Settings

Conduit's settings are accessible via Cmd/Ctrl+, or through the sidebar menu. This page covers every configurable option.

Appearance

Conduit uses a 3-axis theming system that combines a Platform Theme, a Color Scheme, and a Dark/Light mode into a single cohesive look. Each axis is independent, so you can mix and match freely.

Platform Theme

Platform themes control the overall visual language of the interface, including layout chrome, surface effects, and icon style. Choose the theme that matches your operating system — or pick any theme you prefer, regardless of platform.

• macOS Tahoe — Inspired by macOS Tahoe's liquid glass aesthetic. Features frosted glass surfaces, translucent sidebars, and Phosphor icons throughout the interface.
• Windows 11 — Follows Microsoft's Fluent Design system. Features Mica-style layering, subtle acrylic backdrops, and Fluent UI icons.
• Ubuntu — Modeled after GNOME's Libadwaita design language. Features clean, high-contrast surfaces with bold icon outlines and rounded containers.

Each platform theme ships with its own icon pack. Icons across the sidebar, toolbars, dialogs, and tab bar all switch to match the selected theme — Phosphor for macOS Tahoe, Fluent for Windows 11, and bold outline icons for Ubuntu.

Color Scheme

Color schemes set the accent palette used across buttons, links, active indicators, and highlights. The selected color scheme applies on top of whichever platform theme is active.

Dark / Light Mode

Toggle between dark and light mode, or set it to System to follow your OS preference automatically. The mode applies to all surface colors and adjusts contrast for the current platform theme.

Behavior

• Default Shell — Choose the default shell for local terminal sessions (bash, zsh, fish, etc.).
• Sidebar Mode — Pinned keeps the sidebar always visible. Auto-collapse hides it when not in use.
• Web Session Engine — Set the default browser engine for web sessions. Options are Auto, Chromium, and Edge – WebView2 (Windows only). Individual entries can override this default. When set to Auto, Conduit prefers WebView2 on Windows if the runtime is available, and Chromium everywhere else. See the Web Sessions page for details on engine selection.

Window Management

Conduit remembers your window size, position, and maximized state across app restarts. This state is saved automatically to a local ui-state.json file — no configuration required.

• Size & Position — The window dimensions and screen position are persisted when you move or resize the window and restored on the next launch.
• Maximized State — If the window was maximized when you quit, it reopens maximized.
• Display Validation — On launch, the saved position is validated against currently connected displays. If the saved position is offscreen (for example, an external monitor was unplugged), the window automatically centers on the primary display.
• Default Fallback — When no saved state exists (first launch or after a reset), the window opens at 1280×800 centered on the primary display.

Close to Tray / Dock

Clicking the close button (the red circle on macOS or the X button on Windows) hides the window instead of quitting the application. Conduit continues running in the system tray on Windows or the dock on macOS, so your connections remain available for quick access.

When the window is hidden, Conduit automatically locks the vault and closes all active sessions. This ensures your credentials are never left exposed while the window is out of view. Reopening the app from the tray or dock requires you to unlock the vault again before resuming work.

To fully quit Conduit, use Cmd+Q on macOS or select Quit from the system tray menu on Windows. This terminates the application entirely rather than hiding it.

Sessions

The Sessions section groups protocol-specific defaults. Each protocol has its own tab.

SSH

• Auth Method When Key Present — Controls which authentication method Conduit uses when a credential contains both an SSH key and a password. Options are SSH Key (default) and Password. Individual credentials and connection entries can override this global default by setting their own preference to SSH Key or Password. See SSH Connections for the full resolution order.

AI & Engines

• Default AI Engine — Select between Built-in, Claude Code, or Codex as the default engine for AI chat sessions.
• Default Working Directory — Set the default working directory for agent sessions.
• Engine Status — Status indicators show availability for each engine along with authentication instructions.

Tool Approvals

The Tool Approvals section controls whether AI agents must receive your explicit approval before executing MCP tool calls. A master toggle enables or disables the system globally. When enabled, any tools you have marked as “always allow” are listed below, grouped by category with color-coded badges. You can remove individual tools or clear the entire list. See Safety & Approvals for full details on how the approval flow works.

Backup

• Backup Folder — Select a backup destination via the native OS folder picker.
• Retention Period — Configure how long backups are retained (default 30 days).
• Chat History — Toggle whether AI chat history is included in backups.
• Manual Backup — Trigger an immediate backup at any time.

Cloud Sync

• Enable/Disable — Toggle cloud sync on or off. Requires a paid tier subscription.
• Sync Status — View the current cloud sync status indicator.

Vault

• Recent Vaults — Displays the last 10 opened vaults for quick access.
• Last Opened — The most recently opened vault persists across app restarts.

Team Vault Settings

Team vaults have a centralized Vault Settings dialog accessible from the team vault context bar. It includes three tabs:

• Members — Add, remove, and manage vault member roles (admin, editor, viewer).
• Folder Permissions — Configure per-folder access restrictions for individual team members.
• Activity — View the full audit log with date grouping, action-type filtering, and pagination.

MCP

• Server Status — Shows whether the MCP server is running and ready for external agents.
• Configuration Snippet — A ready-to-copy configuration snippet for connecting external AI agents (Claude Code, Codex, etc.) to the MCP server.

Auto-Update

Conduit checks for updates automatically in the background every four hours. You can also trigger a manual check from Help → Check for Updates.

When an update is found, it downloads automatically in the background. A non-blocking notification appears in the top-right corner of the window showing real-time download progress — including a progress bar with percentage, transferred and total bytes, and download speed. Once the download completes, the notification transitions to a Restart Now button so you can install when ready. Dismiss the notification to install later — the update will be applied on the next app restart.

Install Failure Fallback

On some systems — particularly ad-hoc signed macOS builds — the automatic install step can fail. When this happens, Conduit handles it gracefully: the notification transitions to an error state, the website download page opens automatically, and a Download from Website button appears so you can grab the latest release manually. A Try Again button is also available if you want to retry the automatic install.

Help Menu

The Help menu in the menu bar provides access to documentation and built-in feedback tools for reporting issues or suggesting improvements.

Submit a Bug

Select Help → Submit a Bug… to open the bug report dialog. The form includes a title, description, and a read-only system information panel that is automatically populated with your OS version, app version, and platform details. You can optionally enable Include recent logs to attach the latest application logs to the report.

You can also attach up to 5 screenshots to help illustrate the issue. Click Attach Screenshots to select image files from your system. Supported formats are PNG, JPG, GIF, and WebP, with a maximum size of 5 MB per file. Each attached image shows a thumbnail preview with the filename and size, and can be removed before submitting.

Submissions are sent directly to the Conduit team via Supabase. Log files and screenshots, when included, are uploaded to a secure storage bucket and linked to the report.

Submit Feedback

Select Help → Submit Feedback… to share a suggestion or feature request. This is a lightweight form with just a title and description — no system info, log attachment, or screenshot support is included.