> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getdax.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Main Window
> Run your coding agents side by side in one window — on your Mac or on a server over SSH.
**Dax's main window** is mission control for coding agents. Open a project folder
and you get a window of live terminals running side by side. Add agents from
a menu, split by dragging, and watch them all work — on your Mac or on a
remote server over SSH.
## Open it
Press ⌃ ⌥ . from any app.
## How it works
**1. Create or open a project**
Press ⌘N to create a new project, or
⌘O to open an existing one (recently used folders
appear first). You can also use ⌘K to search your
recent projects by name.
**2. Add agents**
Press ⌘Return (or click **+**) to pick from 19+
supported agents — Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Cursor, Grok, and more.
Each agent opens in its own terminal pane. Dax checks which agents are
installed on your machine and only shows the ones you have.
**3. Split and arrange**
Drag a pane toward the edge of another to split the space. A green
highlight shows where the split will land. Drag the divider afterward to
resize. Press **Even Out Terminals** to redistribute space evenly without
restarting anything.
## Agent detection
Dax detects **19+ coding agents** out of the box: Claude Code, Codex,
Gemini, Cursor, Grok, Pi, OpenCode, Devin, Copilot, Kimi, and more. When an
agent is running in a pane, the sidebar shows:
* Its **brand icon** (so you can tell agents apart at a glance)
* Its **status**: Working, Needs You (blocked and waiting for input), Done, or Idle
* A **creature avatar** — one of 21 pixel creatures assigned to each agent
Status updates happen in real time. If an agent gets stuck and needs your
attention, you'll see it immediately in the sidebar.
## Tabs
Organize agents with tabs — each tab can hold multiple agents:
* ⌘T — open a new tab
* ⌘Return — add an agent to the current tab
* ⌃Tab / ⌃⇧Tab — move between tabs
* ⌘W — close a single agent (not the whole window)
You can rename tabs, and each tab gets its own color so it's easy to tell
them apart. The color scheme can be set to **per-tab** or **per-folder** in
Settings.
## The sidebar
A tree view that shows everything at a glance:
* **Projects** at the top level, with **tabs** underneath, and **agents**
inside each tab
* Each agent shows its brand icon, creature avatar, and current status
* Rename anything — agents, tabs, projects
* Collapse the sidebar to an **icons-only strip** with ⌘B,
or hide it completely
* The **Agent Monitor** groups agents into buckets: Needs You, Working, Done, Idle
## Jumping between agents
Press ⌘J to open the **jump picker** — a searchable
list of every agent, tab, and folder. Type a few letters, press
Return, and you land on that agent instantly.
You can also navigate between panes with arrow keys:
⌘← ⌘→ ⌘↑
⌘↓.
## Terminal features
Every pane is a real terminal — not a preview or a mirror:
* **Split panes** — drag to split left, right, top, or bottom
* **Zoom a pane** — press ⌘M to give one agent the whole tab, press again to go back
* **Font size** — ⌘+ to enlarge, ⌘- to shrink, ⌘0 to reset
* **Copy & paste** — ⌘C to copy, ⌘V to paste
* **Scroll passthrough** — toggle with ⌘S to let the scroll wheel reach the agent or keep it for yourself
* **Terminal opacity** — adjust the glass transparency in Settings (default is fully opaque for readability)
* **Link clicking** — Dax detects URLs in terminal output (even multi-line ones) so you can click them
## Auto-naming panes
If you have Apple Intelligence enabled, Dax reads the terminal output
and **automatically names each pane** based on what the agent is working on.
The name updates as the agent moves to new tasks. You can always rename a
pane manually — the manual name sticks.
## File browser
Press ⌘E to open a file browser inside the main window — no
need to switch to Finder:
* Browse your project folder with a **Recent** column and a **Files** column
* Press Space on any file for a Quick Look preview
* Press Return to open a file
* Switch between grid and list view
* On a remote server, files are downloaded automatically when you open them
## Going full screen
Press ⌘F to fill the screen. Unlike macOS full screen,
the **menu bar and Dock stay visible** — a wall of terminals doesn't cost you
the rest of your Mac.
