---
title: "Mac Settings"
canonical_url: https://www.superlogical.com/rex/docs/reference/mac-settings
---

# Mac Settings

This page lists every setting in Rex for Mac and where to find it. Anything tagged [Bleeding Edge](/content/rex/docs/reference/mac-settings.md#setting-app-version-update-channel/index.html) is on that update channel and not yet in Preview.

## Integrations

### Coding Agents

Teach Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Pi how to use Rex. In Settings > Integrations > Coding Agents.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Integrate with available agents | Installs a Rex skill and session hooks for supported agents. |

### Agent Behavior

Choose what Rex tells coding agents running in its terminals. In Settings > Integrations > Agent Behavior.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Let agents name sessions | Let agents label the session after the task they're working on. |

## Notifications

### In-App Notifications

Choose where floating notifications appear in the window. In Settings > Notifications > In-App Notifications.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Notification position | Click a position in the window diagram to place notifications at the top or bottom, aligned left, center, or right. |

### Program Activity

Independently configure tab indicators, system notifications, Dock badges, and sounds for program activity. In Settings > Notifications > Program Activity.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Show activity in tabs | Show working dots, progress pies, and needs-attention dots and messages on tabs when a program in them reports its status. |
| Include idle processes in activity | Keep tabs whose programs report that they're idle in the Activity filter and popup, even after you've seen them. |
| Show each process in tabs | Split a tab with more than one active pane into a row for each pane in the Activity filter and popup. Clicking a row focuses its pane. |
| Show system notifications | Send a macOS notification when a program reports a status while Rex is in the background, independently of tab indicators. Clicking it opens the program's tab. |
| Badge Dock icon | Show on Rex's Dock icon how many tabs have a program that's blocked, failed, or finished that you haven't seen. |
| Play sounds | Play a sound when a program in a tab is blocked, reports an error, or finishes. |
| Working | Enable or disable all activity for working programs, or configure their tab indicators, notifications, Dock badges, and sounds individually. |
| Blocked | Enable or disable all activity for programs waiting for you, or configure their tab indicators, notifications, Dock badges, and sounds individually. |
| Error | Enable or disable all activity for programs reporting errors, or configure their tab indicators, notifications, Dock badges, and sounds individually. |
| Done | Enable or disable all activity for finished programs, or configure their tab indicators, notifications, Dock badges, and sounds individually. |

### System Notifications

Choose whether terminal programs can send native macOS notifications, and see the ones Rex sends for Tailscale. In Settings > Notifications > System Notifications.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Terminal notifications | Let programs send native notifications with OSC 9 or OSC 777. |
| Tailscale sign-in | A native notification when Rex needs you to sign in to Tailscale. |
| Tailscale device approval | A native notification when a tailnet administrator must approve this Mac. |
| Tailscale failures | A native notification when Tailscale stops or reports an error. |

## Server

### Rex Server

Manage the local server, compatibility, and diagnostics. In Settings > Server > Rex Server.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Server status | See whether the local server is running and for how long, with version and API details in its info popover. |
| Compatibility | When an update, compatibility issue, or pending settings change is detected, see the discrepancy and update or restart the server when appropriate. |

### Remote Address

Check serving progress, copy the address, or pair another device. In Settings > Server > Remote Address.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Remote Address | Check serving progress and certificate readiness, retry, copy the address, or pair a device using its QR code. |

### Tailscale

Connect Rex to your tailnet and control who can access it. In Settings > Server > Tailscale.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Serve over Tailscale | Enable or disable access to Rex over your tailnet. |
| Preferred Hostname | Choose this Mac’s Tailscale hostname while serving. The assigned address may differ. |
| Limit access to your Tailscale account | Restrict callers to your account or allow tailnet members. |
| Tags | See this device’s Tailscale tags. Sign out and back in to change them. |
| Control Server | See which control server this device signs in with. Sign out and back in to change it. |
| Sign in to Tailscale | Check your account and sign-out progress, configure a hostname and sign in, reopen or cancel enrollment, or sign out. |

### Client Info

Choose how this Mac appears to Rex servers and the command line. In Settings > Server > Client Info.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Label | Name this Mac in client lists and for targeting it from rex commands. |
| Remote Control | Let Rex and other clients perform actions in this app. |

## Interface

### Appearance

Choose the color scheme, interface materials, and theme tint. In Settings > Interface > Appearance.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Color scheme | Select a live Auto, Light, or Dark material preview. Auto follows the system appearance. |
| Interface style | Preview Glass or Classic materials with the current theme tint and select a surface style. |
| Tint with theme | Apply the selected theme's colors to interface surfaces. |
| Use glass for panes | Available with the Glass interface style: add glass to panes alongside window and tab materials. |

