Sync a workspace through your own server

A storage service, a NAS or a rented server is a more usual home for this. Some are covered further down.

• A server you can reach over SSH with SFTP turned on
• Its address, its port and your username
• A password, or somewhere to add a public key
• An empty folder for the workspace, or a place nokko can make one

Start on a Mac. The iPhone can join a server workspace, but cannot put one there.

1. 1Open the workspace and choose Workspace ▸ Put Workspace on a Server…. You can also use Share… in Settings ▸ General.
2. 2Fill in Host, Port and Username.
3. 3Choose SSH key or Password under Sign in with. For a key, follow Generate and add the key first.
4. 4Type a first guess in Folder, such as /nokko. Browse… only works after the first test, so the field needs something now.
5. 5Click Test Connection, compare the fingerprint and click Accept and Continue.
6. 6If you want a different folder, click Browse…, pick or create it, and test again.
7. 7When the sheet says the folder is empty and ready, click Upload Workspace.

Your local folder stays where it is, and the server gets a copy. nokko syncs a couple of seconds after each change, every 60 seconds, and when you press the sync button.

If the folder is not there yet, nokko creates it. Only its parent has to exist. A deeper path whose parent is missing fails, with a message telling you to use Browse.

1. 1Fill in Host, Port and Username first. A key belongs to that exact combination.
2. 2With SSH key selected, click Generate Key. The public half is copied to your clipboard, and the button becomes Copy Public Key.
3. 3Add that line to your server: paste it into your host's SSH keys page, or add it as a new line in ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.
4. 4Save it there, then come back and click Test Connection.

ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAI… nokko-sync

The key is ed25519. Its private half stays in this device's Keychain and does not sync, so each device gets its own key. Clicking the button again gives you the same key, so a retry does not undo what you pasted.

The sheet's small caption mentions hPanel, which is Hostinger's control panel. If you use another host, ignore that name. On Hostinger, its illustrated guide shows where the key goes: paste nokko's public line where it asks for the key, and skip its steps for generating one. Read the storage warning above first.

1. 1Choose Workspace ▸ New Workspace…, select On a server and click Connect to Server….
2. 2Enter the same Host, Port, Username and Folder as the first Mac. Workspace ▸ Edit Server Connection… on that Mac shows them.
3. 3For a key, click Generate Key and add this Mac's key to the server as well. Do not remove the first one.
4. 4Give the workspace a Name. Under Local copy, click Choose… to pick where its folder goes.
5. 5Click Test Connection and accept the fingerprint.
6. 6Click Download 41 Files. The button shows the real count.

A teammate joins the same way. There are no invitations here: give them access to the server, and add a key for each of their devices. If the folder is empty, the button reads Create Shared Workspace and starts a new workspace there.

1. 1Open Settings and tap Join a Workspace…, then Your Own Server.
2. 2Enter Host, Port, User and Folder on the server. There is no Browse here, so type the full path the Mac uses. Copy it exactly. A wrong path is not refused: nokko makes that folder and joins it empty.
3. 3Under Sign in with, choose A Key or A Password.
4. 4For a key, tap Make a Key for This iPhone. Then use Share the Public Key or Copy the Public Key, and add it to the server.
5. 5Type a name for this iPhone, the first time, and a Workspace name.
6. 6Tap Join. Under First Time Connecting, compare the fingerprint with the one your host publishes, or the one you noted on the Mac, then tap Trust This Server.

The note on this screen mentions Workspace ▸ Sharing, but on the Mac the details are under Workspace ▸ Edit Server Connection…. Send the key to yourself in a way you trust. It is the public half, so it is not a secret, but it must arrive unchanged.

Conflicts work as they do with GitHub. nokko merges the two versions line by line, and keeps both only when the very same line changed two ways. People and conflicts shows how to resolve one.

A server keeps no history, so there is no Activity feed and no record of who changed what. You may see short-lived .nokko-lock files beside a file while it is being written. Leave them alone: nokko clears them.

A file deleted on any device moves into a dated folder on the server. nokko removes those folders once they are 30 days old.

.nokko-trash/2026-11-04/Client Work/Retainer.md

nokko has no button to bring one back. Copy the file to its original path with an SFTP app or your host's file manager, and nokko downloads it on the next pass. The folder's name starts with a dot, so you may need to show hidden files.

If a server lacks the host key or the encryption, nokko cannot finish the handshake. The sheet then says the server did not answer, even though the machine is up. Ask your host which ciphers and host keys it offers.

• Reachability: turn on External Reachability in Hetzner Console, or you cannot connect from your own Mac.
• Host and username: the host is uXXXXX.your-storagebox.de, and your username is the uXXXXX part.
• Port: SFTP works on port 22 or 23. Port 22 is always on. Port 23 needs SSH Support turned on.
• Sign in with: Password on port 22 is simplest. To use a key, turn on SSH Support, set Port to 23 before you click Generate Key, then run pbpaste | ssh -p 23 uXXXXX@uXXXXX.your-storagebox.de install-ssh-key in Terminal. That adds the key without removing others. Do not copy authorized_keys up with scp, which replaces every key on the box.
• Folder: only /home/ is writable, so use a path such as /home/nokko.
• Fingerprint: compare what nokko shows with the SHA256 value on the ED25519 or ECDSA line Hetzner publishes.
• Connections: a Storage Box allows up to 10 at once.

Hetzner's docs: Storage Box general information, which lists the fingerprints, and access over SSH.

1. 1On the spare Mac, choose Apple menu ▸ System Settings, click General, then Sharing.
2. 2Click the Info button next to Remote Login and turn it on.
3. 3Under Allow access for, choose Only these users and add your own user.
4. 4Note the command shown, such as ssh alex@studio-mac.local. In nokko, the part before @ is Username and the part after is Host.

Use a full path for Folder, such as /Users/alex/nokko. Password is that Mac's login password. For a key, add it to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the spare Mac.

The spare Mac must be awake and reachable, or other devices read as offline. Apple notes that remote login can make a Mac less secure, so read Apple's guide first.

1. 1In DSM, open Control Panel ▸ File Services ▸ FTP.
2. 2Tick Enable SFTP service and click Apply.
3. 3The default port is 22. If you set a custom one, enter the same number in Port.

Use your DSM username and Password. Synology's page describes RSA key pairs and nokko's key is ed25519, so start with a password. Use Browse… for Folder, so you see the paths the NAS really offers. See Synology's SFTP help.

You maintain this server: its updates, firewall and backups are yours. DigitalOcean and Hetzner Cloud both start you as root, and their pages show how to connect. Do not sync as root. Make an ordinary user for nokko.

sudo adduser nokko
sudo mkdir -p /home/nokko/.ssh
sudo nano /home/nokko/.ssh/authorized_keys   # paste nokko's public key
sudo chmod 700 /home/nokko/.ssh
sudo chmod 600 /home/nokko/.ssh/authorized_keys
sudo chown -R nokko:nokko /home/nokko/.ssh

In nokko, Host is the server's IP address, Username is nokko and Folder can be /home/nokko/workspace. To check the fingerprint, run this on the server and compare the result with nokko's prompt:

ssh-keygen -lf /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub