Always NearGuide 05 · For the designated demo wearer and hackathon reviewers
Bee uploads for the developer demo
The controlled Windows manual-upload walkthrough for the pre-beta prototype, not an everyday consumer connection. No chat session is required to follow this guide.
Check demo access before installing anything
Always Near is a pre-beta prototype. The website, owner setup, and illustrative dashboard are available, but real Bee uploads are currently restricted to the designated test-owner account for a controlled demo. Creating another account does not enable upload access. There is no public companion download yet. This local developer workflow is not a consumer-ready connection.
Bee already has developer API and MCP capabilities. What is missing is a supported public connection flow for ordinary users and hosted external services, with suitable per-user authorization and revocation. A simpler Connect Bee experience is our conditional roadmap, not an announced Bee feature or availability date.
If you are a judge or reviewer, start with the example dashboard and the repository testing instructions. The example uses labeled illustrative data, not proof of a successful Bee analysis. Request a separate review arrangement through the contact address below; do not use or request the wearer's personal credentials. An approved real Bee part has completed the companion-to-dashboard flow in the owner trial; this does not establish interpretation accuracy or complete recording coverage.
Prepare Bee and your Windows computer
Use your own Bee account with at least one completed conversation recorded through Bee or its Apple Watch app. Existing completed recordings are enough; you do not need to make a new recording just to connect. Provide any recording notices and obtain permissions required for the conversations you choose to upload.
Keep the Bee app on your iPhone available and enable Developer Mode using Bee's official instructions. On Windows, install Node.js 22.13 or later from its official website. Open a normal PowerShell window and run the checks and Bee CLI install below. These are the current beta prerequisites; the companion does not install them for you. Close and reopen the companion after installation.
node --version
npm install -g @beeai/cli
bee versionReview your Always Near setup and processing policy
The Bee wearer creates and signs into their own Always Near owner account. Complete owner setup, review the current Terms, Privacy and Data & AI policies, and accept the explicit service consent yourself. If the dashboard says Review required, review and accept the current policies before continuing.
Input filtering and topic exclusions are no longer offered. Review and accept the revised Privacy and Data & AI policies yourself; older consent cannot authorize unfiltered processing. You will still review each selected part locally and explicitly approve its upload.
Pair the computer with your account
For the approved trial, obtain the supplied pairing package (currently alwaysnear-bee-pairing-0.1.6.zip) and upload package (alwaysnear-bee-owner-trial-0.3.0.zip). Right-click each ZIP, choose Extract All, and open the extracted folders. Read PAIRING-SETUP.md and TRIAL-SETUP.md. Do not run a launcher directly inside a ZIP.
Double-click Connect Bee to Always Near.cmd in the pairing folder. Bee handles its own sign-in approval using its link or QR code and your phone's Bee app. An existing Bee CLI login may already be recognized. Never paste a Bee password or token into Always Near.
After Bee sign-in finishes, open Bee connection in your signed-in Always Near dashboard. Click Create pairing code, then Copy code, and paste it into the companion window. The one-use code expires in ten minutes; treat it like a password. After Pairing finished, use Refresh account and computers. Your new row should show Awaiting your approval. Nothing has uploaded at this point.
The supplied packages are source-inspectable but unsigned. If Windows or workplace protections block them, stop and contact us. Do not disable protections or bypass a security warning.
Enable only the uploads you approve
In the Current computers table, identify your new computer by its Paired on date. Click Enable approved uploads. Confirm that this computer is signed into your own Bee account, read the explanation of AWS AI processing, then click Confirm and enable uploads.
Awaiting your approval means pairing is complete but uploads are not enabled; it is not a background verification job. Active means manual uploads are allowed, not that the companion is listening or syncing. This step sends no conversation. Saving a person's contact details does not invite them or enable delivery; trusted-contact access and updates remain off.