### Tabs

Choose tab placement, sizing, and pane icon counts and colors. In Settings > Interface > Tabs.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Tab style | Place tabs Above, on the Left Side, or on the Right Side of the window. |
| Fill available space | Available with horizontal tabs: expand tabs equally to fill the bar, showing backgrounds only for two or more tabs. |
| Use color for tab icons | Show colored icons Always, For active panes, For active tabs, or Never. |
| Shell icon theme | Choose Default artwork, Use theme for background and foreground colors, or Use theme accent for accents. |
| Show tab icons | Show zero to three pane icons in vertical tabs, or up to five in horizontal tabs. |

### Window

Available with sidebar tab styles: choose whether the sidebar resizes the window, which swipe shows or hides it, and the size of its text. In Settings > Interface > Window.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Sidebar text size | Available with vertical tabs: set the size of session and tab titles in the sidebar, or follow the Sidebar icon size in System Settings. |
| Preserve width when resizing sidebar | Available with vertical tabs: resize panes when showing or hiding the sidebar, keeping the window width unchanged. |
| Use a gesture to toggle the sidebar | Available with vertical tabs: choose whether a swipe or an Option-swipe shows or hides the sidebar, or turn the gesture off. |

### Panes

Adjust pane spacing, headers, and program backgrounds. In Settings > Interface > Panes.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Pane style | Choose Comfortable or Compact pane surfaces and spacing. |
| Show pane headers | Show the title and controls above each pane. |
| Match program backgrounds | Color a pane and its header with the background a full-screen program paints. |

### Pane Padding

Set the space between a pane's edges and its terminal text, and the color drawn there. Opens from Customize pane behavior under Panes. In Settings > Interface > Pane Padding.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Padding X | Set the space to the left and right of the terminal text. |
| Padding Y | Set the space below the terminal text, and above it when pane headers are hidden. |
| Padding color | Use the pane background or extend edge-cell backgrounds into the padding. |

### Active Pane

Highlight the edges of the active pane and fade inactive ones. Opens from Customize pane behavior under Panes. In Settings > Interface > Active Pane.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Highlight active pane edges | Highlight the edges of the focused pane, following focus. |
| Highlight color | Draw the highlight in the accent, a terminal palette color, or the terminal text color. |
| Highlight opacity | Set how strongly the highlight draws. |
| Animate active pane highlight | Fade the highlight to the newly focused pane, move it there, or switch it at once. |
| Fade inactive panes | Fade unfocused pane surfaces, content, both, or neither. |
| Fade panes for inactive windows | Fade inactive windows while respecting the pane fade choice. |

### Splits & Focus

Balance a tab's splits and let focus follow the pointer. Opens from Customize pane behavior under Panes. In Settings > Interface > Splits & Focus.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Autobalance splits | Evenly resize a tab's panes when one opens or closes, keeping dividers you drag. |
| Focus follows mouse | Focus a pane by moving the pointer over it, without clicking. |

### Gestures

Turn trackpad gestures for panes and the sidebar on or off. In Settings > Interface > Gestures.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Use trackpad gestures | Spread two fingers over a pane to zoom it and pinch them to restore it, and swipe to show or hide the sidebar. |

### Animation

Choose how panes move, open, and close. In Settings > Interface > Animation.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Animation style | Choose Snappy, Natural, or Off for pane motion, the active border, and showing or hiding the sidebar. |

### App Icon

Customize Rex's app icon and Dock and menu bar icon visibility. In Settings > Interface > App Icon.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| App Icon | Choose Default — Dynamic, Bright, or Twilight artwork for the app icon. |
| Show app icon | Show Rex's icon in the Dock and menu bar, the Dock only, or the menu bar only while no window is open. |

### Launch

Choose whether Rex opens workspace windows at startup. In Settings > Interface > Launch.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Show window on launch | Automatically open workspace windows when Rex launches. |

## Themes

### Light Mode

Select the theme palette used in light appearance. In Settings > Themes > Light Mode.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Light theme | Choose a custom, default, or built-in palette used in light mode. |
| Use extended theme palette | Use the theme’s colors 16–255 in light mode, or xterm’s standard palette when off. |

### Dark Mode

Select the theme palette used in dark appearance. In Settings > Themes > Dark Mode.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Dark theme | Choose a custom, default, or built-in palette used in dark mode. |
| Use extended theme palette | Use the theme’s colors 16–255 in dark mode, or xterm’s standard palette when off. |

### Import Theme

Add a Ghostty or iTerm palette to your custom themes. In Settings > Themes > Import Theme.

## Terminal

### Typography

Preview and choose the terminal font, size, style, and weight. In Settings > Terminal > Typography.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Terminal font | Browse monospaced or all installed fonts to choose the terminal typeface. |
| Font size | Adjust terminal text size in points. |
| Font style | Choose an installed face of the terminal font, such as Light or Book. |
| Font weight | Adjust the stroke weight of a variable terminal font. |

### Advanced Font Settings

Adjust character spacing, line height, ligatures, smoothing, and fallback fonts. Opens from Advanced under Typography. In Settings > Terminal > Advanced Font Settings.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Character spacing | Tighten or widen terminal character spacing in pixels or percent. |
| Line height | Add or remove space between terminal lines. |
| Ligatures | Join characters like -> and != into single symbols. |
| Bold and italic | Draw bold and italic always, only when the font has them, or turn either off. |
| Font smoothing | Smooth the edges of terminal text. |
| Fallback fonts | Choose fonts, in order, for characters the terminal font doesn't have. |

