Why the viewport needs Wi-Fi (for now)

adb lane vs Phone Link mesh — what carries what today

Lead: No cable is needed after the one-time wireless-debugging pairing. But the live screen rides the adb lane, which is LAN-only. The cellular-capable mesh you shipped today carries the bot lane, not the video stream — yet.

A

The two lanes today

Lane	Transport	Reach	Carries
adb / scrcpy (the viewport)	Wi-Fi, same network as Desktop	same LAN only	live screen + touch/input
Phone Link mesh (bot lane)	Headscale mesh, userspace tsnet	Wi-Fi or cellular, anywhere	read_ui, find_and_tap, tasks

B

Why cellular does not show the screen yet

C

The bridge (next phase)

The phone-side helper app hosts the scrcpy-server socket over the mesh connection.
The Desktop stream layer connects there instead of adb; the viewport, relay and input stay unchanged — they are transport-agnostic.
Result: open the phone's screen from any surface, phone on LTE, Desktop anywhere.

D

Practical now

Phone and Desktop on the same Wi-Fi, wireless debugging already paired: the viewport works with no cables.
Phone on cellular alone: the bot lane reaches it; the live screen does not — until the bridge ships.

---
template: sheet
title: Why the viewport needs Wi-Fi (for now)
subtitle: adb lane vs Phone Link mesh — what carries what today
---
Lead: No cable is needed after the one-time wireless-debugging pairing. But the live screen rides the adb lane, which is LAN-only. The cellular-capable mesh you shipped today carries the bot lane, not the video stream — yet.

## A The two lanes today
| Lane | Transport | Reach | Carries |
|---|---|---|---|
| adb / scrcpy (the viewport) | Wi-Fi, same network as Desktop | same LAN only | live screen + touch/input |
| Phone Link mesh (bot lane) | Headscale mesh, userspace tsnet | Wi-Fi or cellular, anywhere | read_ui, find_and_tap, tasks |

## B Why cellular does not show the screen yet
```flow
Today: Desktop -> adb -> phone: Wi-Fi LAN only
Today: Desktop -> mesh -> helper app: bot tools, no video
Missing: scrcpy-server socket hosted over the mesh
```

## C The bridge (next phase)
- The phone-side helper app hosts the scrcpy-server socket over the mesh connection.
- The Desktop stream layer connects there instead of adb; the viewport, relay and input stay unchanged — they are transport-agnostic.
- Result: open the phone's screen from any surface, phone on LTE, Desktop anywhere.

## D Practical now
- Phone and Desktop on the same Wi-Fi, wireless debugging already paired: the viewport works with no cables.
- Phone on cellular alone: the bot lane reaches it; the live screen does not — until the bridge ships.