Your first connection

This page walks you from a fresh install to a working connection. If you have not installed MeowX yet, start with Installation.

1. Get your subscription

A subscription is a URL from your proxy provider that returns a configuration file listing your nodes, proxy groups and rules. It usually looks like https://example.com/api/subscribe?token=.... MeowX understands the mihomo / Clash Meta YAML format.

There are several ways to bring it into MeowX:

Method	iPhone / iPad	Mac
Paste the subscription URL	Yes	Yes
Open a clash://install-config?url=... link	Yes	Yes
Scan a QR code that contains the subscription URL	No (the iOS scanner is for signing in only)	Yes, from your screen
Pick from your provider account after signing in	Yes	Yes
Import a local file	No	No

Note

MeowX requests subscriptions with a mihomo-compatible User-Agent, so providers that tailor their output per client serve it the full Clash YAML. If your provider offers several formats, choose the Clash / mihomo / Clash Meta one.

2. Import it

iPhone and iPad

1. Open the Me tab (the last tab).
2. In the Subscriptions card, tap Import subscription. (On a fresh install this area is already open and gently highlighted.)
3. Paste your subscription URL into the field and tap Import.
4. When it finishes, the subscription appears in the list with its usage and expiry date (if your provider reports them).

Using a link instead: if your provider’s website has an “Import to Clash” button, it usually opens a clash://install-config?url=... link. Tap it on your iPhone and iOS hands it to MeowX, which imports the URL inside it.

Using your account: if your provider runs a compatible dashboard, tap the QR icon at the top of the Me tab and scan the login code shown on the dashboard. See Account and subscriptions. When you sign in on a fresh install and your account has exactly one subscription, MeowX imports it and switches to it automatically.

Mac

1. Click the MeowX icon in the menu bar to open the panel. You land on the Nodes tab.
2. Click the subscription name at the top of the subscription card (or Choose subscription at the right of it).
3. Choose Import from URL…, paste the subscription URL (a clash:// link also works) and click Import.

Scanning a QR code: if the subscription is shown as a QR code (for example on a web page), put it on screen and choose Scan QR code on screen to import / sign in from the same menu. The first time, macOS asks for Screen Recording permission. The scanner recognizes subscription URLs, clash:// links and provider login codes.

3. Make it the current subscription

MeowX always includes a built-in profile called Direct (no proxy). It sends all traffic directly and cannot be deleted. On a fresh install it is the current profile, and importing a URL adds the new subscription without switching to it while another profile is current.

So after importing, select the new subscription:

• iPhone / iPad: on the Home tab, the subscription card says “No subscription in use, all traffic goes direct”. Tap Choose subscription and pick your new subscription. Or, on the Me tab, tap the subscription row to make it current.
• Mac: click Choose subscription on the subscription card and pick it from the menu.

(Subscriptions you pick from your provider account, and the one auto-imported after signing in, are switched to immediately.)

4. Connect

iPhone and iPad

Go to the Home tab and tap the square power button on the connection card.

• The first time, iOS asks to add a VPN configuration. Allow it (see Installation).
• While connecting, the button fills up with pink from the bottom. When it is full, the card turns pink and shows Connected, the mode (for example “Rule mode · Protected”) and the running time.

You can also connect from the Home Screen widget or Control Center once you have connected from the app at least once.

Mac

Click the square power button in the top-right corner of the panel.

• In system proxy mode (the default), MeowX starts its local proxy and asks the helper to set your system proxy. The first time, approve the helper (see Installation).
• In TUN mode, the network extension starts instead.
• The menu bar icon changes to its “active” variant (one eye winking, with sparkles) while connected.

Tip

The very first connection can take a few seconds longer than later ones: MeowX unpacks its built-in GeoIP / GeoSite data and downloads any rule sets from your subscription that it has not cached yet. Later connections reuse the cache and refresh rule sets in the background after connecting.

5. Choose a node

Your subscription defines proxy groups. A typical one is a “select” group (often called something like “Proxy” or “Node Select”) that lets you pick the node manually.

iPhone and iPad

1. Open the Nodes tab. Or tap the current exit row on the Home connection card, which shows the node actually in use.
2. If you see several groups, tap the group button at the top and choose the group you want (in the list layout, tap a group to expand it).
3. Tap the bolt button at the top right to test the latency of all nodes. Green is fast, orange is moderate, red is slow, and Timeout means no answer.
4. Tap a node to select it. The change takes effect immediately for new connections; you do not need to reconnect.

Mac

1. On the panel’s Nodes tab, scroll down to Proxy groups.
2. Click the bolt button in the Proxy groups header to test the latency of all nodes.
3. Hover over a group. Its member list opens beside the panel.
4. Click a node to select it. Clicking a node’s latency value re-tests just that node.

Groups of type url-test and fallback choose a node automatically. You can still pick one by hand, which pins it; see Nodes for how pinning and Auto select work.

6. Pick an outbound mode

Below the current exit on the Home card (and below the subscription card on the Mac panel) is a three-way switch:

Mode	What happens
Rule	Each connection is matched against your subscription’s rules (plus your own custom rules) and sent to the proxy group, direct, or rejected accordingly. This is the normal mode.
Global	Everything goes through the proxy, ignoring the subscription’s rules. Useful to check whether a site works through a node at all.
Direct	Everything goes directly, as if MeowX were not there, while it stays connected.

Switching modes applies instantly, without reconnecting, and is remembered for next time.

A few things are deliberately outside the modes: entries in your bypass list always go direct, and Apple push notifications go direct unless you turn on Proxy APNs.

You’re connected

Check that it works:

• On the Home tab, the Exit IP cards show your direct exit and your proxy exit, with the node name and the country of each address. If the proxy exit shows an address in the node’s country, traffic is going through the proxy.
• The Activity tab lists live connections and which rule and node each one used.

Next, read Concepts to understand what the rules, groups and DNS modes are doing, or jump to the Home screen guide.