Windows

Remote sessions on Windows

When you start a session on a Windows machine from the Happier app, you can choose how that session should be hosted locally on Windows.

The main options are:

• Hidden — no visible terminal host; best for purely remote app usage
• Windows Terminal — start the session in a dedicated Windows Terminal host
• Console — start the session in a regular visible console host

This replaces the older “show a visible console window” idea with a clearer mode-based model.

Which mode should I choose?

Hidden

Choose Hidden when you mostly want to control the session from the Happier app and do not plan to come back later to a local Windows terminal host.

This is the least distracting mode because it avoids opening a visible terminal window.

Windows Terminal

Choose Windows Terminal when you want the most Windows-native “start remotely, continue locally later” workflow.

This is usually the best choice when:

• you use Windows Terminal already,
• you want app-started sessions to later continue in a Windows Terminal window,
• you expect to use happier attach <session-id> to bring that host back into focus.

Console

Choose Console when you want a visible local terminal host but do not want to rely on Windows Terminal being installed or detected.

This is a good fallback when:

• Windows Terminal is unavailable,
• you prefer a plain console host,
• you still want a visible local session you can come back to later.

Where to configure it

Global default

Open:

1. Settings
2. Session
3. Find the Windows section

There you can choose the default Windows remote session mode for new app-started sessions on Windows machines.

Per-machine override

On a Windows machine details page, you can override the global default for that specific machine.

Use this when, for example:

• your laptop should default to Windows Terminal,
• a remote build box should stay Hidden,
• a machine without Windows Terminal should always use Console.

Per-session override

When the selected machine is Windows, the new-session flow shows a Windows mode chip. That chip lets you override the mode for just that one new session.

Precedence is:

1. per-session choice
2. machine override
3. global Session setting

Attach behavior on Windows

If the session was started in an attachable Windows mode:

• Windows Terminal sessions can be reopened or focused with happier attach <session-id>
• Console sessions can be brought back to the foreground with happier attach <session-id>

If the session was started in Hidden mode, it is intended for remote app usage and is not designed for later local terminal attachment.

Notes and limitations

• This setting only applies to Windows machines.
• Native Windows workflows usually use Windows Terminal or Console mode instead of tmux.
• If you use WSL or another POSIX environment with tmux, you can still use tmux-backed attach workflows there.

Environment variables (advanced)

You can also set a default Windows remote session mode via environment variables when operating the daemon/CLI directly.

Older values such as HAPPIER_WINDOWS_REMOTE_SESSION_CONSOLE=visible are treated as the modern Console mode.

User-facing app settings still take precedence for app-started sessions.