# How do I use my Mac as the AI engine for Nova on iPhone?

> Pair Nova on iPhone with NovaHUD on your Mac so notes are written by the Mac's model and Claude instructions are delivered straight to your sessions over your local network.

Source: https://novahud.app/docs/mac-engine

When your iPhone and Mac are on the same Wi-Fi, Nova on iPhone can hand work to NovaHUD: meeting notes are written by the model on your Mac, and "tell Claude…" instructions are delivered straight to a running session.

## Steps

1. Open **NovaHUD** on your Mac and **Nova** on your iPhone, on the same Wi-Fi.
2. On the Mac: click your name (or ⌘,) › **General** › **Nova on iPhone** › **Pair iPhone**. A six-digit code appears.
3. On the iPhone: **Settings › Your Mac**. Your Mac appears by name; tap **Pair with this Mac** and enter the code.
4. If macOS asks whether to allow incoming network connections, choose **Allow**.

## Is pairing secure?

- The Mac only accepts requests from paired devices. Pairing needs the code shown on the Mac's screen; it expires after five minutes and stops working after five wrong tries.
- Each iPhone gets a random 192-bit token, kept in the iPhone's Keychain.
- Only three things are possible: pair, write notes, deliver a Claude instruction — and instructions go through the same checks as speaking to Nova.
- Traffic stays on your local network.

## What happens when my Mac isn't reachable?

Nova writes notes on the iPhone, and Claude instructions wait in iCloud for NovaHUD to deliver them.

## How do I unpair?

On iPhone: **Settings › Your Mac › Unpair**.