Contents

Identity & Multiple Devices

What your identity is

Your identity itself is a BIP-39 recovery phrase (12 words). Poter uses it to sign device certificates, encrypt and address, all without a server.

Each install has its own Peer ID (this node's address). It is not derived from the phrase. After two devices restore the same phrase, their Peer IDs still differ; friends recognize the device certificates the identity signs, so both devices are the same you.

So "using the same identity" means entering the same phrase on both devices. This is not "signing into the same account" — neither device is in charge of the other; they simply happen to hold the same key.

Whoever gets your recovery phrase is completely you. Do not screenshot it, do not message it to yourself, do not put it in cloud storage.

Back up your recovery phrase

  1. Open Settings → Identity.
  2. Click Export recovery phrase.
  3. Enter your identity passphrase (not an account password) in the prompt.
  4. Write the 12 words down in order, on paper, and store it offline.

A wrong passphrase reports an identity decryption failure and shows nothing. That is the point — it is verifying that you are you.

Restore your identity on a new device

  1. Install Poter on the new device and open it.
  2. Go to Settings → Identity → Restore.
  3. Type the 12 words in order and set an identity passphrase.

After restoring, this device and your original one share the same identity: notes start syncing between them, 1v1 chats and groups that already have messages show up in the conversation list, and history from before this device joined is pulled over when possible. Your friends still see the same you.

On the second device you must click Restore, not Create identity. A new phrase makes you a different person, and the old rooms will not let you in.

Add a second device

Two options, and the first is recommended:

  • The same recovery phrase — run the restore flow above on the new device.
  • QR pairing — on the device that is already set up, go to Settings → Identity → Share identity QR, then scan it from the new device. The QR code expires after 5 minutes, and you should only scan it face to face on a device you trust.

After restore, 1v1 chats and groups that already have messages appear in the conversation list. See “The same identity on more than one device” below.

Scanning the code hands over your identity just as surely as typing the phrase. Never photograph it and send it to someone — that is the same as emailing them your phrase.

Device list

Settings → Identity → Multi-device sync lists every device under this identity and marks which one is primary. Sync now immediately pushes the contact book and room index.

Devices find each other through periodic heartbeats. If one device was just opened and the other cannot see it yet, wait a few minutes before syncing again — device announcements expire.

The chat sidebar does not treat your other devices as friends. Deleting a contact removes them from the address book on every device.