> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.beacon.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connect devices

> Enroll a machine in Beacon Cloud, check that it is forwarding, and revoke it

A device is one machine running Beacon that forwards its sessions to your Beacon Cloud account.
Each device has its own key, so you can revoke one without touching the others.

## Connect a device

On the machine, sign in and connect:

```bash theme={null}
beacon login
beacon endpoint connect
```

`beacon login` opens your browser to sign in. Signing in alone sends no telemetry.
`beacon endpoint connect` registers the device with your account, stores its key locally and starts
forwarding. If you run `beacon endpoint install` interactively and choose Beacon Cloud, it does
both steps for you.

Each time a device connects, Beacon also uploads the sessions it already found on
disk from the last 30 days, so recent work appears right away. Pass `--no-backfill` to skip that.

> [!TIP]
>
> To set up a device with a coding agent, paste this into it:
> `Read https://beacon.sh/start.md then set me up on Beacon`

For system-wide installs, privacy modes, offline buffering and every flag, see the
[`beacon endpoint connect` reference](/cli/endpoint-connect).

## Check a device

The **Devices** page at [beacon.sh/dashboard/devices](https://beacon.sh/dashboard/devices) lists
every device registered to your account, with its hostname, install ID, key prefix, when it was
created and when Beacon last heard from it. A new device reads **Waiting for first event** until
its first batch arrives.

On the machine itself:

```bash theme={null}
beacon endpoint status
```

reports whether the forwarder is running and whether Beacon Cloud accepts the device key.

## Revoke a device

Select **Revoke device** on the device's card. Beacon Cloud rejects that device's uploads
immediately. History it already sent stays in your account.

A revoked key cannot be restored. To bring the machine back, run `beacon endpoint connect` again
to enroll it with a new key.

To stop forwarding from the machine itself, run:

```bash theme={null}
beacon endpoint disconnect
```

This stops the forwarder and deletes the local key. It does not revoke the key in Beacon Cloud, so
revoke it on the **Devices** page too if the machine is lost or retired.

## Related

> **[Sessions](/cloud/sessions)**
>
> Read what your connected devices recorded.

> **[Beacon Cloud forwarding](/log-forwarding/asymptote)**
>
> What leaves a device and how it is sent.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.