Connections and secure pairing

PulseRN listens on 127.0.0.1:9090 by default. Loopback is the simplest and safest path for simulators, emulators, and USB port forwarding.

Local connections

Target	SDK host	Additional setup
iOS Simulator	127.0.0.1	None
Android Emulator	10.0.2.2	None
Android over USB	127.0.0.1	adb reverse tcp:9090 tcp:9090

Open Connections to see connected devices, trust state, session identity, queue depth, dropped events, reconnect attempts, socket-buffer pressure, clock offset, and disconnect history.

Pair a physical device

1. Open Settings → Connections and enable authenticated LAN access.
2. Open Connections and choose Create pairing code.
3. Configure the SDK with the computer’s LAN address and the displayed one-time code.
4. Start the application before the code expires.

ReactNativeDevTool.configure({
  host: "192.168.1.20",
  port: 9090,
  appName: "MyApp",
  pairingCode: "ABCD-EFGH",
  onReconnectToken(token) {
    // Store this in application-owned development secure storage.
    savePulseRNReconnectToken(token);
  },
}).connect();

Pairing codes have configurable 1–30 minute lifetimes and 1–20 allowed attempts. A successful pairing returns a high-entropy reconnect token once. Store it outside source control and supply it on later launches:

ReactNativeDevTool.configure({
  host: "192.168.1.20",
  appName: "MyApp",
  reconnectToken,
}).connect();

Trusted credentials are stored as hashes by the desktop app. Revoke a device from Connections at any time; it must pair again before reconnecting over LAN.

Optional TLS

Without TLS, LAN traffic uses plain ws:// and should stay on a trusted development network. To use wss://:

1. Create or obtain a PEM certificate and matching private key.
2. Ensure the certificate’s subject alternative names include the hostname or IP used by the app.
3. Install trust for the issuing certificate authority on the device.
4. Select both files in Settings → Connections.
5. Set secure: true in the SDK.

TLS encrypts transport but does not replace pairing authentication. If persisted TLS configuration becomes invalid, PulseRN falls back to loopback instead of unexpectedly exposing a plaintext LAN listener.

Never expose port 9090 to the public internet or commit pairing codes, reconnect tokens, certificates containing private material, or TLS private keys.