app use an encrypted relay connection. The native app also supports SSH. A locally served web app connects directly to the sidecar, which answers only requests addressed to 127.0.0.1 or localhost; reach it from another device through an SSH tunnel, or through an HTTPS proxy whose name you list in SHAHI_ALLOWED_HOSTS.
What is stored on your device
The native app stores its connection credentials in the iOS Keychain: your relay address, server identifier and paired-device secret, or your SSH host, username, password or private key, passphrase, sidecar passcode and the SSH host keys you chose to trust. With notifications on, it also keeps the push token it registered with each computer, so it can say whether they are on and turn them off, and, for a computer paired through the relay that seals its notifications, the random key those notifications are encrypted with. That key is shared only with the app's own notification extension, which decrypts notifications on the phone, and it can be read after the phone's first unlock so a notification can be shown while the phone is locked. It also stores local preferences such as pinned conversations and terminal width. These Keychain items are kept on this device only: they are not restored to another device from a backup, so a restored iPhone must be paired or connected again.
The hosted web app keeps its paired-device secret in memory by default. If you select “Remember this browser”, it stores that secret and the relay, server and device identifiers in IndexedDB in your browser profile. Anyone using that profile can access the paired computer. Signing out clears the saved pairing and requests revocation on your server. Browser extensions or compromised code on the application origin may access an active or remembered connection.
The locally served web app uses a session cookie to authenticate. Both web builds store preferences in browser storage. The service worker caches public app assets for offline launching, but does not cache API responses or transcripts. Conversation content is held in memory while the app is running. Signing out does not delete original transcripts on your server.
The browser app trusts the code delivered by getshahi.dev, including its hosting and publishing accounts. A malicious release or compromised website could read an active session or a remembered pairing secret. End-to-end encryption protects traffic from the relay, but does not protect against compromised application code. The website ships no third-party scripts and restricts executable content with a Content Security Policy.
What is transmitted
To your server: requests to read and control sessions, messages and files you choose to send, and credentials needed to authenticate. Relay frames are encrypted end to end between your device and server. SSH connections are carried inside an encrypted SSH tunnel.
Through the relay: by default, the native app, hosted web app and your server connect to relay.getshahi.dev, a Cloudflare Worker operated by the developer. The relay and Cloudflare can observe IP addresses, the public server identifier, paired-device identifier in the handshake, connection times, and the size and timing of encrypted messages. They cannot decrypt request paths, messages, files, terminal content or credentials inside those frames.
To avoid this relay, set RELAY_URL= (empty) in the plugin configuration and use SSH. A self-hosted relay is controlled by its operator.
Browser camera and pairing links
The browser requests camera permission only after you choose to scan a QR code. Video frames are decoded locally and are not uploaded. Scanning stops when you cancel, leave the page or finish scanning. Pasted and scanned pairing codes are used to claim one device and are not retained as saved credentials. Browser pairing links carry the one-time secret in the URL fragment; it is removed when the app reads it and is not sent to the website in an HTTP request.
Operational telemetry and retention
The hosted relay records connection and failure events in Cloudflare Workers Analytics Engine to diagnose availability and abuse. Each event contains a timestamp, public server identifier (a stable key hash), event type, connection or refusal details, a count or close code, aggregated bytes and frame counts in each direction, connection and handshake durations, and, when available, the Cloudflare data-center region. These events can be correlated for the same server. Shahi's telemetry does not record raw IP addresses, request paths, message bodies or file contents.
Analytics Engine retains these events for three months, according to Cloudflare's retention documentation. Cloudflare also processes network and security metadata as the infrastructure provider under its own policies. Removing the TELEMETRY binding disables Shahi's event collection for a self-hosted relay. Setting no stats API token only hides the stats endpoint; it does not disable event collection.
The website records signup response status and duration in Analytics Engine, kept for three months, without the submitted email address or form content. It also logs failed deliveries and a sample of other outcomes to Cloudflare Workers Logs, kept for seven days, recording only the status and duration.
