First-time setup

Start here after installing MultiShock. You can also click Setup guide on Home to follow the built-in tour, or Replay setup guide to revisit it later.

1. Sign in to PiShock

  1. Click Sign in to PiShock on Home or in the sidebar.
  2. Complete sign-in in the browser that opens. Keep MultiShock open while you do this; the request expires after five minutes.
  3. Return to MultiShock and wait for startup and device synchronization to finish.

The app uses your PiShock account sign-in. You do not need to find an API key, paste an authentication token, or enter a share code for this setup.

The sidebar's Connected status means the app is signed in and connected to PiShock's live connection. It does not confirm that a particular hub is powered on or reachable. See sign-in troubleshooting if the browser never opens or the app stays signed out.

2. Find your devices

Open Devices in the sidebar. Under My devices, expand a device to see its shockers. If the list is empty, click Sync from PiShock. The device must already belong to your PiShock account; syncing is not a pairing or ownership transfer operation.

For devices shared by another person, use Shared with me → Add shared shockers, select the person, and enable the shockers you want. Refresh the list if a new person is missing. See shared devices for the owner's permissions and refresh controls.

3. Review limits before testing

New shockers are added enabled, with Allow shocks on and Power limit at 100%. Before starting automation:

  1. Enable only the device and shocker checkboxes you intend to use.
  2. For your own shockers, turn Allow shocks off while setting up. Requested shocks will become vibrations.
  3. Set each shocker's Power limit and, if needed, Cooldown.
  4. Click Save changes. Device edits do not apply until saved.

Power limit scales the requested intensity: 50% turns an intensity of 40 into 20. It is not an absolute intensity cap. Read safety controls for queue behavior, shared-device limits, and the emergency stop.

4. Test one shocker

Check that the intended shocker says Active, then click its Test button. This sends a one-second vibration at intensity 100, scaled by the saved Power limit. Active means loaded by MultiShock; it does not mean online.

The Sent message reports that the app submitted the test. Confirm the vibration on the intended device. If nothing happens, check the hub's power and connection, the saved checkboxes, and device troubleshooting.

For USB control, connect the hub with a data-capable cable and close other programs using its serial port. MultiShock discovers supported hubs after sign-in; there is no COM-port field to fill out for normal setup. See USB troubleshooting.

5. Try an automation

Follow your first flow to build a Manual Trigger → Random → Vibrate flow using only built-in nodes. Plugins are optional for this example.

Run leaves a flow listening for events. It continues when you leave the editor, and a running flow starts again when MultiShock next opens. Stop the flow when you finish testing.

Use Stop everything in the sidebar to clear queued device commands and stop all flows. Shift+Esc does the same while MultiShock has keyboard focus. This does not disable plugins or prevent a plugin from submitting a new command.

Find your way around

  • Home shows setup progress, loaded shockers, flows, and About this build.
  • Devices controls the devices and shared shockers the app may use.
  • Flows opens your local flow library and editor.
  • Community opens the community flow browser.
  • Manage plugins installs extensions and controls which plugin pages are shown.
  • Settings contains updates, appearance, logging, privacy, backup, and diagnostics.
  • Ctrl+K searches pages, visible plugin pages, flows, and actions. ? opens the app's shortcut list.

Before customizing further, make a backup.

Contributors

Thank you to everyone who has helped improve this documentation.

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