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Two network modes

Setup mode (AP) — when unconfigured (or when it can’t join a known network), the box hosts its own Wi-Fi: If an Ethernet uplink is connected while in AP mode, the box shares that internet connection to hotspot clients (IP forwarding + NAT). Steady state (LAN) — after setup, the box joins your network and is reachable at:
  1. http://<LAN-IP> — always works; the canonical fallback.
  2. http://clawbox.local — mDNS via avahi (hostname configurable in Settings).

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Why clawbox.local sometimes fails — and what to do

mDNS (multicast DNS) is what resolves .local names, and it’s the least reliable part of consumer networks:
  • Windows historically resolves mDNS poorly (better in 11, still flaky).
  • Routers/APs often drop multicast between Wi-Fi and wired segments — a wired ClawBox may be invisible by name to Wi-Fi laptops (and vice versa) while being perfectly reachable by IP.
  • Guest networks and VPNs isolate clients from mDNS entirely.
The box already ships mitigations (avahi tuned for Windows quirks, re-announce on network changes) — but when the name fails, use the IP. Find it via:
  • Your router’s connected-devices list (look for clawbox).
  • Over SSH (if ssh [email protected] still works in a terminal): hostname -I — first entry.
  • The device screen/desktop if a display is attached (System Tray → network).
Reserve the box’s IP in your router’s DHCP settings (“address reservation” / “static lease”) so it never changes — then bookmark it.

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Port map

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Remote access

  • Cloudflare Quick Tunnel — clawbox-tunnel.service (toggle via Settings / setup-api/tunnel/*) exposes port 80 through a temporary *.trycloudflare.com URL written to data/cloudflared/tunnel.url. No port-forwarding required.
  • SSH — standard Ubuntu OpenSSH on port 22, user clawbox, same password as the browser login.
  • The gateway’s allowed origins are managed automatically (localhost, <hostname>.local, the AP addresses, and the box’s live LAN IPs) — this is refreshed on every gateway start.

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DNS & hostname

  • Hostname defaults to clawbox; changing it (Settings → System) updates hostnamectl, avahi (<name>.local), and is persisted in data/hostname.env.
  • In AP mode, clawbox.local is additionally answered by dnsmasq (mDNS doesn’t traverse the hotspot reliably).