# Remote connections

Most often this is for people who want to use SillyTavern on their mobile phones while their PC runs the ST server within the same wifi network.

However, it can be used to allow remote connections from anywhere as well.

By default, ST server only accepts local connections. In order to allow remote connections, set the parameter listen within config.yaml to true:

# Listen for incoming connections
listen: true

After activating the remote connection listening, you MUST turn on at least one of the restriction methods listed below as well, or ST server will refuse to start up.

NOTE: SillyTavern is a single-user program, so anyone who logs in will be able to see all characters and chats, and be able to change any settings inside the UI. Basic Authentication allows for requesting authorization before access to ST is granted, however the single-user principle still applies.

• Create a new text file inside your SillyTavern base install folder called whitelist.txt.
• Open the file in a text editor, add a list of IPs you want to be allowed to connect.
  • Each IP must be on its own line.
  • 127.0.0.1 MUST be included in the list, or you will not be able to connect on the host machine
  • Individual IPs, and wildcard (*) IP ranges are accepted.
  • CIDR masks are also accepted (eg. 10.0.0.0/24).

Examples:

192.168.0.1
192.168.0.20

//or simply

192.168.*.*

(the above wildcard IP range will allow any device on the local network to connect)

Copy and paste this exactly:

192.168.*.*
127.0.0.1

This will allow any device on the same network as the host machine, as well as the host machine itself, to connect to ST.

• Save the whitelist.txt file.
• Restart your SillyTavern server.

Note: config.yaml also has a whitelist array, which you can use in the same way, but this array will be ignored if whitelist.txt exists. We do not recommend using the config.yaml IP list, because using whitelist.txt is easier

After the whitelist has been setup, you'll need the IP of the ST-hosting device.

If the ST-hosting device is on the same wifi network, you will use the ST-host's internal wifi IP:

• For Windows: windows button > type cmd.exe in the search bar > type ipconfig in the console, hit Enter > look for IPv4 listing.

If you (or someone else) wants to connect to your hosted ST while not being on the same network, you will need the public IP of your ST-hosting device.

• While using the ST-hosting device, access this page and look for for IPv4. This is what you would use to connect from the remote device.

Whatever IP you ended up with for your situation, you will put that IP address and port number into the remote device's web browser.

A typical address for an ST host on the same wifi network would look like:

http://192.168.0.5:8000

Use http:// NOT https://

We do not recommend doing this, but you can open config.yaml and change whitelistMode to false.

You must remove (or rename) whitelist.txt in the SillyTavern base install folder, if it exists.

This is usually an insecure practice, so we require you to set a username and password when you do this.

The username and password are set in config.yaml.

After restarting your ST server, any device will be able to connect to it, regardless of their IP as long as they know the username and password.

• Create an inbound/outbound firewall rule for the port found in config.yaml. Do NOT mistake this for port forwarding on your router, otherwise, someone could find your chat logs and that's a big no-no.
• Enable the Private Network profile type in Settings > Network and Internet > Ethernet. This is VERY important for Windows 11, otherwise, you would be unable to connect even with the aforementioned firewall rules.

The server will ask for username and password whenever a client connects via HTTP. This only works if the Remote connections (listen: true) are enabled.

To enable HTTP BA, Open config.yaml in the SillyTavern base directory and search for basicAuthMode Set basicAuthMode to true and set username and password. Note: config.yaml will only exist if ST has been executed before at least once.

basicAuthMode: true
basicAuthUser:
  username: "MyUsername"
  password: "MyPassword"

Save the file and restart SillyTavern if it was already running. You should be prompted for username and password when connecting to your ST. Both username and password are transmitted in plain text. If you are concerned about this, you can serve ST via HTTPS.

To encrypt traffic from and to your ST instance, start the server with the --ssl flag.

Example:

node server.js --ssl

As per default, ST will search for your certificates inside the /cert folder. If your files are located elsewhere, you can use the --keyPath and --certPath arguments.

Example:

node server.js --ssl --keyPath /home/user/certificates/privkey.pem --certPath /home/user/certificates/cert.pem

The user you're running SillyTavern with requires read permissions on the certificate files.

The simplest, quickest way to get a certificate is by using certbot.