Launch Configurations (Legacy)

Caution

Launch Configurations have been replaced by Tab Configs. Existing Launch Configurations continue to work, but new features are not being added. For new setups, use Tab Configs.

What is it

With Launch configurations you can save in the app or by adding a yaml file.

Creating a Launch Configuration

From the UI

1. Set up the configuration of windows, tabs, and panes you would like to save.
2. Open the Command Palette, and type in Save New Launch Configuration.
3. Name the configuration file. The name field cannot be empty.
4. Click the Save configuration button.

With a YAML File

• Launch Configurations files are generated when you create them with the UI and can also be created or modified manually.
• Please see the below for Launch Configuration YAML file locations, format, and examples.

Using a Launch Configuration

macOS

• From the Command Palette, enter Launch Configuration to open and select Launch Configuration.
• Right-clicking the new Tab + button to open a menu and select saved Launch Configuration.
• From the macOS menu bar, File > Launch Configurations, where you can search through and open your saved Launch Configuration.
  • Single-window launch configs can be launched into the active window from the launch configuration palette using CMD-ENTER on macOS.

Windows

• From the Command Palette, enter Launch Configuration to open and select Launch Configuration.
• Right-clicking the new Tab + button to open a menu and select saved Launch Configuration.
  • Single-window launch configs can be launched into the active window from the launch configuration palette using CTRL-ENTER on Linux.

To open a WSL tab with a Launch Configuration, you must first set WSL as your default shell in Warp:

• Go to Settings > Features > Session > Startup shell for new sessions.
• Select your desired WSL distribution (e.g., Ubuntu) as the default shell.

After this, any Launch Configuration you open will use WSL as the shell.

Linux

• From the Command Palette, enter Launch Configuration to open and select Launch Configuration.
• Right-clicking the new Tab + button to open a menu and select saved Launch Configuration.
  • Single-window launch configs can be launched into the active window from the launch configuration palette using CTRL-ENTER on Linux.

Tip

Terminal Tip
You can open saved Launch Configurations via Alfred Workflow or Raycast Extension. Learn more here. Credit to @joetannenbaum

How it works

Launch Configuration YAML Format

All Launch Configuration yaml files are stored in the following location:

macOS

$HOME/.warp/launch_configurations/

Windows

$env:APPDATA\warp\Warp\data\launch_configurations\

Linux

${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/warp-terminal/launch_configurations/

Caution

The cwd: value in the yaml code must contain an absolute path or "". Note that ~ or empty paths will result in the file not being visible on the list of options for Launch Configurations.

Windows

Sample configuration that shows how windows are structured in launch configuration files.

# Warp Launch Configuration
#
# This configuration has two windows,
# each with one tab in different starting directories.

---
name: Example Windows
windows:
  - tabs:
      - title: Documents
        layout:
          cwd: /Users/warp-user/Documents
        color: blue
  - tabs:
      - title: Warp User
        layout:
          cwd: /Users/warp-user
        color: green

Tabs

Here’s a sample configuration that shows how tabs are structured in launch configuration files.

• Use the title field to set a custom tab name
• Use the color field to set the tab color

  • We currently support using the terminal colors (ANSI colors):

    Red | Green | Yellow | Blue | Magenta | Cyan

    The actual color values will be automatically derived from your Warp theme

# Warp Launch Configuration
#
# This configuration has two tabs in the same window.

---
name: Example Tabs
windows:
  - tabs:
      - title: Documents
        layout:
          cwd: /Users/warp-user/Documents
        color: blue
      - title: Warp User
        layout:
          cwd: /Users/warp-user
        color: green

Panes

Launch Configurations support setting split panes in each tab. Note that Warp also supports nesting split panes in launch configuration files.

# Warp Launch Configuration
#
# This configuration is two windows, each with split panes.
# The first window contains a vertically split tab with two panes.
# The second window contains a horizontally split tab,
# with a vertically split tab on the right.

---
name: Example Panes
windows:
  - tabs:
      - title: Downloads and Warp User
        layout:
          split_direction: vertical
          panes:
            - cwd: /Users/warp-user/Downloads
            - cwd: /Users/warp-user
        color: blue
  - tabs:
      - title: Desktop, Documents, and Warp User
        layout:
          split_direction: horizontal
          panes:
            - cwd: /Users/warp-user/Desktop
            - split_direction: vertical
              panes:
                - cwd: /Users/warp-user/Documents
                - cwd: /Users/warp-user
        color: green

Active and Focus

Sample configuration that shows how a Window and Tab can be activated with a session in focus.

• Use the active_window_index and active_tab_indexfields to set your active Window and Tab.
• Use the is_focused field to set which Pane is focused in each tab.

Caution

Note that when you use - active_tab_index: the tabs: field doesn’t need the - prefix, as this can cause syntax issues.

# Warp Launch Configuration
#
# This configurations has two tabs, with the second tab active.
# Two vertical split panes in the first tab and the top pane focused.
# Two horizontal split panes in the second tab and the right pane focused.
---
name: Example Active and Focus
active_window_index: 0
windows:
  - active_tab_index: 1
    tabs:
      - title: Tab 1
        layout:
          split_direction: vertical
          panes:
            - cwd: /Users/warp-user/Documents
              is_focused: true
            - cwd: /Users/warp-user/Documents/Projects
      - title: Tab 2
        layout:
          split_direction: horizontal
          panes:
            - cwd: /Users/warp-user/Downloads
            - cwd: /Users/warp-user
              is_focused: true

Commands

Use the commands field to define a set of commands to run when a launch configuration in run.

Caution

You may need to use double quotes for commands with special characters. Commands in separate lines are chained together with && when run, as such commands run after ssh commands may not execute.

# Warp Launch Configuration
#
# This configuration has two windows,
# the first window executes two commands on start,
# the second window has a split pane that executes a command on start.

---
name: Example Commands
windows:
  - tabs:
      - title: Documents
        layout:
          cwd: /Users/warp-user/Documents
          commands:
            - exec: ls
            - exec: code .
        color: blue
  - tabs:
      - title: Downloads
        layout:
          split_direction: vertical
          panes:
            - cwd: /Users/warp-user/Downloads
              commands:
                - exec: curl http://example.com -o my.file
                - exec: cp my.file my.file2
            - cwd: /Users/warp-user
              commands:
                - exec: ssh user@remote.server.com
        color: green