How pokesBridge works

pokesBridge connects your streaming PC to your Pokes account. The website and bots decide when tips or commands should fire; Bridge runs the local OSC and toy steps on your machine.

End-to-end flow

1. Install and open pokesBridge from pokes.love/downloads.
2. Sign in with Pokes: Bridge opens the browser login (same idea as the Chrome extension). Finish login as the creator whose OSC and toys should run on this PC, then return to the app.
3. Bridge shows Connected to Pokes when the live connection is up.
4. On the Bridge tab, enable the Features you use (OSC, Toys, PiShock, Bots).
5. For OSC, set the host and port VRChat (or your OSC app) listens on. On Windows, run ipconfig in a terminal to find your PC IP when you are not using 127.0.0.1. On macOS/Linux, use ifconfig.
6. When a tip or test fires on Pokes, the cloud sends the event to Bridge. Bridge sends OSC UDP and/or toy commands on your PC.
7. Saving OSC target changes in Bridge also updates the website /osc page so dashboard and desktop stay aligned.

Keep Bridge running for the whole stream. If you close it, local OSC and local toy delivery stop even if the website is still open.

Why the desktop app is required

Browser-only web dashboard can talk to some Pokes / toy features over the cloud, but OSC, Lovense Desktop / Intiface Toy controller, and external bot command delivery need pokesBridge. The app inbox will show notifications and when updates are ready for download.

Features on the Bridge tab

Feature	What Bridge does locally
OSC	Sends OSC packets to your configured host:port (default often 127.0.0.1:9000 for VRChat)
Toys	Forwards commands to Lovense Connect or Intiface Central
PiShock	Uses PiShock you already linked under Pokes
Bots	Shows connect status for pokesBot and Lumia; Streamer.bot is marked coming soon

Use each feature’s ··· menu for connect, poke, overlays, tips enabled, settings, or disable. Tips enabled controls whether tip-sourced OSC is delivered (tests can still run depending on your setup).

LumiaStream (under Bots)

Lumia uses two integrations with Pokes:

1. Lumia plugin (recommended for alerts): Lumia on your PC polls Pokes for tips and chat. Set up the plugin token on LumiaStream settings. Bridge is not required for this path.
2. Developers API via Bridge: When Pokes must call Lumia REST on your PC (tip variables, chat-command forwarding, command browser), Bridge receives bridge-lumia-command over the live socket and runs the local HTTP call to Lumia (127.0.0.1:39231 or a LAN IP).

Bridge Lumia connect flow:

1. Enable Bots on the Bridge tab.
2. Open Bots → LumiaStream → Connect.
3. Paste host, port, and Lumia API token. Bridge verifies with a local retrieve, then saves settings to your Pokes account.
4. On /pokesBot/lumia, Developers API should show Connected through pokesBridge. Turn on Tip variables or Forward chat commands there.

Keep Bridge running while you stream if you rely on Developers API features. Closing Bridge stops command and variable delivery even if the plugin still polls for tip alerts.

Details: see Connect Lumia locally on What is pokesBridge.

Quicklinks

Quicklinks open the matching Pokes website pages (Test Tips, Tip Rules, Tip Menu, Overlays, Commands, Connections) so you can edit rules without leaving your stream layout for long.

Settings tab

Setting	What it does
Stay on top	Keeps the Bridge window above other apps
Notify on tip OSC / OSC failure	Inbox alerts when tip OSC succeeds or fails
Notify on toy command failure	Inbox alerts when a toy command fails
Notify when Socket or toys disconnect	Inbox alerts on disconnects
Window close (X)	Ask every time, minimize to tray, or quit
Save	Persist settings

How to test

1. Sign in and confirm Connected to Pokes.
2. Enable OSC and/or Toys.
3. Open VRChat with OSC on (or connect toys in Lovense Connect / Intiface).
4. Run Test Tips from Quicklinks or the website.
5. Check Recent Activity in Bridge for OSC or toy lines.

Related pages

Page	Purpose
What is pokesBridge	Feature overview
Who can use pokesBridge	Account and Premium access
OSC and VRChat	/osc on the website
LumiaStream settings	Plugin token and Developers API on the web dashboard
Test Tips	Safe tip simulation

Troubleshooting

• Socket offline: Sign in again; check internet; use Refresh next to the status line.
• No OSC in VRChat: Confirm OSC is enabled in VRChat, host/port match, and Bridge OSC feature is on. Use ipconfig / ifconfig if you need a LAN IP instead of localhost.
• No toy response: Confirm Lovense Connect or Intiface Central is running and Toys is enabled in Bridge. See Lovense troubleshooting.
• Lumia commands or variables fail: Confirm Bridge Bots → Lumia is connected, Lumia Developers API is on, and /pokesBot/lumia shows Connected through pokesBridge. Tip alerts via the plugin still work without Bridge. See LumiaStream (under Bots) above and Connect Lumia locally on What is pokesBridge.
• Feature locked: See Who can use pokesBridge and Why is a feature locked?.