Installation & setup guide

1. Download the .dmg and open it.
2. Drag DeviceShelf into your Applications folder.
3. Open it from Launchpad or Applications. It's notarized by Apple, so it just opens — no security warning.

Requirements: macOS 12 or newer (Apple Silicon & Intel). Live per-device bandwidth needs elevated rights — see live bandwidth. Everything else works out of the box.

1. Download the installer (.exe) — x64 for Intel/AMD, or the ARM64 build for Snapdragon / Copilot+ PCs.
2. Run it. Windows SmartScreen may warn that the publisher is unverified (the build is unsigned): click More info → Run anyway.
3. Follow the installer and launch DeviceShelf.

For live bandwidth: install Npcap. Per-device bandwidth on Windows uses packet capture, which needs Npcap. The installer points you to it; you can also download Npcap and restart DeviceShelf. Scanning, ports, security report and everything else work without Npcap.

More: enabling live bandwidth.

DeviceShelf ships as an AppImage (runs anywhere, no install) and as native .deb / .rpm packages, for x86-64 and ARM64.

Installing the .deb? Use the terminal, not double-click — on Ubuntu 24.04 a double-clicked .deb opens in the App Center and can fail silently:

sudo apt install ./DeviceShelf-*.deb

Full Linux guide (AppImage, .rpm, capture rights): Install on Linux.

DeviceShelf for iPhone and iPad is on the App Store. Android ships as a direct APK you install yourself — there is no Google Play listing. Your license key works across desktop and mobile, so one purchase covers every device you own.

A headless server edition for continuous, always-on monitoring runs in Docker, via .deb or as a Windows service. Point it at the networks you want watched around the clock. It is covered by your existing license: same key, no extra cost.

New in 1.5.3: the server includes a local MCP server — connect Claude, Cursor or any AI agent and ask about your network in plain language. Connection guide →

Install guide, alerts, token setup and MCP connection examples are in the server guide.

The server edition publishes your devices to Home Assistant over MQTT. Home Assistant discovers them by itself, so there is nothing to install on its side beyond the MQTT integration and a broker — no add-on, no custom component.

1. Make sure Home Assistant has the MQTT integration set up against your broker (the Mosquitto add-on works, so does any external broker).
2. In the server dashboard open Settings → Integrations → Home Assistant, enter the broker address (192.168.1.10:1883 is enough), add a user and password if your broker needs them.
3. Tick Publish to Home Assistant and press Test connection. The entities show up within one scan interval.

Every exported device becomes one Home Assistant device with a presence sensor plus IP and latency, carrying vendor, model, type, OS and open ports as attributes. Alongside them sit network counters and an event entity firing on new devices, on devices going away and on newly opened ports, so an automation can react to an unknown device joining your network.

Favorites and infrastructure (gateway, routers, switches, access points, NAS, printers) are published automatically. Any other device can be added or excluded individually in its detail view.

1. After purchase you receive a license key by email.
2. In the app: Settings → License, paste the key, click Activate.
3. On iPhone/Android, open the license email on the device and tap the activation button — it activates automatically.

No account, no online check — activation is offline. The same key re-activates on all your devices. More: activating DeviceShelf.

Without these, the app still runs — only the respective feature stays inactive.

• Install on Linux
• Run the 24/7 server edition
• Enable live bandwidth
• Activate your license
• Older versions & rollback
• FAQ
• Still stuck? Contact us

• Who is on my Wi-Fi? See every device
• Secure your home network, step by step
• What an open port actually means
• Find IoT devices on your network
• Why your phone shows a random MAC address
• Scan a network on Windows
• Scan a network from Linux
• Self-hosted network monitoring