The relay also writes these structured operational fields to Cloudflare Workers Logs, retained for seven days on the paid plan. Automatic invocation logs and tracing are disabled in Shahi's configuration; they can include raw URLs. The operational monitor records public-service probe results, durations and incident state, and sends incident/recovery email to the operator's configured address. Its latest incident state persists until replaced or deleted. Probe identities are synthetic and never refer to a user's computer.
On your computer, the sidecar keeps private operational JSON logs: route templates (without IDs or query values), method, status, timings, counts, resource usage and fixed error categories. These stay on your computer and rotate across four files of up to 5 MiB each. Terminal text, prompts, file contents, credentials, filenames and raw error messages are excluded. Request metrics reset when the sidecar restarts. The diagnostic API requires a valid Shahi session. Local alerts stay in these logs; the public service monitor does not collect individual computers' local diagnostics.
Optional client diagnostics
The iPhone app and web client use Sentry to report crashes, application errors and persistent Reader failures. Share diagnostics is on by default and can be turned off in Settings. It is independent of relay operational telemetry. Reports contain fixed failure categories, app and computer software versions, agent provider, connection type, retry counts and elapsed time, and code locations needed to diagnose an error, and error types and messages with private parts replaced (see below). Native crash reports may include device model, operating-system information and binary identifiers.
Shahi removes conversation text, prompts, terminal output, credentials and connection identifiers before sending a report. Error messages are sent with file paths, links, email addresses, quoted text, long numbers and long identifiers replaced by placeholders. We do not enable session replay, screenshots, console capture, advertising or cross-app tracking. Reports do not contain a Shahi user or device identifier. IP-address storage is disabled in our Sentry projects; Sentry still processes network information to receive requests. Our Sentry organization uses its EU region. Diagnostic access and retention follow our Sentry plan and Sentry's privacy policy.
Turning diagnostics off stops new client reports. It does not remove reports already received, Apple's TestFlight diagnostics or the separate operational records described above. Contact support@getshahi.dev about removal; without a user identifier we may need an approximate time and app version to locate a report.
Push notifications
Notifications are off unless you enable them. Your server stores the push registration and associates it with the device or signed-in session that registered it. Revoking a paired device or signing out through the server removes the corresponding registrations, and a registration made with a passcode sign-in is removed when that sign-in expires. Turning notifications off in the web app removes that browser's registration for the current computer. Disabling notifications in iOS Settings stops display but does not itself delete the server registration.
Native notifications travel through Expo's push service and then the platform push provider, such as Apple's Push Notification service.
When the iPhone app is paired with a computer through the relay and that computer supports it, turning notifications on gives the computer a random key that the app made, over the end-to-end encrypted relay connection. The computer keeps that key with the registration and deletes it whenever the registration is removed. It encrypts each notification's content with the key: the workspace name, the conversation's name, what the agent is asking (its question and context, such as the command it wants to run), the answers offered, and the identifier of the program in the pane. Expo and the platform provider receive only that encrypted content, fixed wording (“An agent needs you”), the pane identifier to open, your computer's public server identifier (the same stable identifier the relay sees) and a short identifier of the key, along with delivery metadata such as the time and size of each notification. The app's notification extension decrypts the content on the phone. If it cannot, the phone shows the fixed wording.
Otherwise — a computer reached over SSH or signed in with the passcode, a computer or app version without this feature — native notification payloads include the workspace name, the terminal title or pane name, the pane identifier to open, an opaque identifier for the program occupying that pane (herdr's terminal id), and your computer's public server identifier, and Expo and the platform provider can read that content even though relay traffic is encrypted end to end.
Browser notifications carry the same fields, and the question the agent is asking with its context, through the browser's push service, encrypted so that only your browser can read them; that service also sees a short hash of the computer and pane, used to replace an undelivered notification for the same pane. Notifications ask push providers to discard them if they cannot be delivered within an hour. Leave notifications off if you do not want that content sent through push providers.
Your server stores original agent transcripts and uploaded files under your control. The relay does not store those contents.
Who runs Shahi
Shahi is provided by Yasser Aldosari, an independent developer in Saudi Arabia. You do not need a Shahi account: you connect to a computer you control. For privacy questions or requests, contact support@getshahi.dev.
