Accessing AnythingLLM from other devices
A common question is how to open AnythingLLM on a phone or a second computer when it is running in Docker on a machine at home.
The answer depends on where the other device is. If it is on the same network, this already works and only needs the right address. If it is not, you should host AnythingLLM somewhere built for it rather than exposing the machine on your desk.
Do not tunnel your personal machine to the public internet.
Services like ngrok or Cloudflare Tunnel will make your instance reachable from anywhere, but you are opening a door into the computer AnythingLLM is running on. That machine also holds your documents, your API keys, and whatever else is on it.
It is also unreliable - the moment the machine sleeps or loses power, the instance is gone.
If you need access from outside your network, host it properly instead.
Secure the instance first
Before anything else can reach AnythingLLM, turn on authentication. By default a local instance has none, so anything that can reach it can use it and change its settings.
Enable Password Protect Instance for a personal instance, or Multi-User Mode if other people will have their own logins. See Security and Access for both.
On the same network
This already works. The standard install command publishes port 3001 on the host, and Docker binds that to every interface - so the container is reachable at your host machine's local IP address from any device on the same network.
Find the host machine's local IP:
# macOS
ipconfig getifaddr en0
# Linux
hostname -I | awk '{print $1}'On Windows, run ipconfig and use the IPv4 Address of your active adapter.
Then open http://<that-ip>:3001 on the other device. For example http://192.168.1.42:3001.
If it does not load, the host machine's firewall is usually the reason. Allow
incoming connections on port 3001, or allow Docker through the firewall.
Note that this address is only valid on your local network, and it can change when the machine reconnects unless you reserve it in your router.
Reaching it from outside your network
Run AnythingLLM somewhere that is meant to stay online. Any of these give you a stable address without exposing your own machine:
- AnythingLLM Cloud (opens in a new tab) - a hosted instance, nothing to maintain.
- Railway or Render - one-click deployment templates, described on the Cloud Docker page.
- Your own cloud VM - the same Cloud Docker instructions apply to any provider.
If you are already running AnythingLLM on a machine at home and want to reach it while away, a private network such as Tailscale (opens in a new tab) is a safer middle ground than a public tunnel. It connects your own devices to each other without publishing anything to the internet, and the address behaves like the local one above.
Whatever you choose, the machine has to stay awake and online for the instance to be reachable. A laptop that sleeps will take AnythingLLM down with it.
Using the mobile app
AnythingLLM Mobile can connect to a self-hosted instance and sync your workspaces and threads with it. The same rules apply - it needs a reachable address, so use the local IP on your own network or a hosted instance from anywhere else.