Guide — Accord

Guide

Getting started with Accord

Accord has no central server: you and your friend connect directly, device to device, end-to-end encrypted. Here is how to get going, step by step.

1. Install the app

Download the build for your system from the download page.

macOS — open the .dmg and drag Accord into Applications. On first launch: right-click the app → Open (the app is not signed with an Apple developer account, so macOS asks for confirmation the first time only). Universal build: Apple Silicon (M1–M4) and Intel.
Windows — run the installer. If SmartScreen steps in: More info → Run anyway.
Linux — make the AppImage executable (chmod +x) and run it, or install the .deb.

The first time you test your mic or join a voice channel, your system will ask for microphone permission — accept it (System Settings → Privacy → Microphone).

2. Create your identity

On first launch, each person creates their identity:

A password that unlocks the app on this machine.
A 12-word recovery phrase — this is your account. Write it down and keep it safe, offline. It lets you restore your identity on another device; nobody, not even you, can regenerate it.
A display name, changeable at any time.

There is no server to reset a forgotten password. The recovery phrase is the only safety net. You can also export a full encrypted backup from Settings → My account.

3. Connect to a friend

This is the key peer-to-peer step. Accord first tries on its own to open your port (UPnP / NAT-PMP) and to find friends on the same Wi-Fi. Often there is nothing to do. Otherwise, the cases are:

Same local network (same Wi-Fi / router). It usually just works with zero configuration: your two apps discover each other automatically.
Over the Internet. One of you opens Settings → Add a friend and copies their public address (ip:port). Send it to the other person (message, email…), who pastes it into "Add a friend by address". The "connected peers" counter should go to 1.
If no public address shows up. Your router did not open the port automatically: forward UDP port 48016 to your computer in your router's interface, then try again. Only one of the two friends needs a reachable port.

The Settings → Network panel shows, for each friend, whether they are connected and the last address you reached them at — handy for diagnosing a flaky connection.

Friends tab → Add a friend: friend code, public address, network counters and per-friend connection state — The network panel: your friend code, your public address and each friend’s connection state.

4. Become friends

Once connected to the network:

Each of you finds your friend code in Settings → My account (6 words + a number).
You send your code to your friend; they add it and send you a request.
You accept → you are friends. You can now exchange messages, images and files, and call each other.

A direct message in Accord: quoted reply, emoji reaction and the “Write to” field at the bottom — A direct message: quoted replies, reactions, pins — everything travels directly between your two apps.

5. Avatar, banner, servers

Customize your avatar and banner from Settings → My account: they sync automatically to your friends (images travel peer-to-peer, with a progress bar). Create a server to gather several friends around text and voice channels, with roles and permissions.

The server menu: mark as read, invite, create channels, edit your per-server profile.

Want a different look? Settings → Appearance offers 24+ themes — dark, light, animated — plus a custom theme editor you can share by code.

Accord’s Appearance settings: a theme gallery with Dark, Light, Midnight, Forest, Hanami, Manga ink… — The theme gallery in Settings → Appearance.

6. Network troubleshooting

"Connected peers" stays at 0: UDP port 48016 is not reachable on either side. Check the port forward on the host side, or first test on the same local network to confirm everything else works.
An image does not appear right away: give it a few seconds — the file downloads peer-to-peer. The Network panel confirms whether the friend is connected.
The mic does not react: allow the microphone in your system's privacy settings.
After sleep: Accord automatically retries your friends at their last known address on wake and on startup.

7. Updates

Since 2.0, Accord updates itself: a banner appears when a new version ships, one click installs it. Updates are cryptographically signed. To check manually: Settings → Updates.

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