Desktop integration

Tray menu

When your desktop has a compatible tray host, Cressida provides three actions:

Action	Behavior
Open	Show or focus the running window.
Restart	Restart the client without signing out.
Close	Exit the application.

Closing the window with a tray host available hides it and keeps the connection alive. Without a tray host, closing the window exits normally. If the tray host disappears while the window is hidden, Cressida restores the window.

Tray support depends on your desktop. Some desktops need a compatible tray extension or panel applet.

Start hidden

cressida --start-minimized

This starts Cressida hidden in the tray. If no tray host appears within five seconds, the window opens so you can still reach it. The flag applies to that launch; it is not a saved preference.

To launch this way when you sign in to your desktop, add the command to your desktop's autostart settings. Cressida does not install an autostart entry itself.

Return to the running client

Open Cressida from your launcher or run cressida again. The new launch asks the existing client to show or focus its window, preserving the conversation, settings and drafts.

Use cressida --new-instance or cressida -n when you deliberately want a separate instance. This is not an account-switching feature.

Notifications

With a desktop notification service available, notifications can bring you back to the client. Clicking a valid notification restores a hidden window or asks the desktop to focus the existing one. Your compositor controls whether focus can be granted.

Custom emoji in notification text use readable :name: labels because system notification text does not render the same way as a chat message.

Window decorations

In Advanced, use Desktop decorations to request your compositor's window decorations. Disable it to request Cressida's own controls. The compositor decides which decoration mode it supports. The Titlebar controls settings let you adjust the available client-side buttons and their placement.