Pairing a Device
Pairing connects the copy of VolNinja running on your machine to your VolNinja account. Once a device is paired, you can open your trading app from anywhere and it reaches your machine over a private link — while every position, order, and your broker connection stay on your machine, never in the cloud. See How VolNinja works for the full picture of that split.
You only need to pair once per machine. This article covers what you need first, the two ways to pair, and what approving a device actually grants.
Before you pair
Pairing becomes available once two things are true:
- Your email is verified and your subscription is active. Both happen during signup and checkout — see Account & billing. If either is missing, the pairing screen tells you which one to finish first.
- VolNinja is installed and running on your machine. If you haven't done that yet, start with Installing & starting VolNinja.
Important
Pairing links your account to one machine at a time. Pairing a new machine replaces the previous one — the old device is disconnected. This is intentional: your account always points at a single running install.
The normal way: from the setup panel
VolNinja serves a small setup panel on your own machine. This is where you connect both your broker and your account, and it's the easiest way to pair — no code to type or token to copy.
- On the machine running VolNinja, open the setup panel (a browser tab pointed at your local install).
- Click Connect. A browser tab opens on the VolNinja site showing a Pair a device card, with the pairing code already filled in.
- Confirm it's you and click Approve this device. You'll see Device approved, and your machine detects the connection and comes online automatically.
If you started the onboarding checklist after signing up, this is the Connect step. The card there is titled Connect your machine; press Open setup panel, approve in the tab that opens, and the checklist flips to Connected ✓ on its own the moment your install links up.
Tip
You don't have to start from the setup panel. If you land on the Pair a device screen directly, just type the Pairing code shown on your machine (it looks like XXXX-XXXX) and click Approve this device.
Approving safely
The approval screen carries one simple rule: only approve a code you started yourself. Approving is what actually connects a machine to your account, so treat the code like a key.
Important
If a Pair a device screen appears and you didn't start it, click This wasn't me. Nothing is connected and nothing on your account changes. Never approve a code someone else gave you — approving would hand them a link to your running install.
If a code doesn't work, it's almost always because it expired or was already used — codes are short-lived by design. Generate a fresh one from your machine and try again.
Headless machines and servers
Running VolNinja on a server or VPS with no browser? Pair it from the command line instead. Your install prints an approval link — open that link here in your browser, sign in if asked, and click Approve this device. The connection is delivered to your server automatically; there's still nothing to copy. The installation guide has the exact command.
What pairing grants
Approving a device gives your VolNinja account a private link to that one machine — nothing more. Specifically:
- The trading app (served from the cloud) can reach your install, so you can open it from any browser you're logged in on. See Remote access.
- Your trading data and IBKR connection never leave your machine. The cloud only carries requests back and forth over the private link; it stores none of your positions or orders.
You stay in control after pairing, too. From your account you can see every paired device — whether it's currently Connected, when it was last seen — and revoke any of them to instantly cut the link. That's covered in Managing your account.