Start
Your dial is awake. Let’s finish the job.
Three minutes, one download, no account. Your dial is already showing the activation screen, which means the hardware works. It now needs something to count.
1 What you are installing
The Mule is a small program that runs on your computer, reads how much of your AI subscriptions you have burned through, and sends that number to the dial over USB or your local network.
It stays on your machine. The Mule reads your usage locally and talks to your dial. Your usage data is not uploaded to Griftmeter or anywhere else. The only thing this computer fetches from us is the download below, and later, update checks.
Use the cable in the box. It is USB-A to USB-C. A USB-C to USB-C cable will not work: the dial cannot negotiate power over C-to-C, so it will simply stay dark and look broken. If your computer has only USB-C ports, any powered A-to-C adapter or hub is fine.
2 Download The Mule
3 Check your dial Optional
If you would like confirmation that the dial is talking before you install anything, connect it by USB and press the button. This reads the firmware version and changes nothing on the device.
4 What happens next
Run what you downloaded. On Windows it is a normal installer: next, next, done. On a Mac, open the disk image and drag Griftmeter into Applications. On Linux, unpack the archive and run install.sh. Then start The Mule. It opens its own page at localhost:7777 and walks you through connecting your first provider.
Leave the dial plugged in. Once The Mule has a number, the activation screen goes away on its own and the needle starts moving. That is the whole setup.
On Windows there is no terminal window. It is a background helper, not an app you sit in front of, so nothing black opens and nothing sits on the taskbar. Starting it from Start Menu, Griftmeter brings up the settings page in your browser, and so does clicking the icon again while it is already running. If you set it to start with Windows, that one is silent on purpose: no window, no tab, nothing at login.
Nothing on the dial yet? Give it about thirty seconds after The Mule’s page loads. If it is still showing the activation screen, The Mule’s page has a device panel that will tell you what it can see.