Platform reference

Gardn has platform-specific process, clipboard, editor, cursor, and URL behavior. This page records the behavior of the current source rather than promising an unavailable release artifact. For task-oriented remote setup, see Use Gardn over SSH.

Desktop support

Remote attach supports Unix local clients (Linux and macOS) and Windows local clients. Supported remote hosts are Linux and macOS on x86_64 or aarch64; Windows is not a supported remote host. A binary must match the remote operating system and architecture; a local build is not automatically portable across those combinations.

Host helpers

macOS

• Text clipboard writes use pbcopy; text reads use pbpaste.
• URLs open with open.
• Clipboard image reads use osascript and the macOS clipboard's PNG data.
• Scrollback editors use $VISUAL, then $EDITOR, with vi as the Unix fallback.

Linux and WSL

• Wayland text clipboard uses wl-copy and wl-paste when WAYLAND_DISPLAY is set.
• X11 text clipboard uses xclip, then xsel, when DISPLAY is set.
• Wayland image reads use wl-paste; X11 image reads use xclip. Gardn validates the image signature before using it.
• URLs open with xdg-open.
• Scrollback editors use $VISUAL, then $EDITOR, with vi as the fallback.

Install and configure the helper for the active session type if clipboard or URL actions report that no helper is available. Gardn does not provide a second clipboard implementation when the platform helper is missing.

Windows

• Text clipboard writes use the native Windows clipboard API.
• Clipboard text reads are not provided by the Windows platform implementation.
• Clipboard image reads use the native Windows clipboard API. Registered PNG clipboard data is read directly; DIB and DIBV5 bitmap data is converted to PNG. Gardn validates the image signature and dimensions before using it.
• Scrollback editors use $VISUAL, then $EDITOR, with notepad.exe as the fallback.
• Custom command strings run through cmd.exe /d /c.

As a result, mouse or keyboard copy can write text on Windows, and remote image paste can read a clipboard image from a Windows local client. Clipboard text reads remain unavailable in the Windows implementation, so workflows that need Gardn to read clipboard text are unavailable on Windows.

Cursor and terminal boundaries

ui.host_cursor = "auto" follows the platform default. Native Windows builds and WSL draw a Gardn cursor as cell content to avoid outer-terminal cursor flicker; macOS and ordinary Linux use the outer terminal cursor by default. Set native or drawn explicitly when the default is unsuitable. A drawn cursor is part of the rendered terminal content and can differ from an application's native cursor.

Gardn depends on the outer terminal to deliver key and mouse events. tmux, terminal keymaps, ConPTY, IMEs, and terminal mouse reporting can change what reaches the application. See the keybinding caveats and copy and terminal guide for interaction-specific behavior.

Experimental features and unsupported nesting

The following boundaries are explicit configuration choices, not general platform guarantees:

• experimental.allow_nested is false by default. Launching Gardn from a Gardn-managed pane is blocked unless nesting is explicitly enabled; nested sessions can make process ownership and terminal input ambiguous.
• experimental.kitty_graphics is false by default and requires a Kitty graphics-compatible outer terminal. Enabling it does not add graphics support to an incompatible terminal or to a remote host.
• experimental.switch_ascii_input_source_in_prefix is macOS-only and best-effort. It temporarily switches to an ASCII-capable input source while prefix mode is active, then attempts to restore the previous source.
• experimental.reveal_hidden_cursor_for_cjk_ime and its agent allow-list are intended for CJK input-method cursor tracking. They can make an otherwise hidden pane cursor visible; the setting is opt-in.

These settings may be version-sensitive and are not substitutes for native support in the outer terminal, IME, or graphics protocol. Keep them disabled when the corresponding host capability is unknown.