Network changes and reconnecting

Waycar keeps your agent terminals going through network changes and brings them back on its own after a dropout or a trip away from the app. You don’t tap anything: the terminal re-attaches and keeps its last screen up while it does.

What happens when I switch networks?

When you move between Wi-Fi and cellular, Waycar re-checks every Host at once. Terminals running over mosh move to the new network right away and stay attached. Terminals on plain SSH lose their connection, and Waycar reconnects them and re-attaches the terminal.

A connection that died in the switch is noticed within seconds. Otherwise Waycar notices a dead connection within about 35 seconds.

What happens when the signal stalls?

If a mosh terminal stops hearing from its Host for about six seconds, a Reconnecting pill appears over the live screen, so you know it isn’t frozen. If the Host stays silent for 65 seconds, Waycar reconnects the terminal over mosh. When the Host answers again after an outage, Waycar reconnects right away instead of waiting for its next retry.

What happens when I leave the app or lock my phone?

Waycar keeps running for about 20 seconds after you leave. After that the terminal session ends, and it re-attaches on its own when you come back.

• Back within about 50 seconds? For a mosh terminal, Waycar starts a fresh mosh server before it lets the old one go, so the terminal re-attaches without any SSH work.
• Back later? Waycar checks each Host’s saved SSH connection with one quick request and only dials a new one if that’s slow to answer.

Last screen while reconnecting

When you open an agent or shell, or the app relaunches straight into one, you see its last screen under a Reconnecting veil instead of a blank screen, until the live terminal draws. Waycar keeps this picture on your device for the eight terminals you used most recently, for up to a day. See Privacy.

herdr and tmux

Reconnecting works the same on herdr and tmux Hosts. On herdr, re-attaching takes the terminal back from another client, as opening it does. See Your desk and phone on one terminal.

Troubleshooting

• Session Ended. If a session can’t be brought back, the Session Ended screen offers Reattach. When mosh was the problem it can also offer Use SSH Instead. Each message on that screen is explained in What connection messages mean.
• Paused, Unavailable, or another message? See What connection messages mean. When a Host shows as Unavailable, Waycar has stopped retrying: open the Host’s page, fix the problem, and tap Reconnect.
• Still not connecting? See Can’t connect to a Host or mosh isn’t connecting.