Review one part privately, then upload
In the extracted alwaysnear-bee-owner-trial-0.3.0 folder, double-click Upload one approved Bee part.cmd. It first checks the enabled account, protected pairing credential, current processing revision, and continuity of the local Bee login. Use your normal Windows account - the protected pairing cannot be reused by another Windows user.
The companion displays unfiltered conversation parts with conversation dates on your computer. Keep the window private and do not send transcript screenshots to support. Type YES only for a part you are comfortable sending; other responses skip it. Preparation stops after the first approved part. At the final counts-only prompt, type UPLOAD to send it, or any other response to cancel. Closing before final approval does not send a prepared part.
Approved text leaves your computer for short-retention encrypted AWS processing and Bedrock analysis. Full conversation text is not stored in the results database or logs; permitted structured results are retained for 90 days. This trial creates no evidence excerpts. Existing email updates can apply if the wearer has enabled sharing and a recipient has personally opted in; do not enroll real recipients just to test. Each run considers at most 20 recent Bee entries, reviews at most 25 parts, and uploads at most one approved part; it does not cover all history.
Find the result on the conversation's day
After the companion reports its counts, open Today in your dashboard. Choose the date shown next to the part you approved in Recording date, or use Previous day and Next day. An older recording will not appear on today's date just because it was uploaded today. The dashboard uses your saved time zone; check it in Preferences or change Summary time zone in Edit choices if needed.
Allow a short time for processing, then choose Refresh results. Reloading or copying an older day's dashboard link keeps its selected date; the sidebar Today and Alerts links start at today. Accepted means the queue received the part, not that analysis succeeded. Already accepted duplicates do not create a second result. The day view reports observed analysis and withholding/rejection counts where available; a part can produce no signals or be withheld. No results, zero signals, and incomplete coverage are not an all-clear. AI interpretations require independent verification. Always Near is not an emergency service.
Troubleshoot or disconnect
If the companion cannot find Node or Bee, finish the prerequisites and reopen it. If no computer appears, refresh the page and check you paired into the same Always Near account. If Enable approved uploads is missing, check current consent; accounts outside the approved trial are intentionally blocked.
If sync says unavailable, confirm the computer is Active and refresh the account. A changed Bee login, revoked pairing, stale consent, or a changed processing revision can stop the run. An unreadable or unfinished Bee conversation may be skipped; a withheld count does not mean it was uploaded. If an error follows final UPLOAD approval, some parts may already have arrived - check the dashboard before retrying. Do not create repeated new pairing codes to solve an uncertain upload.
To stop future uploads, choose Revoke for that computer and Confirm revoke. Revoked computers are hidden by default under Show revoked computers; hiding them does not delete their records or earlier results. Bee's own CLI grant is separate and can be revoked through Bee. A model request already in progress cannot be recalled; authorization checks prevent later writes when revocation is observed. For help, share only the error label, counts and conversation date - not passwords, pairing codes, tokens or transcript text.
Why a companion now, and what may come next
As of October 5, 2026, the Bee-track forum clarification says integrations must use the provided app identity, regular users do not have a supported non-Developer-Mode workflow, and hosted third-party integrations are not currently supported. That is why this beta uses Bee's official CLI on the wearer's computer; Bee credentials stay local. This is a local client calling Bee services, not an Always Near-hosted Bee login.
Bee already documents a developer MCP interface. MCP can expose tools to an AI client, but it does not by itself create a supported hosted, multi-user authorization path. If Bee offers a supported delegated API or MCP connection with appropriate per-user authorization and revocation, we intend to replace the local bridge with an easier Connect Bee experience. This is our roadmap, not an announced Bee feature or delivery date. Hosted token storage, account binding and the privacy boundary will need a new review before that change.
Daily/weekly generated summaries, contact invitations and delivery, evidence drill-down, full-history synchronization, application-data removal, and public companion distribution are not complete. The site and judge-facing documentation should distinguish those plans from the owner-only manual trial.
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