Camera, photos and files
Camera access is used to scan pairing codes. Scanning happens on your device. Photos and files are accessed when you choose an attachment; only the items you select are sent to your connected computer. These permissions are optional and can be changed in your device settings. Shahi requests microphone access only when you dictate (below), and never contacts or location access.
Voice dictation
The iPhone app (version 1.1 and later) supports dictating a reply on an iPhone with iOS 26 that supports Apple's on-device speech model. The microphone opens only after you tap the microphone button, and stops when you finish, cancel, leave the app or receive a call. Your voice is turned into text on the iPhone by Apple's Speech framework: the audio is not recorded to a file and is not sent to your computer, the relay, Shahi or anyone else. The text goes into your reply draft and is sent only when you tap Send. The first time, iOS downloads Apple's English speech model from Apple; iOS stores and updates that model and may share it with other apps. You can turn microphone access off in iOS Settings at any time.
Earlier TestFlight builds used Whisper and Silero models downloaded from Hugging Face and its download providers. Those downloads revealed ordinary connection information, including IP addresses, but no voice recordings. Those builds transcribed locally and deleted temporary recordings after use.
App updates and service providers
The iPhone app checks Expo for signed app updates when it opens. Expo receives network information and update-request metadata, such as the app version, platform and runtime version, and update-related crash or launch diagnostics. Updates do not send your conversations or SSH credentials to Expo. Cloudflare hosts the website and relay. The website serves its own fonts, so no font provider receives your visit. These providers may process data outside your country under their own privacy policies. The AI assistants you run on your computer use their own providers; their handling of prompts and files is separate from Shahi.
TestFlight and support
When you use TestFlight, Apple processes beta-testing information, including installation and usage information, crash reports and feedback you choose to send. Apple makes some of this information available to the developer. If you contact support, we receive your email address and the information or attachments you send. Avoid including passwords, pairing codes or private conversations. We use support messages to respond to your request and maintain the service, and retain them until deleted or no longer needed.
Your choices and deletion
To remove a saved computer from the iPhone app, use Computers or sign out of that computer in Settings. This removes its saved connection from the app. Sign out while connected so the server can revoke access and push registrations; if the computer is offline, revoke the device later under Settings → Devices with access on another phone or browser paired with that computer. Other saved computers remain until removed. iOS Keychain items may survive uninstalling the app, so remove saved connections first. Deleting a connection does not delete transcripts or uploaded files on your computer; delete those on that computer. Turn notifications off in the app's Settings to stop a computer sending them, or in iOS Settings to stop their display. There is no Shahi account to delete. Email support@getshahi.dev to request access, correction or deletion of beta-signup and support information. We may need to verify the request. Operational records expire under the retention periods above; legal obligations may require some records to be retained.
How we use data
We use connection information to provide the service, protect it from abuse and diagnose failures. We use optional notification registrations to deliver notifications, and email information to respond to support and beta requests. We do not sell personal data, serve ads or track people across other companies’ apps and websites. Where applicable, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or restrict use of your personal information and complain to your local data protection authority. Contact us to exercise those rights.
Changes to this policy
We update this page when our practices change and show the date above. Material changes that require a new choice or permission will be presented through the relevant service or app permission prompt.
Private review environment
Apple reviewers may receive access to a separate demonstration computer hosted on Cloudflare. Its agent replies are clearly labeled simulations and do not go to an AI provider. Unlike a user's own computer, this demo is operated by us: its sample conversations, selected uploads, files, and pairing records are stored in the container and private recovery snapshots. Use sample information only. The review website uses an essential, seven-day sign-in cookie, with no advertising or cross-site tracking. Demo access expires on 31 December 2026; the next scheduled cleanup stops the computer and deletes the recovery snapshot. Contact support@getshahi.dev to request earlier removal of review data.
Children
Shahi is a developer tool and is not directed at children.
iOS beta requests
The public iPhone app is available separately; beta signup is optional early access to future versions. If you request an iOS beta invitation, we send your email address to the Shahi support inbox using Cloudflare Email Routing. We use it to contact you about TestFlight access and beta updates. The website does not keep a separate signup database. Your request remains in the support mailbox until deleted. Email support@getshahi.dev to withdraw your request or ask us to delete it.
Contact
Questions about this policy: support@getshahi.dev.