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Switchboard on Linux

Switchboard runs on Linux, on x64 and Arm64, with the same features as on a Mac. This page lists what you notice that is different on Linux, in one place, and links the page that covers each part.

Where to find it

Section titled “Where to find it”

This site shows keys and steps for macOS or Windows, picked with the switch in the header. On Linux, pick Windows: the keys are the same (Ctrl, Alt and Shift). Where a page says File Explorer, Linux uses your file manager, and where it says PowerShell, Linux uses your own shell.

Install and update

Section titled “Install and update”
  • Install: the .deb for Debian and Ubuntu, the .rpm for Fedora, RHEL and openSUSE, or the AppImage for any distribution, from the latest release. See Install on Linux.
  • Updates: Switchboard updates itself as on a Mac. The AppImage replaces itself. The .deb and .rpm install the new package through your package manager, which asks for your password. See Updates.
  • Uninstall: sudo apt remove switchboard or sudo dnf remove switchboard, or delete the AppImage. Your data stays.
  • Packages aren’t signed. Download them from the GitHub release only.

Keys

Section titled “Keys”
  • Every shortcut uses Ctrl where a Mac uses ⌘, Alt for ⌥ and Shift for ⇧, and the app writes keys as words (Ctrl, Shift, Enter), as on Windows. The keyboard shortcuts page (with Windows picked) and the shortcuts sheet (Command, SlashControl, Slash) show them.
  • Quitting is Command, Q then Command, QControl, Q then Control, Q, and closing the window quits too. Both ask first while Ask before quitting is on. See Settings, General.
  • A project action’s shortcut needs Ctrl or Alt.

The terminal

Section titled “The terminal”

The terminal panel runs your login shell ($SHELL, or bash when it isn’t set), as on a Mac. Actions and git steps run there too. Ctrl keys belong to the shell; Switchboard’s own shortcuts take Ctrl+Shift there (Command, Shift, PControl, Shift, P opens the command palette). Select text and press Control, CControl, C to copy it; with nothing selected it stops the program.

The window and the menu

Section titled “The window and the menu”
  • The window has your desktop’s own title bar.
  • The menu bar is hidden: press Alt to show File, Edit, View, Window and Help, as on Windows.
  • Tiling window managers, such as Hyprland, i3 or Sway, size the window themselves. Switchboard works at any size.

Notifications, sounds and the badge

Section titled “Notifications, sounds and the badge”
  • Notifications are your desktop’s notifications.
  • Sounds come from the freedesktop sound theme (/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop), played with paplay, which PulseAudio and PipeWire both have. Without that theme, Settings says there are no system sounds. See Notifications.
  • While sessions need you, the count shows on Switchboard’s icon where your desktop shows counts (KDE Plasma, Ubuntu’s dock), and the window asks for attention when a session starts waiting while you are in another app.
  • Closing the window quits Switchboard, so keep it open or minimised to keep getting notifications and to run schedules.

Files and the Trash

Section titled “Files and the Trash”
  • Open in → Files opens the folder in your file manager (through xdg-open). For a file it opens the folder the file is in.
  • What Switchboard deletes goes to the Trash of your desktop.

Open in editors and terminals

Section titled “Open in editors and terminals”

Open in lists the editors whose command is on your PATH (VS Code, VS Code Insiders, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, Sublime Text, WebStorm and IntelliJ IDEA), the terminals it finds (Ghostty, GNOME Terminal, Konsole, kitty, Alacritty and WezTerm), and Files. See Working in a session.

Claude Code

Section titled “Claude Code”

Install Claude Code with its native installer or npm. Switchboard looks for claude on your PATH and in ~/.local/bin, and reads your login shell’s environment when it starts, as on a Mac. Updates run claude update or npm install -g. See Claude Code isn’t found.

The VS Code companion

Section titled “The VS Code companion”

The VS Code companion works the same, over a socket. It finds Switchboard through ~/.config/Switchboard, and starts or shows it with xdg-open and a switchboard:// link.

Section titled “switchboard:// links”

Links work with the .deb and .rpm, which register switchboard:// with your desktop. The AppImage registers it only when your desktop integrates AppImages (for example with AppImageLauncher). Open a link from a terminal with xdg-open.

Where your data lives

Section titled “Where your data lives”
What Where
Switchboard’s preferences, themes, backups and cache ~/.config/Switchboard
Your sessions (Claude Code’s folder) ~/.claude
The app (.deb and .rpm) /opt/Switchboard

See Your data. A settings file from Settings → Backup imports on any system; see Backup.

If the AppImage doesn’t start

Section titled “If the AppImage doesn’t start”
  • “AppImages require FUSE to run”: install FUSE 2 (sudo apt install libfuse2, or libfuse2t64 on Ubuntu 24.04).
  • A sandbox error on Ubuntu 24.04 and later: Ubuntu only lets apps with an AppArmor profile use the sandbox Switchboard runs in. The .deb installs that profile, so use the .deb there.
Section titled “Related”