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Remote Control Setup

Open Science can expose the workspace running on your home or office computer to a phone, tablet, or another computer. Projects, agents, files, and notebook runtimes continue to run on the host computer; the remote device only displays and controls the Open Science web interface.

Remote control uses the separately installed Remote.It desktop and mobile applications. Open Science does not bundle Remote.It, create a Remote.It account, or sign in for you.

Before you begin

You need:

  • Open Science running on the computer that stores your projects.
  • The Remote.It desktop application installed on that computer.
  • A Remote.It account signed in on the desktop application.
  • For App access, the Remote.It mobile application signed in to the same account.

The host computer must remain powered on, connected to the internet, and running both Open Science and the Remote.It agent.

1. Add the host computer to Remote.It

This is a one-time account authorization step.

  1. Open the Remote.It desktop application and sign in.
  2. Select the + button.
  3. Choose This system.
  4. Confirm Add Device.
  5. Return to Open Science.

Open Science cannot reuse the desktop application's sign-in token to authorize this Device automatically. After the Device has been added once, Open Science can create and maintain its own services.

2. Open Remote Control

In Open Science, open:

Settings → Remote Control

The page offers three modes:

Mode Best for Verification
Off Local use only Remote requests are blocked by Open Science.
App access Regular access from the signed-in Remote.It mobile app Every new browser session completes Open Science two-step verification with a six-digit code.
Browser access Access from any modern browser using a persistent URL or QR code Every new browser completes Open Science two-step verification with a six-digit code.

The two remote modes use separate managed services:

  • Open Science Remote is the private App access service.
  • System Service supplies the persistent public Browser access URL.

Keeping these services separate prevents Browser access from changing the behavior of the private App connection.

3. Enable App access

  1. Select App access.
  2. If Open Science reports that setup is incomplete, select Detect and set up.
  3. Approve the operating-system prompt if service creation or repair requires administrator access.
  4. Wait until the page reports Connected.
  5. Open the Remote.It mobile app and sign in to the same account.
  6. Select the host computer, then select Open Science Remote.
  7. Select Connect or Launch.
  8. Compare the six-digit code with the request shown in Pairing requests.
  9. Approve the request from the Open Science desktop window or an already trusted browser.
  10. Choose Allow once for temporary access or Always trust this browser for later visits to the same remote address.

Remote.It account access opens the private route, but it is not an Open Science credential. The six-digit confirmation prevents a local process from impersonating that route with forged HTTP headers.

4. Enable Browser access

  1. Select Browser access.
  2. If needed, select Detect and set up and approve the operating-system prompt.
  3. Wait until the page reports Connected and shows the persistent browser link.
  4. Open the link with Open, copy it to another device, or scan the displayed QR code.
  5. On the new browser, compare its six-digit code with the request shown in Pairing requests.
  6. Approve the request from the Open Science desktop window or from an already trusted browser.
  7. Choose Allow once for temporary access or Always trust this browser for later visits to the same remote address.

Browser trust belongs to the browser profile, not to the physical device. Private browsing, cleared site data, a different browser, or a different browser profile requires verification again.

Manage trusted browsers

The Trusted browsers section lists browser profiles with permanent access through either remote mode. Revoke an entry to deny it on its next HTTP request or WebSocket reconnect.

The Pairing requests section lists browsers currently waiting for two-step verification. Approve only when the six-digit code matches the code on the requesting browser.

Switch modes or turn access off

  • Switching between App access and Browser access reuses the existing managed services whenever they are healthy.
  • Select Off to block remote access locally. Open Science keeps the provider configuration so a later restart does not needlessly recreate services.
  • Closing Open Science, shutting down the host computer, or losing the host network connection makes the workspace unavailable remotely.

Troubleshooting

Remote.It is installed but Open Science says sign-in is required

Open the Remote.It desktop application, finish signing in, and select Detect and set up again.

Open Science asks you to add a Device

In Remote.It, choose + → This system → Add Device once. Do not use a claim code for the host computer. Return to Open Science and select Detect and set up; Open Science will create both managed services automatically.

Setup asks for administrator approval

Administrator approval is requested only when an Open Science service must be created or repaired. Repeated mode switches should reuse the healthy services and should not recreate them.

The provider is still switching its background service mode

Wait a few seconds, then select Detect again. Do not add the Device again and do not create a service manually.

App access opens the wrong service

Select Open Science Remote in the mobile app. System Service is reserved for Browser access.

Remote access shows a verification page again

The browser profile is not currently trusted. Complete the six-digit verification, or verify that cookies and site data were not cleared.

The remote page loads slowly or stays blank

Keep Open Science and the Remote.It agent running on the host, verify that the host has a stable network connection, then reconnect or refresh. If the problem continues, return to Settings → Remote Control and select Detect again for the active mode.

Security notes

  • App access relies on the signed-in Remote.It account and the private service created for Open Science, then requires Open Science's own browser verification before workspace access.
  • Browser access publishes a persistent endpoint and uses the same secure-cookie, trusted-browser, and revocation controls.
  • Provider Host and Origin headers identify an expected route but never authenticate a request.
  • Do not share a browser pairing code with another person.
  • Revoke browsers you no longer use.
  • Select Off when remote access is not needed.