Claude and iFarm

How Claude works with iFarm

In plain words: what happens when you ask Claude to do something on your phones, and why it all stays on your own Mac.

Claude is one choice, not a requirement. iFarm's built-in auto mode also works with OpenAI, Google Gemini, OpenRouter or a free model on your Mac, and any AI app that speaks MCP can connect the same way Claude Code does. How iFarm talks to AI.

Can I reach someone else's Claude Code, or can they reach mine?

No. iFarm has no servers, no accounts and no cloud. Nothing links one iFarm user to another. When you connect Claude Code, the connection runs from your Claude Code to your copy of iFarm, inside your Mac, and nowhere else.

Your Claude Code is signed in to your Claude account and runs on your Mac.
Your iFarm only answers programs on that same Mac, and only when they have the secret key it gave your Claude Code.
We, the people who make iFarm, can't see or reach your Claude, your phones or your screens either. There's nothing on our side to connect to.

The three pieces

Think of a relay: you talk to Claude, Claude talks to iFarm, and iFarm talks to the phones.

Your Mac

Claude Codesigned in to your Claude account

⇄private line inside the Mac + secret key

iFarmchecks every action

⇄USB cable or your Wi‑Fi + a secret for each phone

Your iPhonesa small helper app presses the screen

1. Claude Code talks to iFarm

When you turn on Let Claude Code control iFarm, iFarm opens a private line on your Mac. It's a local address (127.0.0.1) that only programs running on that same Mac can dial. The internet and other computers on your Wi‑Fi can't reach it.

When you press Connect Claude Code, iFarm tells your Claude Code the line's address and a long secret key. Claude Code saves them in its own settings on your Mac. From then on, a Claude Code chat on your Mac (for example the Claude desktop app's Code tab) gets a set of iFarm tools: list phones, see a screen, tap, swipe, type, run an automation, send a video, and so on.

2. iFarm talks to the iPhones

iFarm installs a small helper on each iPhone. It's Apple's own testing tool, the one developers use to test apps, built with the Apple ID in your Xcode. The helper can see the screen and press on it like a finger. iFarm reaches it over the USB cable, or over your own Wi‑Fi, and each phone's helper only accepts commands that carry a secret that only your Mac has.

3. Claude never touches the phones directly

Claude can only use the tools iFarm offers, and every action goes through iFarm first. So everything you've set in iFarm still applies:

Stop, ⌘. and the phone's emergency stop (hold volume up + down).
Ask me before posting, sending or following: when it's on, you get Allow / Don't allow first.
Nothing is ever bought.
Every action shows in the phone's run log and in History.

How Claude knows what to do next

Claude works in a loop: look, act, look again.

Look. Claude asks for a screenshot. iFarm takes one from the phone, shrinks it to 400 pixels wide and hands it to Claude.
Decide. Claude looks at the picture: “TikTok is open, and the search icon is at the top right.”
Act. Claude asks for a tap, swipe or typing at a spot in that picture. iFarm converts it to the right spot on the real phone.
Look again to check it worked, and repeat until the job is done.

When Claude only needs the words on screen, it uses read screen instead: your Mac reads the text off the screenshot and sends back each line with its position, such as “(310, 52) Search”. That's faster and uses less of your Claude plan.

The live grid you watch in iFarm is a separate video stream just for you. Claude doesn't watch it.

What leaves your Mac

Claude itself runs at Anthropic, the company that makes Claude, like every Claude chat. So when Claude looks at a phone, that screenshot goes from your Claude Code to Anthropic, under your own Claude account and its privacy terms. It doesn't go to iFarm, to us, or to any other iFarm user. Other AI brains work the same way with their own company.

How you run Claude	Where screenshots go
Your own Claude Code (desktop app or Terminal)	To Anthropic, under your Claude account
iFarm's auto mode with your Anthropic API key	To Anthropic, under your API key
iFarm's auto mode with OpenAI or Gemini	To OpenAI or Google, under your key and their terms
A custom endpoint such as OpenRouter	To that service, and on to the model it routes to
A local model on your Mac (Ollama, LM Studio)	Nowhere. They stay on your Mac

Everything else stays on your Mac: your phones, settings, automations, history and logs. iFarm never sees or stores your Claude sign-in.

Questions people ask

If I share an automation in the community gallery, can people reach my Claude or my phones?

No. A shared template is just a list of steps, like a recipe, with private details removed. Whoever installs it runs it on their own phones, with their own iFarm.

Can someone on my Wi‑Fi control my phones through Claude?

No. The Claude line only answers programs on your Mac itself, and it needs the secret key. The phone helpers need their own secret too. With “USB only” the helpers can't be reached from the network at all.

Does each person on a shared Mac get their own connection?

Yes. Each Mac user account has its own iFarm settings, its own secret key (in a file only that user can read) and its own Claude Code sign-in. On a new account, sign in to Claude Code and press Connect again. Only one account can have iFarm running at a time.

Can I control iFarm with Claude when I'm away from the Mac?

Not directly, on purpose: iFarm only accepts connections from the Mac it runs on. To work remotely, connect to the Mac with Screen Sharing or a remote-desktop app, or start a Claude Code session on that Mac with Remote Control and talk to it from the Claude app on your iPhone. A version you can reach from anywhere, with its own sign-in, is planned.

How do I turn it off?

In iFarm, go to Setup → Claude and press Disconnect, or turn off Let Claude Code control iFarm. The private line closes and Claude Code loses the tools.

Can I check all this myself?

Yes. In iFarm, the toolbar's AI brain settings show whether Claude Code is connected, and Disconnect removes it. Every action Claude takes appears in the phone's run log and in History, and iFarm only listens on your own Mac (127.0.0.1) with a secret key.

Ready to try it? Set it up with the guide.