Settings and customization
Press ⌘, to open Settings. Tortie keeps routine choices together and makes actions with wider consequences ask for explicit agreement.
Find the setting you need
| Section | What it controls |
|---|---|
| General | Open at login, default agent, split-exit focus, the optional tortie shell command, updates, live scrollback, and saved scrollback. |
| Agents | Installed-agent detection on this Mac and configured machines, version and path details, custom definitions, and re-scan. |
| Keyboard | The complete built-in keymap and your per-agent new-session shortcuts. |
| Launch defaults | Per-agent launch flags applied to each new session. |
| SpecStory | Local conversation capture defaults and optional SpecStory Cloud sign-in. |
| Appearance | Highlight colour, contrast, and the terminal and editor font. |
| Machines | SSH connections, keys, remote capabilities, agent availability, and the one approved write root per machine. |
| Catch Me Up | The optional agent and model that write one-line project summaries. |
| Diagnostics | Temporary debug logging and a readable support report. |
Configure agents and launches
Agents shows what Tortie can actually launch on each machine. Re-scan after installing or updating a CLI. A missing agent keeps its installation command visible for you to copy; Tortie does not run it automatically.
Launch defaults are preselected in the new-session sheet. Turning off one option there changes only that session. Options marked as dangerous can only become defaults after you confirm them in Settings; editing the settings file alone does not bypass that agreement.
The Keyboard section lets you record a dedicated new-session shortcut for an agent. Tortie's built-in shortcuts are fixed in the current release.
Choose live and saved scrollback
Scrollback depth controls how much output each live local session keeps in the private tmux server. Saved scrollback controls how much bounded output Tortie writes into a recovery snapshot for a restart or reboot.
Change appearance and text size
Appearance changes the highlight scheme, interface contrast, and work-area font. Font size is contextual instead of global: ⌘+, ⌘-, and ⌘0 change the focused terminal, sidebar, or editor. Use ⇧⌘0 to reset every region.
Keep capture and summaries optional
SpecStory can save supported agent conversations as Markdown inside each project's .specstory/history folder. Nothing is uploaded to SpecStory Cloud unless you sign in. Capture defaults vary by agent and can be switched off.
Catch Me Up does not need a model for its conversation views. The separate one-line project summary writer stays off until you choose both an agent and one of its measured model recipes.
Update Tortie without stopping your sessions
Signed packaged builds check for an update 30 seconds after Tortie starts, then every 6 hours while it remains open. Downloads happen in the background. A routine check failure is logged instead of interrupting your work.
Tortie only says an update is ready after the macOS updater has verified and staged it. Open the update ring and choose Restart and update now or Install when you quit. Tortie never restarts itself without your choice.
- Use Tortie > Check for Updates when you want to check manually.
- Development builds do not update themselves.
- Live local sessions stay in the private tmux server while the app updates and reconnect when Tortie opens again.
- If installation fails, the next launch explains the problem and offers repair. Repair Updates appears only when it is needed.
Collect diagnostics when something fails
Diagnostics can enable extra logging until Tortie quits. It switches itself off at the next launch. Copy support report creates plain text containing the boot snapshot, recent log lines, and crash-dump list so you can inspect it before sharing.