From 82689782eee0f0cf27d5601e1d533381587b64f8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alex Southwell <saphid@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2026 17:21:54 +1000
Subject: [PATCH] fix(web): explain hosted connection prerequisites (#10129)

Co-authored-by: github-actions[bot] <41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 apps/web/src/routes/_chat.index.tsx | 12 ++++++++----
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/apps/web/src/routes/_chat.index.tsx b/apps/web/src/routes/_chat.index.tsx
index 339c7eae223b11fd807f783c82daa62bfa4ba440..0fd9fc92945af3e50805647484b478e047f1a14a 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/routes/_chat.index.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/routes/_chat.index.tsx
@@ -161,17 +161,21 @@ function HostedStaticOnboardingState() {
                 <LinkIcon className="size-5" />
               </div>
               <EmptyTitle className="text-foreground text-xl">
-                Connect an environment to get started
+                Connect to a computer running T3 Code
               </EmptyTitle>
+              <EmptyDescription className="mt-2 text-sm leading-relaxed text-muted-foreground/78">
+                This browser connects to T3 Code running on your computer or a server. Start the T3
+                Code desktop app or command-line server on that machine and keep it running.
+              </EmptyDescription>
               <EmptyDescription className="mt-2 text-sm leading-relaxed text-muted-foreground/78">
                 {cloudEnabled
-                  ? "Sign in to T3 Connect to connect a linked environment through its managed tunnel, or add a reachable backend manually."
-                  : "Add a reachable backend manually to start working from this browser."}
+                  ? "Enable T3 Connect on that machine, then open Connections here to sign in with the same account. You can also add the machine using a pairing link."
+                  : "Open Connections and add that machine using its pairing link. This browser must be able to reach it."}
               </EmptyDescription>
               <div className="mt-6 flex justify-center">
                 <Button render={<Link to="/settings/connections" />} size="sm">
                   <PlusIcon className="size-4" />
-                  {cloudEnabled ? "Open Connections" : "Add environment"}
+                  Open Connections
                 </Button>
               </div>
             </EmptyHeader>
-- 
2.54.0