Tesla for Light Phone

Control your Tesla from your Light Phone 3.

Why do I need a developer account?

This app connects to your Tesla through Tesla's official API — but instead of routing through someone else's server, you use your own developer credentials. This means:

Privacy — Your Tesla account is never shared with a third party. The connection is directly between your phone and Tesla.

No costs to anyone — Tesla gives every developer account a $10/month credit toward API usage. Your personal use costs well under $1/month, so the credit covers it easily — no payment method needed to get started.

Full control — You can revoke access or delete your developer app at any time from developer.tesla.com.

Setup takes about 5 minutes.

Getting credentials to your phone

After creating your developer app below, you have two ways to get the credentials onto your Light Phone:

QR code — Enter your credentials here and scan the generated QR code with your Light Phone. The QR code is created entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to any server — the credentials go straight from your screen to your phone's camera.

Manual entry — Type your Client ID and Client Secret directly into the app on your Light Phone. No computer needed. Note: some characters like uppercase I and lowercase l look the same on small screens — double-check these if you run into errors.

Create a Tesla Developer App

Go to developer.tesla.com and create an application with these settings:

Allowed Origin: https://tesla-lightphone.app
Allowed Redirect URI: https://tesla-lightphone.app/setup
API Scopes — select these permissions:
- Vehicle Information — lets the app read your car's status: battery level, charge state, temperature, location, tire pressure, and odometer. This is how the app shows your vehicle's current state.
- Vehicle Commands — lets the app send commands to your car: lock/unlock, climate on/off, open trunk/frunk, flash lights, honk, vent windows, and remote start.
- Vehicle Charging Management (optional) — lets the app start/stop charging, set charge limits, and schedule charging. You can add this later if you want charging controls.

The Origin and Redirect URI tell Tesla which app is allowed to connect. They must match exactly — Tesla uses them to verify the sign-in request is coming from this app.

Copy your Client ID and Client Secret from the app dashboard.

Need more detail?

1. Sign in at developer.tesla.com with your Tesla account.
2. Click "Create Application".
3. Fill in any name and description (these are for your reference).
4. Set the Origin and Redirect URI exactly as shown above.
5. Under API scopes, check the two boxes listed above.
6. Submit the application. It may take a few minutes to be approved.
7. Once approved, copy the Client ID and Client Secret.

Enter Your Credentials

Client ID Client Secret

Scan QR on Light Phone

Open the Tesla app on your Light Phone, tap SCAN QR, and point the camera at this code.

After scanning, the app will ask you to sign in with your Tesla account directly on your phone.

What happens after setup?

Once your credentials are on your phone (by QR or manual entry), the app opens Tesla's official sign-in page where you log in with your Tesla email and password. This happens directly between your phone and Tesla — the app never sees your password.

After signing in, the app shows a key pairing screen with a QR code. Scan it with your smartphone — this opens the Tesla app, which asks to approve the key for your vehicle. Once approved, tap CONTINUE on the Light Phone.

This step is required by Tesla for all third-party apps that send vehicle commands. No server is involved — the pairing happens directly between the app and Tesla.

Questions?

See the full FAQ page covering privacy, security, API scopes, developer accounts, and more.

Privacy: Your credentials stay in your browser and on your phone. The QR code is generated locally in your browser — nothing is sent to any server other than Tesla's. The app is open source and you can verify this in the source code.