# Printers and Benchy Host

> List the printers your workspace prints on, watch them from Benchy Desktop, and pair a new one.

Canonical: https://benchy.world/docs/printers
Last updated: 2026-10-09

## Your workspace's machines [#profiles]

List the machines you make with, once, for the whole workspace: 3D printers, lasers and cutters, and UV and sublimation printers. In the workspace menu choose **Machines**, then search Benchy's catalog for your make and model and pick its setup, such as the nozzle and build plate. A machine the catalog doesn't have is a custom machine: its make and model, what it does, and its size in millimetres. Add the materials you use and any notes, like the plate you prefer, under **Materials and notes**.

One machine is the default, and Benchy plans for it unless you name another; **Make default** changes it. Everyone in the workspace sees the same machines. Owners and editors add, change and remove them; viewers only read them, and guests don't see them. A workspace holds up to 50.

Benchy reads them before it plans or sizes a print, or when you say “my printer”. [Connected agents](https://benchy.world/docs/connect-your-agent) read them with `printers_list`, and with write access add, change and remove them with `printers_add`, `printers_update` and `printers_remove`. The list describes your machines; it never connects to them.

Benchy Desktop offers each printer it watches that isn't on the list, with **Add to Benchy…** on its page. Nothing is added until you choose **Add printer**, and only its name and model are sent; its address, serial number and access code stay on your Mac.

## Watch your printers [#benchy-host]

Benchy Host reaches the printers on your own network, so [Benchy Desktop](https://benchy.world/docs/desktop) can show what they are doing under **Printers**. It only watches: nothing is ever sent to a printer. Start, pause and cancel prints on the printer or in its own app.

A printer's page shows its current state and time left, the latest camera frame, the current layer out of the total, nozzle, bed and chamber temperatures, and past prints with how each ended and how long it took. Each Mac watches the printers it can reach.

## Pair a printer [#pair]

Pair in Terminal with the Benchy Host inside Benchy Desktop. Name the printer with `--id` and give its network address with `--ip`; the command then asks for its serial number and access code. All three are on the printer's screen.

shell

```
"/Applications/Benchy.app/Contents/Resources/bin/benchy-host" pair \
  --db "$HOME/Library/Application Support/benchy-desktop/host/host.sqlite" \
  --id workshop --ip 192.168.1.50
```

Benchy Host checks it can read the printer and keeps the access code in your Mac's Keychain, never in a file. Quit and reopen Benchy Desktop, and the printer appears under **Printers**.