### Colors

Control terminal text colors and readability. In Settings > Terminal > Colors.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Improve text contrast | Adjust low-contrast text against its background; included when using the theme palette. |
| Force theme palette for text | Map RGB and extended text colors to the nearest theme color, then correct contrast. |
| Use Display P3 color space | Read theme and program colors as Display P3, like Ghostty's window-colorspace. |

### Cursor

Preview and adjust the terminal cursor shape and blinking. In Settings > Terminal > Cursor.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Blink speed | Choose Off, Slow, Normal, Fast, or Custom to edit the blink interval. |
| Blink interval | Set the time between cursor blinks in milliseconds when Blink speed is Custom. |
| Cursor style | Choose a block, bar, or underline cursor. |
| Force style | Ignore application requests to change cursor shape. |

### Keyboard

Show key sequence hints and choose how modifier keys behave in terminal input. In Settings > Terminal > Keyboard.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Show key sequence hints | Show the keys that can come next after the first key of a sequence, such as a tmux-style prefix. |
| Option key | Choose whether the Option key sends Alt or types special characters. |

### Scrolling

Choose how trackpad and Magic Mouse scrolling move through terminal history. In Settings > Terminal > Scrolling.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Smooth scrolling | Move through terminal history by pixels instead of whole lines. |

### Resizing

Choose how terminal text follows a pane as it changes size. In Settings > Terminal > Resizing.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Smooth terminal resizing | Reflow terminal text on the frame a pane changes size, without waiting for the server. |

### Selection

Preview selection colors and corners, and customize copying with its animation. In Settings > Terminal > Selection.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Copy on selection | Automatically copy selected terminal text to the clipboard. |
| Play animation on copy | Shine across the selection to confirm each copy. |
| Selection foreground | Choose the text color inside a selection. |
| Selection background | Choose the fill color behind selected text. |
| Rounded corners | Round the corners of terminal text selections. |

### Links

Choose whether terminal links that launch other apps ask first. In Settings > Terminal > Links.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Links that open apps | Ask before, always, or never open links such as ssh:// that launch another app. |
| Trusted links | Review and remove the links you chose to always open, once Always Open adds one. |

### Integrated Path Browser

Choose what Insert Path lists when it types a path at the cursor. In Settings > Terminal > Integrated Path Browser.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Show recently used paths | List the paths you chose most recently first, shared by every session on a host. |

### Titles

Choose how terminal tabs and pane headers are named. In Settings > Terminal > Titles.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Prefer generated titles | Show the running program and its directory instead of titles that shells set. |

### Shell

Choose the command run when a new local terminal opens. In Settings > Terminal > Shell.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Startup command | Set the executable and arguments, or leave empty for the default login shell. |

## Remote Hosts

### Remote hosts

Add, reorder, and manage remote Rex hosts, view connection status, and retry connection failures. In Settings > Remote Hosts > Remote hosts.

## Developer

Reveal settings for development and debugging. In Settings > Developer.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Developer Mode | Show update-channel, installation, local API, web-client origin, and experiment settings. |

### Experimental

Try features that aren't finished when Developer Mode is enabled. In Settings > Developer > Experimental.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Download new updates when available | Download updates in the background and ask before restarting. |
| Install updates automatically | Relaunch into the new version while Rex is not visible. |
| Terminal anchoring | Pin terminal text to the top or the bottom of each pane. |
| Cursor shaders | Draw a trail shader, such as Warp, Comet, or Blaze, behind terminal cursors. |
| New quick switcher | Open one list of every session, block, and reporting process from Go to Anything. |
| Quick Look links | Preview the files and web links on screen with Command-Y. |

### App Version

Choose how Rex.app receives updates when Developer Mode is enabled. In Settings > Developer > App Version.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Update Channel | Choose Preview or Bleeding Edge updates when Developer Mode is enabled. |

### Rex Installation

Choose the included server or run Rex from a source checkout. In Settings > Developer > Rex Installation.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Location | Use the server included with Rex.app or a local source checkout. |
| Source Directory | Choose the folder containing the Rex source checkout. |
| Installation status | Check whether the selected Rex installation is ready to run. |
| Version | View and copy the included server version under Show Details. |
| Commit | View and copy the source commit of the included server under Show Details. |
| Final SHA-256 | View and copy the included server checksum under Show Details. |

### Local API

Inspect the local server's API endpoint when Developer Mode is enabled. In Settings > Developer > Local API.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Local API URL | View and copy the local server endpoint when Developer Mode is enabled. |

### Web Client Origins

Manage browser origins allowed to open Rex WebSocket streams. In Settings > Developer > Web Client Origins.

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Allowed origins | Review the permitted origins and remove custom entries. |
| Origin pattern | Enter a browser origin or wildcard subdomain to allow after restarting Rex. |