# Pairing your own box Source: https://www.pingtower.com/docs/ios/pairing/ Redeem a join code from a self-hosted daemon and the app opens that tenant directly, while pingtower.com relays the pages. Pairing joins two things: an account on pingtower.com, which is what the app signs in with, and a tenant on a box you run, which is where the data lives. Once paired, the app talks to the box for everything and to pingtower.com only for the account and for push.
1. **On the box, mint a join code** ```sh pingtower pair --email you@example.com ``` It prints one code starting with `ptj_`. The code bundles the box's URL, the tenant, and a one-shot pairing secret. It is valid for one hour and can be redeemed once. Owners and admins can also mint codes from the API with `POST /v1/pair/codes`, with `ttl_seconds` up to seven days, to seat teammates without a shell. 2. **In the app, redeem it** Tenant picker → Join a box, paste the code. The app redeems it against your box, receives a box-minted API key, and hands pingtower.com a receipt that the box confirms once. From here the tenant appears in your list like any other. 3. **Turn on the relay** The app then records the relay credential on the box. This wires every project, present and future, to a webhook integration named "pingtower.com relay". Pages now reach your phone; log lines never leave the box.
## What is different about a paired tenant - Members and invites are managed on the box, not on pingtower.com; the account screen says so. - Plan and usage show nothing, because the box enforces its own limits. - Removing someone from the box stops their access to the data. Revoking their pairing stops their pages. Neither implies the other. ## What pingtower.com sees The pairing itself: which account is pageable for which tenant on which box. For each relayed page, the alert event including the triggering line, which is forwarded to Apple and kept only as a short-lived deduplication row. If you never pair, nothing is sent.