First launch
Ghostex opens a guided first-launch setup on new installs. It covers defaults, agent hooks, the CLI, bundled skills, Browser Use, Computer Use, and remote access — and you can reopen it any time from Settings → Integrations.
Setup flow
The first-launch modal walks through these pages in order:
- Welcome — product overview and agent hook installation.
- Preferences — sidebar style, default agent, title generation, and high-impact toggles.
- Hooks — install hooks for supported agent CLIs.
- CLI — mobile companion download links and remote attach overview.
- Skills — bundled Ghostex agent skills.
- Browser Control — Ghostex Browser Use setup.
- Desktop CUA — Ghostex Computer Use and Cua Driver.
- Agents & Sessions — workspace tips and session management.
- Remote Access — Tailscale SSH and gx attach commands.
Reopen the guide from the sidebar overflow menu or Settings → Integrations → “Reopen first-launch setup”.
Preferences
The preferences page exposes the settings most likely to affect day-to-day use. All of them remain editable later in Settings.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
Sidebar style | Recommended (default), Minimal, Codex, or Detailed preset. Controls agent icon visibility, favicons, close buttons, Last Active timestamps, git stats, and floating/menu bar status indicators. |
defaultPromptAgentId | Default agent for Kanban Create & Start, Git commit messages, and new worktree creation. Defaults to codex. |
sessionTitleGenerationAgent | Agent used for automatic first-prompt session names. Options: Codex, Cursor CLI, Claude, Grok Build, or Custom. |
keepAwakePreventLidSleep | Opt in to prevent Mac sleep when the lid is closed. Requires administrator approval because it changes system-wide pmset policy. |
agentAcceptAllEnabled | When enabled (default), built-in and custom agent launches inherit permission-bypass mode unless turned off. |
showMacOSAttentionNotifications | Show macOS banners when a background session transitions to Needs Attention. Enabled by default. |
completionBellEnabled | Play a sound when agent work completes. Enabled by default with the Arcade completion sound. |
Sidebar presets
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
Recommended | Default first-run preset. Detailed status chrome with hover-only agent icons and hidden Last Active timestamps. |
Codex | Quiet sidebar: hover-only icons, hidden git stats, hidden floating and menu bar indicators. |
Minimal | Maximum quiet: hover-only icons and favicons, hidden timestamps and git stats, hidden status overlays. |
Detailed | Always-visible agent icons, git stats, timestamps, and floating/menu bar status indicators. |
Agent hooks
Agent hooks let Ghostex detect In Progress and Needs Attention states, play completion sounds, and generate session titles from the first message. Ghostex installs hooks into agent config files it finds after the CLI exists on your PATH.
- Supported agents include Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, Pi Agent, Gemini, Copilot, Cursor CLI, and others (T3 Code is excluded from hook install).
- Launch agent sessions from Ghostex terminals so hooks attach the captured native session id to the correct sidebar card.
- If an id was not captured, Ghostex falls back to title-based resume.
- Skipping hooks disables notifications and automatic first-prompt naming until you install from Settings → Integrations.
CLI and mobile
The CLI page explains that ghostex and gx are auto-linked with the app — no manual CLI install button. It surfaces Android APK and iOS TestFlight (Discord) download paths.
# Remote attach from phone or SSH
ssh user@mac-tailscale-host
gx sessions
gx a 1
gx wake 1
gx sleep 1Integrations setup
Settings → Integrations is the ongoing setup page for everything introduced during first launch:
- Ghostex CLI status
- T3 Code runtime (bundled vs development)
- Agent hooks install and refresh
- Bundled agent skills (Browser Use, Computer Use, Agent Orchestration, Generate Title)
- Desktop Control runtime (Cua Driver + Computer Use skill)
- macOS Accessibility and Screen Recording for Cua Driver
- Reopen first-launch setup
Default install settings
Beyond the preferences page, new installs also receive these defaults:
- sessionPersistenceProvider: zmx — recommended for resume and remote attach.
- browserFeedbackTool: agentation — structured browser-pane annotations by default.
- browserOpenMode: browser-pane — browser actions open in embedded CEF panes.
- codeServerLinkVscodeUserConfig: false — bundled Dark 2026 editor theme.
- petOverlayEnabled: false — floating pet is opt in.
- autoSleepCodeEditor/Git/Project: enabled at 15 minutes idle; browser and agent auto-sleep start opt-in.