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This page points floe at your own Floe signaling server instead of floe.one, for one command or for every command, and shows which links then work with which server. It is for anyone who runs a self-hosted instance (see Self-hosting overview) or was given the address of one.

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Usage

The floe CLI connects to https://api.floe.one by default. Name another Floe signaling server with the --server flag:
Terminal
Both sides must use the same server. A room and its code exist on one server only, so someone on your server cannot transfer with someone on floe.one.
Point --server at the origin that serves /api and /ws. On a one-domain deployment that is the same address your users open in a browser, so this is all you need: the share link that floe send prints opens the web client at the same address. Write the address with its https://, or http:// on a private network: a bare hostname fails before any transfer starts. floe trusts the certificates your system trusts and has no option to skip that check. A server with a self-signed certificate therefore fails before any transfer starts, with the certificate error at the end of the line. See --server. If you always use the same server, set it once in your environment instead of repeating the flag on every command:
Terminal
A flag always beats the variable, so you can still override it for a single command. Use FLOE_WEB the same way when your web app has its own hostname. See CLI flags reference.

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When the web client is on a different host

The browser link printed by floe send defaults to the same origin as --server. If your web client lives somewhere else, such as the two-subdomain layout, override it with --web:
Terminal
Without --web, that split deployment prints a link pointing at the signaling server, which serves no web app. floe never reads the server from a link. The server is always --server, then FLOE_SERVER, then floe.one, so a link or a code works only when it belongs to the server in effect. A link from the wrong server is refused before any network call, so its room is never handed to a server that does not hold it: For a link from your server with floe.one in effect, floe receive prints:
Output
For a link from floe.one with your server in effect, floe receive prints:
Output
In both cases floe send --to prints Couldn't connect to their computer. Nothing was sent. and exits with status 1, as floe receive does. floe receive in floe 1.11.0 and earlier did not refuse a link from your server when no server was set: it asked floe.one for that room and ended with Error: this code is no longer active; ask for a new one. The link’s room id had then reached floe.one’s server, so ask the sender for a new link. With FLOE_SERVER set, use a floe.one link by naming floe.one’s own server for that one command. The flag wins over the variable:
Terminal
A request link made by a Floe Desktop that uses your server carries your web app’s address. To send through it from the terminal, floe send --to needs your server named, with --server or FLOE_SERVER:
Terminal
Without either, the send stops before any network call with Couldn't connect to their computer. Nothing was sent. The server also has to offer request links, which are off until you turn them on: see Turn on request links. The link key behind the dot, in a link from Floe Desktop 1.1 or later, needs floe 1.12 or later. The server needs nothing for it and never receives it, but your web client has to read it: see Keep the client and server on one version.

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Local testing

To test against a local instance running on the default ports:
Terminal
The browser link points to http://localhost:3000 automatically when the server is http://localhost:3001.

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Desktop app

The Floe desktop app can target a self-hosted server too. Open Settings, expand Server under Advanced, and put your origin in Server address, then click Test to confirm the app can reach it. Leave Share link address blank on a one-domain deployment: the app derives the share link from the server address using the same rule the CLI uses. Fill it in only when your web app has its own hostname. Use default server appears once a custom address is set and clears both fields back to api.floe.one. See Desktop app settings for what Test checks and what each result means.

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If something goes wrong

  • A code from your server is not found: the command ran without --server or FLOE_SERVER, so it asked floe.one. See not found.
  • Warning: could not reach signaling server for TURN credentials. Using STUN only., or could not read TURN credentials: the address after --server is wrong, the server is down, or a proxy in front of it does not pass /api/ on. See could not reach signaling server.
  • --relay-only needs a TURN relay: your server offers no relay. See --relay-only needs a TURN relay.
Last modified on November 3, 2026