Just in that your agent runs on your local machine, has access to your local filesystem, and no code execution happens on our cloud, and that we don't look at or store the emails. Pure relay, so it’s just as private as business collaboration on regular email in that sense.
Are the emails end to end encrypted (PGP or S/MIME where you/your server don't have the keys) or just in transit (TLS)? That would make the difference between "we can't look at your emails" and "we choose not to look at your emails".
I do a very similar thing but clunkier with Tailscale, ssh, zellij. Can ssh in from my phone too with Termux. But email sounds better - then I can actually get notified when it needs me!
I have to say, $12/mo feels steep. It's a minor improvement over what I have now. Compared to other $10+/mo services, this one feels pretty light.
I have claude code hooks that send local computer notifications when action is required or processing finished. And when I step away from computer, I get those notifications through pushover. Then I login on phone to ssh (mosh) with Termius and connect to the tmux session running claude. I use this approach when watching TV with the family and laptop is not appreciated on the sofa. :)
Every time I read these "I've managed to control Claude Code from my phone posts", they come with some variation of "so that I can continue being on my computer" during some other activity. It's a very personal decision, but feels like on of these points where people should re-evaluate. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
> it was so good that I caught myself coding from my phone while out with friends… and decided that this is something I should stop, more for mental health than anything.
It is pretty light. Maybe the pricing is wrong, idk. Early days so just figuring things out. The email advantage is as you say -- I always found Terminal on phones very taxing on typing, etc. Email is so much lighter on cognitive load etc. Thanks for having a look and for your feedback!
This is such low hanging fruit. Coding agents can be orchestrated. Controlled, rerun, and tested. Are we just coming up with ways to not be at our desks working? Why not scale out agents on a cluster to do more work? Why email instead of SMS with a web endpoint? I can access each agent of mine via a dashboard from anywhere in the world.
Not trying to poo poo, just saying all it takes is Claude Code to introduce this and you’re done.
There's a sense in which you're right that it could be cloned easily by a provider. But that's also an advantage in that we work acorss providers, they're not going to create a service that interacts with each other. So it's more of a fit for someone outside the AI providers to do it, but we'll see.
Just like regular email in that sense. We don't do any encryption beyond standard HTTPS and we don't look at the data. It's a paid service, you're not the product.
> Local and private
> Your agent runs on your machine. We only relay the messages.
How can this be private if this intermediate service is sending and receiving all the emails back and forth
Just in that your agent runs on your local machine, has access to your local filesystem, and no code execution happens on our cloud, and that we don't look at or store the emails. Pure relay, so it’s just as private as business collaboration on regular email in that sense.
Are the emails end to end encrypted (PGP or S/MIME where you/your server don't have the keys) or just in transit (TLS)? That would make the difference between "we can't look at your emails" and "we choose not to look at your emails".
I do a very similar thing but clunkier with Tailscale, ssh, zellij. Can ssh in from my phone too with Termux. But email sounds better - then I can actually get notified when it needs me!
I have to say, $12/mo feels steep. It's a minor improvement over what I have now. Compared to other $10+/mo services, this one feels pretty light.
I have claude code hooks that send local computer notifications when action is required or processing finished. And when I step away from computer, I get those notifications through pushover. Then I login on phone to ssh (mosh) with Termius and connect to the tmux session running claude. I use this approach when watching TV with the family and laptop is not appreciated on the sofa. :)
Every time I read these "I've managed to control Claude Code from my phone posts", they come with some variation of "so that I can continue being on my computer" during some other activity. It's a very personal decision, but feels like on of these points where people should re-evaluate. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
> it was so good that I caught myself coding from my phone while out with friends… and decided that this is something I should stop, more for mental health than anything.
https://steipete.me/posts/2025/shipping-at-inference-speed
This is smart and the right way!
It is pretty light. Maybe the pricing is wrong, idk. Early days so just figuring things out. The email advantage is as you say -- I always found Terminal on phones very taxing on typing, etc. Email is so much lighter on cognitive load etc. Thanks for having a look and for your feedback!
This is such low hanging fruit. Coding agents can be orchestrated. Controlled, rerun, and tested. Are we just coming up with ways to not be at our desks working? Why not scale out agents on a cluster to do more work? Why email instead of SMS with a web endpoint? I can access each agent of mine via a dashboard from anywhere in the world.
Not trying to poo poo, just saying all it takes is Claude Code to introduce this and you’re done.
There's a sense in which you're right that it could be cloned easily by a provider. But that's also an advantage in that we work acorss providers, they're not going to create a service that interacts with each other. So it's more of a fit for someone outside the AI providers to do it, but we'll see.
Considering emails are as private as postcards, I don't know how I could rely on such service to prompt anything even remotely sensitive.
Just like regular email in that sense. We don't do any encryption beyond standard HTTPS and we don't look at the data. It's a paid service, you're not the product.
I saw this concept only 8 days on this very site ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46517458#46523962 )
Looking forward to it.
Missed that! Thanks for the link. Definitely feels like this kind of idea is zeitgeist rn.
Coincidental that the domain was registered on the same day... it's fine to say you were inspired to build from the discussion.
Why do your privacy and terms state they were updated on February 28, 2025?
Also, I made a Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/products/mailpilot