Browse your machines
The library is the window that lists every machine you use, called a host, and the services on each one: a terminal, a database, a remote desktop. This page explains how the library is laid out on each device, how to search it, and what a host's details tell you.
Find your way around the library#
On Vision Pro: A tab bar beside the library window holds All, Favorites, Recent and Collections, followed by a tab for each panel, such as Active and SSH Keys. The window shows the list of hosts on the left and the selected host's details on the right. Search connections above the list filters it, and the sidebar button at the top left of the details hides and shows the list (⌃⌘S with a keyboard). Add Host, Settings and Active Connections (⚡) sit in a bar below the window. Left alone while other windows are open, the library shrinks into a small orb; tap the orb to bring it back. See Bring the library back on Vision Pro.
On Mac: The library window is titled Connections. Its sidebar has a Library section with All Connections, Favorites, Recent and Active, each with a count. Below it are Collections (once any host belongs to one), Keys with SSH Keys, and sections such as Workgroups. The middle column lists hosts and the right column shows the selected host. Add Host (+) is in the toolbar above the host list. The toolbar also has ⚡, Local Terminal, Show All Windows, Import RDP File… and, once Tailscale is set up, Tailscale. File ▸ New Connections Window (⇧⌘N) opens another library window.
On iPad: At full width the library has the same three columns as on Mac. The toolbar holds ⚡, Add Host (+), Settings (gear), Import RDP File… and, once Tailscale is set up, Tailscale. In a narrow window it works as it does on iPhone.
On iPhone: The library opens on the list of categories. Tap a category to see its hosts, then tap a host to see its details. ⚡, Add Host and Settings are in the toolbar, with Import RDP File… and, once Tailscale is set up, Tailscale.
Search the library#
- Select the category you want to search, such as All Connections or Favorites.
- Type in the Search connections... field.
The list shows hosts whose name, other names (Also known as), collection names or service names contain what you type. Upper and lower case do not matter. The search applies only to the category you selected.
Read a host's details#
Select a host to see two sections.
Services lists each service on the host with its kind: Terminal, Database or Desktop. Each row has a Connect button (play symbol) and an Edit button (pencil). Rows for tools that a service provides appear under the services with an Open button: Files for a Terminal service, and Basic Terminal, a shell outside tmux, for one that keeps its terminals in tmux (see Open a terminal without tmux). Add a service… is at the end of the section.
Note
A service marked Not set up in orange has no saved settings behind it. Connecting cannot work. Right-click it, or touch and hold it, choose Remove Service, then add it again.
Host shows:
- Address: the hostname or IP address, or Not set for a host that has none yet. If the records that make up the host disagree, every address is listed and you are asked to edit the host to settle it.
- Also known as and Collections, when set.
- Last connected: how long ago a session on this host last connected, or Never.
- Connect opens: the service that opens when you connect the host without choosing one. It appears once you have chosen one of the host's services to connect to.
- Add Favorite or Remove Favorite.
Edit at the bottom of the details opens the host's settings.
This device#
The first host in the list is the device you are using: This Mac, This iPad, This iPhone or This Apple Vision Pro. Its address reads This device, because its services reach it at 127.0.0.1 or open a file you choose.
- On Mac: it includes Local Shell, marked Terminal · Built in, which opens a terminal on your Mac.
- You can add Database and Desktop services to it, such as a SQLite file or a database server running on the same device.
- You can rename it, mark it as a favorite and put it in collections. You cannot delete it, and built-in services cannot be edited or removed.
Note
This device's host is never copied to your other devices. Each device has its own.
The library at a glance#
With no host selected, the library's detail shows an overview, Your Library: how many machines, services, favorites and collections you have, the services of each kind, the connections made in the last 30 days, and the machines used most. Choose one of those machines to select it.
The connections are those of all your devices, added up. When more than one device has connected in the last 30 days, a menu beside Connections, last 30 days chooses All Devices or one device, by its name; the chart and Most used follow it. A device's name is set in Settings ▸ General ▸ This Device.
Each device keeps its own connection history: when you connected, and to which kind of service on which machine, for 90 days. What reaches your other devices, through iCloud, is how many connections it made each day of the last 30, to each machine through each kind of service, and its name — not the times of day.
A green dot on a service's icon means it's connected right now: a terminal, database or desktop session through it is open and connected, on this device. The dot appears on the host's row and beside the service in the host's detail, and goes when you disconnect. A session still connecting or reconnecting has no dot yet.
To see at a glance which services are answering, turn on Settings ▸ General ▸ Show service availability. See Settings.