Cox and first run

Meet Cox

Cox is the Mooring icon come to life, in a cox's cap. A cox steers a rowing boat and calls the stroke, and Cox does much the same in Mooring. Cox is the face of Coxswain, guides you through the first-run window, greets you in an empty main window, and keeps an eye on your Claude plan limits in the Usage window.

What Cox says is a friendly extra. The page around Cox always says everything you need. With Reduce Motion on in System Settings, Cox stays still.

The first-run window

The first time you open Mooring, a short window sets it up in four steps. A step that is already done, such as git being installed, shows a green tick and moves on by itself after a couple of seconds. Click Continue to move on sooner.

1. Welcome to Mooring. Click Get Started.

2. Mooring needs git. Mooring uses git for the git pane, worktrees and cloning projects. Click Install Command-Line Tools… to install Apple's free tools. Mooring carries on by itself when the install finishes. You can also click Continue Without Git and install it later.

3. Let Claude search your whole Mac. This step is optional. Claude sometimes searches your whole disk, and macOS guards other apps' private folders. Full Disk Access lets those searches through.

   1. Click Open System Settings….
   2. Turn on the switch next to Mooring. If Mooring isn't in the list, drag its icon from the small panel into the list.
   3. If macOS offers to quit and reopen Mooring, either answer is fine. Access works straight away.

   To skip it, click Not Now.

4. Where do your projects live? Click Choose Folder… and pick the folder that holds your projects, such as ~/Development. Mooring lists each folder inside it as a project.

Full Disk Access later

If you skipped Full Disk Access, Mooring reminds you gently:

• A ⚠ in the status bar at the bottom of the window. Click it to read more and fix it.
• If macOS blocks a Claude search, the title bar says macOS blocked a search with a Fix… button, at most once a day. Click Don't Ask Again to stop these.

To turn it on, or to turn the reminders back on, open Settings ▸ General ▸ Full Disk Access.

An empty main window

Until you pick a project, Cox waves from the main window and shows three steps:

1. Pick a project. Click one in the sidebar, or a worktree under it. To make one, choose File ▸ New Project… (⇧⌘N).
2. Open Up Next. Click Up Next at the top right, or press ⌥⌘I.
3. Add a card. Type in the New note box at the top of Up Next (⌘N), then click Add (⌘⏎).

In a project with no cards yet, Cox points to the New note box until you add the first one. See Up Next.