Oh My Herdr
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Platform reference

Supported desktop platforms, host helpers, remote limits, and experimental boundaries.

Platform reference

Oh My Herdr 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 Oh My Herdr over SSH.

Desktop support

PlatformLocal client behaviorRemote role
macOSNative macOS client and server. Uses the native host cursor by default and macOS helpers listed below.Supported as a Unix local client and as a remote host on x86_64 and aarch64.
LinuxNative Linux client and server. Uses the native host cursor by default outside WSL and Linux clipboard/session helpers.Supported as a Unix local client and as a remote host on x86_64 and aarch64.
WSLUses the Linux platform implementation inside WSL. WSL detection enables the drawn host cursor in automatic cursor mode.Follow the Linux path from the WSL client; the remote host still needs a supported Linux or macOS binary and SSH access.
WindowsNative Windows client and server. Uses the drawn host cursor in automatic cursor mode, ConPTY process handling, and Windows editor/clipboard behavior.Not a supported local client for the remote bridge and not a supported remote host for the Unix remote path.

Remote attach is limited to Unix local clients and Linux/macOS remotes on x86_64 or aarch64. 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. Oh My Herdr 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. Oh My Herdr 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 and clipboard image reads are not provided by the Windows platform implementation.
  • 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, while workflows that need Oh My Herdr to read clipboard text or images are unavailable in the Windows implementation. Remote image paste also needs a local image-reading helper, so do not assume it is available from a Windows local client.

Cursor and terminal boundaries

ui.host_cursor = "auto" follows the platform default. Native Windows builds and WSL draw an Oh My Herdr 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.

Oh My Herdr 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 Oh My Herdr from an Oh My Herdr-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.

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