## Sessions persist
Your agents keep running even when you:
* **Close the main window** — reopen and they're still there
* **Quit Dax entirely** — your sessions survive because the terminals run in a
background service
* **Switch between machines** — each machine's agents are parked, not stopped
## Switching machines
Press ⌘L to open the **machine picker** — a card
showing your Mac and every server you've connected. Switching **cross-fades**
between machines instead of cutting, and the agents you leave behind are
**parked** so switching back is instant.
You can type to filter machines by name, or use arrow keys to navigate.
## Running on a server
Connect a server and Dax reaches it over a single SSH connection — same
window, same tabs, same agents, running on the machine that has the repo,
the RAM, and the uptime.
**1. Add a server**
Go to **Settings → Dax → Servers** and add a host: address, user, port,
and a key file or password. Passwords are stored in your Mac's Keychain.
Invisible characters from cloud console copy-paste are cleaned
automatically, and key file permissions are narrowed for you.
**2. Switch to the server**
Press ⌘L and pick the server. Its projects and live
terminals appear exactly as local ones do.
**3. Test the connection**
Press **Test** to see the full connection flow: which address answered,
which key was offered, what the server accepted. Copy the log if you need
to debug.
**4. Dax sets the server up**
If the server is missing the terminal service Dax runs agents in, Dax installs it for you. On
IPv6-only servers where GitHub is unreachable, Dax sends the binary over
the SSH connection that's already open.
> [!NOTE]
>
> Your `~/.ssh/config`, SSH agent, and `known_hosts` all still apply. Nothing
> new is installed on your Mac — everything goes through the standard SSH
> connection.
### Remote Panel
Press ⌘R (only shown when connected to a server) to
open the **Remote Panel** — a dashboard for your server with five tabs:
* **Coding Agents** — see what's installed, install missing agents with one
click, and update existing ones
* **Services & Ports** — every listening service and open port, with
start/stop controls
* **Web Servers & SSL** — sites grouped by domain, with certificate details
and expiry dates
* **Usage** — disk, memory, load, and a live console
* **Utilities** — common server tools you can launch with one click
### Installing agents on servers
When you connect to a server for the first time, Dax checks which
coding agents are installed. If any are missing, it offers to install them
for you — no need to SSH in separately and run setup scripts.
## Creatures
Every agent gets a **pixel creature** — one of 21 characters across four
biomes (aquatic, forest, ground, nocturnal). The creature is assigned based
on the agent's terminal, so it stays consistent. Creatures appear in the
sidebar and in the Agent Monitor.
## Settings
Settings → Dax lets you configure:
* **Default agent** — which agent to add when you press ⌘T
* **Skip permission prompts** — let agents run without asking (YOLO mode)
* **Terminal font size** — default size for new panes
* **Terminal opacity** — how transparent the terminal background is
* **Scroll passthrough** — whether the scroll wheel reaches the agent
* **Pane title summarization** — auto-name panes using Apple Intelligence
* **Tab color scheme** — color by tab or by folder
* **File browser view** — grid or list
* **Projects folder** — where new projects are created
* **Upload pasted files** — automatically upload files pasted into remote terminals
## Keyboard shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
| - | - |
| Open the main window | ⌃ ⌥ . |
| New project | ⌘N |
| Open project | ⌘O |
| Recent projects | ⌘K |
| Jump to agent | ⌘J |
| New tab | ⌘T |
| Add agent | ⌘Return |
| Close agent | ⌘W |
| Toggle sidebar | ⌘B |
| Fill screen | ⌘F |
| Zoom one agent | ⌘M |
| Remote Panel | ⌘R |
| Machine switcher | ⌘L |
| File browser | ⌘E |
| Show shortcuts | ⌘/ |
| Larger text | ⌘+ |
| Smaller text | ⌘- |
| Reset text size | ⌘0 |
| Copy | ⌘C |
| Toggle scroll | ⌘S |
## First launch
The first time you open the main window, Dax offers to install the terminal
service your agents run in ([herdr](https://herdr.dev), open source) via
Homebrew or a one-line script. It runs as a background service — your sessions persist even when you close
the window or quit Dax.
## Privacy
Everything runs locally or through a direct SSH connection to your own
server. Your terminals, your agents, your code — nothing goes through the
Dax backend.
This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.