Apple Watch + Discord

Pinchy

Push-to-talk from your Apple Watch to Discord. Voice in, voice out.

⌚Watch

›

📱iPhone

›

🖥Proxy

›

💬Discord

›

🤖OpenClaw

Before You Start

⌚Apple Watch paired to an iPhone

💬A Discord server you own or admin

🤖A bot in your server (OpenClaw or any bot that replies to messages)

🖥A server or Raspberry Pi to run the proxy

📦Docker on that machine (or Node.js 18+ and ffmpeg)

Setup

Step 1

Create a Discord Bot

▼

Create the app

1. Go to discord.com/developers/applications
2. Click "New Application" and name it (e.g. Pinchy)

Get your bot token

1. Click "Bot" in the left sidebar
2. Click "Reset Token" and copy it

Enable required permissions

1. On the Bot page, scroll to "Privileged Gateway Intents"
2. Turn on "Message Content Intent"

Invite the bot to your server

1. Go to OAuth2 → URL Generator
2. Check "bot" under Scopes
3. Check: Send Messages, Attach Files, Read Message History
4. Copy the URL and open it to add the bot

Step 2

Run the Proxy Server

▼

What is the proxy?

A small program that handles audio conversion and Discord API calls. The Watch can't talk to Discord directly — the proxy bridges that gap.
Run it on the same machine as your bot. It requires Node.js 18+ and ffmpeg.

With Docker (recommended)

docker run -d --name pinchy-proxy \
  -p 3847:3847 \
  -e PROXY_SECRET=make_up_a_password \
  ghcr.io/phil-gao/pinchy-proxy

Without Docker

# Install prerequisites first:
# Pi/Linux: sudo apt install -y nodejs npm ffmpeg
# macOS: brew install node ffmpeg

git clone https://github.com/phil-gao/pinchy-proxy.git
cd pinchy-proxy && npm install
cp .env.template .env
# Edit .env and set PROXY_SECRET to a random password
node server.js

Verify

Open http://your-ip:3847/health in your browser
You should see {"ok":true}
If you get a connection error, check that port 3847 is not blocked by a firewall

Remote access with Tailscale

Pinchy only works on your local network by default.
To use Pinchy away from home, install Tailscale on both your server and your iPhone.
Use your server's Tailscale IP (e.g. 100.x.x.x) as the proxy host in Step 3.
Enable "Connect on Demand" in iPhone Settings → Tailscale to keep the connection alive.

Step 3

Configure the iOS App

▼

Open Settings in Pinchy and fill in:

Host:Port — your machine's IP and port (e.g. 192.168.1.50:3847 or Tailscale IP 100.x.x.x:3847)
Proxy Secret — the password you chose in Step 2
Bot Token — the token from Step 1
Responder User ID (optional) — the Discord user ID of the bot you want replies from

Finding your machine's IP

Raspberry Pi / Linux: hostname -I
macOS: ipconfig getifaddr en0
Windows: ipconfig (look for IPv4 Address)
Tailscale: use the 100.x.x.x IP from your Tailscale dashboard

Finding your bot's user ID (optional)

1. In Discord: Settings → Advanced → turn on Developer Mode
2. Right-click your bot in the member list → Copy User ID

What does success look like?

Home tab shows "PINCHY" with a green dot and "Connected"
Settings shows Proxy: Connected and Discord Bot: Connected
Channels sync to your Watch automatically

Step 4

Configure Your Bot

▼

What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is a cross-platform personal AI assistant that connects to Discord and other services. It works great with Pinchy, but any Discord bot that replies to messages will work.

Allow Pinchy's bot

Most bots ignore messages from other bots by default.
Whitelist Pinchy's bot ID so your bot responds to Pinchy's messages.
Find Pinchy's bot ID: Developer Portal → your Pinchy app → General Information → Application ID

How replies work

If your bot replies with a voice message (OGG/Opus, flags:8192), Pinchy plays the audio on the Watch.
If your bot replies with text, Pinchy displays it on the Watch screen.
Pinchy handles both automatically — no special configuration needed on the Pinchy side.

Step 5

Teach Your Bot the Rules

▼

On first save

Pinchy shows a full-screen rules card
Screenshot it and send it to your bot's Discord channel
Your bot learns how to respond from the image

Step 6

Test It

▼

Verify end-to-end

1. Open Pinchy on your Apple Watch
2. Select a channel from the dropdown
3. Hold "Hold to Speak" and say "Hello, testing"
4. Release and wait — your message should appear in Discord
5. Your bot replies — the Watch plays audio or shows text

If it doesn't work

Check the iOS app Home tab — is it showing "Connected"?
Check Discord — did the message appear in the channel?
Check your bot — did it reply?
See Troubleshooting below for common issues.

Default Rules

📋 PINCHY DEFAULT RULES

💬📝 = reply in text

🔊🎙️ = reply in audio

⇄If both appear, use the most recent marker

❓If no marker appears, default to text

✂Keep replies short, clear, and direct

📄Match the requested length and format

⚠If audio fails, fall back to text and say so

↩Reply to the same message/thread when possible

Quick Reference

📝= text

🎙️= audio

❓no marker = default to text

✂️keep it short

🔄fall back to text if audio fails

Using Pinchy

Open Pinchy on your Apple Watch

Tap the channel name to switch channels

Hold "Hold to Speak" and talk

Release — your message is sent to Discord

Swipe left for text mode, right for voice mode

Your bot's reply plays back automatically

Use the Digital Crown to adjust volume (voice) or scroll text (text)

Troubleshooting

⚠Proxy unreachable

Make sure the proxy is running. Test with http://your-ip:3847/health

⚠Works at home but not outside

Install Tailscale on your server and iPhone. Use the Tailscale IP as your proxy host. Enable "Connect on Demand" in iPhone Settings → Tailscale.

⚠Auth error on Discord

Bot token is wrong. Developer Portal → Bot → Reset Token and copy again.

⚠Bot not responding

Enable Message Content Intent in Developer Portal → Bot → Privileged Gateway Intents.

⚠OpenClaw ignoring Pinchy

Whitelist Pinchy's bot Application ID in your OpenClaw config.

⚠No channels on Watch

Open the iOS app → Settings → Save to sync channels.

⚠Voice not playing

Grant microphone access when prompted on the Watch. If audio cuts out when the screen dims, the app stays alive in the background — try again.

⚠Messages don't send when iPhone is backgrounded

Don't force-quit the iOS app (swipe up in app switcher). Leave it running in the background. If using Tailscale, enable "Connect on Demand".

⚠Watch shows "Timed out"

Your bot took too long to reply, or the audio conversion was slow. Try again — Pinchy waits up to 90 seconds.