Run Mission Overwatch on your computer (easy steps)

Before you start

• You need a Windows PC or Mac (these instructions cover both).
• The computer should be on the same Wi‑Fi as the Android tablet running the pilot app.
• Set aside about 15–30 minutes the first time (mostly downloading and installing).

1. Get the AlphaRelay files (no Git required)

We use a normal zip download so you do not need to install “Git” or use the command line yet.

1. Open the project on GitHub in your browser. If you have the link from your team, use it. Otherwise the public repo is: github.com/alpha-karim/Alpha-Relay
2. Download the code as a zip. On the GitHub page, click the green Code button, then click Download ZIP.
3. Unzip the folder. On Windows, right‑click the zip → Extract All…. On Mac, double‑click the zip. Move the extracted folder somewhere easy to find, for example your Desktop and rename it to AlphaRelay if that helps.

You should end up with a folder that contains files like package.json, mission-overwatch.html, and mvp.js. The exact folder name may be Alpha-Relay-main — that is fine.

2. Install Node.js (one-time, free)

“Node” is a small program many web apps use. You only install it once. It lets you run the command npm run serve:overwatch in the next step.

1. Go to nodejs.org and download the LTS version (recommended for most users).
2. Run the installer. Accept the defaults (Next / Continue) unless your IT team says otherwise.
3. Close and reopen any Terminal or Command Prompt windows you had open before installing, so they see the new program.

Alternative (no Node): skip to section 4 and use the Python option instead. If you are unsure, installing Node is usually simpler for the steps below.

3. Open a terminal in the AlphaRelay folder

A “terminal” is a small text window where you type commands. You are only copying one or two lines we give you.

Windows

• Press the Windows key, type cmd, press Enter (opens Command Prompt).
• Type cd (with a space after cd), then drag the AlphaRelay folder from File Explorer into the black window and press Enter. That fills in the correct path for you.

Mac

• Press Command + Space, type Terminal, press Enter.
• Type cd (space after cd), then drag your AlphaRelay folder from Finder into the Terminal window and press Enter.

If drag‑and‑drop does not work, you can type the path by hand. Example on Mac: cd Desktop/Alpha-Relay-main — use your real folder name.

4. Start the local web server

Stay in the same terminal window. You must be inside the folder that contains package.json.

Option A — using Node (recommended)

1. The first time in this folder, run npm install once (installs dependencies), then start the app with npm run serve:overwatch.
2. Wait until the terminal shows the server is listening (port 8080). This command serves the web UI and the admin API (provision/delete users); use it if you open admin.html.
3. Leave this window open while you use Mission Overwatch. Closing it stops the app.

Option B — using Python (if you do not want Node)

1. Type: python3 -m http.server 8080 (Mac) or try py -m http.server 8080 (Windows). Press Enter.
2. If you see an error that Python is not found, install Python from python.org and try again.
3. Leave the window open while you use the app.

Python only serves static files. The admin portal (admin.html) needs npm install + npm run serve:overwatch, your deployed site, or vercel dev — otherwise provision/delete return “501 Unsupported method”.

5. Open Mission Overwatch in your browser

1. Open Chrome, Edge, or Firefox.
2. In the address bar, type exactly: http://localhost:8080/mission-overwatch.html and press Enter.
3. Sign in with the same operator email and password your organization uses for AlphaRelay (the same idea as signing in on the website).
4. In Drone Relay URL, enter your tablet’s secure relay, usually wss://192.168.1.x:8789 (open the trust URLs from the tablet screen first). Add the relay token if your pilot app uses one.
5. Click Connect.

If the page does not load, make sure step 4 is still running and that the address starts with http:// not https://.

If something goes wrong

• “Command not found” for npm or python: Node or Python may not be installed, or the terminal was opened before installation — install from the links above, restart the computer, open a new terminal, try again.
• Blank page or “cannot connect”: confirm the tablet and computer are on the same Wi‑Fi, the pilot relay is running, and the IP/port match what the pilot tablet shows.
• Port 8080 already in use: close other programs using that port, or use Python with another port: python3 -m http.server 9090 then open http://localhost:9090/mission-overwatch.html.

Later: updating the files

When your team releases a new version, download a fresh ZIP from GitHub and replace your old folder (or unzip next to it). You do not need to learn Git unless you want to.