Shadowrocket Interface Guide: Home, Config, Proxy, Direct, Data and Settings

Start with the location: Home, Config, Data and Settings

Check where a label appears before deciding what it means. Config in the navigation opens configuration-file management; Config under Home → Global Routing means routing requests according to a configuration. The label is the same, but one answers “Which file?” and the other “How should requests be routed?”

Navigation layout and visible items may vary with the device layout and app interface. Don’t rely on exact coordinates from a tutorial screenshot. Look for the English label and its location in the app. On iPad, use the same functional relationships when navigating a split view; the two columns do not represent a different routing mechanism.

Home: the connection toggle, servers and subscriptions are different things

The server selected in Home determines which set of parameters the connection uses. The connection toggle controls whether the system network connection required by the app is established. Global Routing determines how requests are routed. Selecting an entry does not mean you are connected, and a normal connection status does not guarantee access to every destination. The address, port, authentication parameters, rules and destination service availability can all affect the result.

A subscription is a source for retrieving or updating server entries in bulk; it is not a transport protocol. The steps below apply only to links from a provider you already use. A link may contain an access token or other credentials, so don’t post the full link in public discussions or replace it with an address from an unknown source while troubleshooting.

1. Check Home

   Open Home and note the selected server and the value shown under Global Routing. Check the current state before making changes, and avoid changing several variables at once.

2. Add a subscription

   Go to Home → “+” in the top-right corner → Type → Subscribe. Enter your own subscription link and save it. Enter subscription links and individual server addresses in their respective fields.

3. Check the entries

   Return to Home and confirm that the subscription and its server list appear. To refresh it, use the update action for that subscription and check for errors. Don’t rely only on whether the list name is still visible.

4. Check routing

   Go to Home → Global Routing and check whether Config, Proxy, Direct or Scene is selected. If you need to verify routing against configuration rules, first make sure the expected file is selected on the Config page.

5. Test a request

   Return to Home, select the server you want to use and turn on the connection. On the first connection, follow the system prompt to authorize it. Test with a specific destination and change only one setting at a time.

Global Routing：Proxy、Direct、Config、Scene

Global Routing is where you choose a routing mode, not a protocol. The options below compare three common routing modes in Shadowrocket. “Recommended” here refers only to the rule-learning scenario in this guide: you already have a working configuration and want to understand how its rules apply. It does not mean the same setting is right for every network.

Scene is an entry point for scene-based routing. Check the existing scenes, their conditions and their actions; the name alone doesn’t tell you whether a request will use Proxy or Direct. If you’re working with an existing configuration, inspect the scene before using it. For repeatable rule troubleshooting, record the specific routing choice so a change in scene settings isn’t mistaken for an unstable server.

• If a destination works after switching from Config to Proxy, that only shows that the two routing paths produce different results. Check which rule matched and which policy was actually used.
• If the result is unchanged after switching to Direct, that does not prove the configuration is fine. Make sure you tested the same destination with the same type of request.
• Restore the original settings after comparing results. In particular, don’t leave Proxy enabled for temporary troubleshooting and then judge traffic as if Config rules were still in effect.

Config: how configuration files relate to rule keywords

Selecting a file on the Config page determines which configuration the app uses. Selecting Config under Global Routing determines whether requests are handled according to that configuration. A configuration file can include rules and other settings; server entries contain the parameters needed to connect to remote servers. They are related, but they are not the same data, and updating a subscription does not necessarily update every rule.

The following rule snippet is for reading purposes, not a complete configuration. The example domain and address illustrate syntax only and do not point to a service for use. Rules are evaluated in order, so put FINAL after any rules that need to be checked first.

[Rule]
DOMAIN-SUFFIX,example.com,PROXY
IP-CIDR,192.0.2.0/24,DIRECT,no-resolve
GEOIP,CN,DIRECT
FINAL,PROXY

• DOMAIN-SUFFIX: matches a domain suffix. This example covers example.com and its subdomains; it does not match keywords in webpage content.
• IP-CIDR: matches an IP range. 192.0.2.0/24 is a documentation example range; no-resolve means no additional domain resolution is performed for this rule.
• GEOIP: matches based on the geographic database result for the destination IP. It does not match based on webpage language or account region. Database results and a site’s actual service region are not the same thing.
• FINAL: handles requests that did not match any earlier rule. This example uses PROXY, so unmatched requests will not automatically use DIRECT.

Note the difference between Direct in the interface and DIRECT in a rule. Keep the original wording when following a tutorial, and preserve rule keywords and comma-separated syntax when editing rules. Don’t replace policy names in rules with explanatory text. If you use a custom policy group, make sure its name matches the actual definition.

Data and Settings: separate results from behavior

Data helps you understand traffic; it does not select a protocol. An increase in upload or download counts shows a change in the traffic for the statistic being displayed, but it doesn’t prove which rule handled a particular webpage request. Nor should app traffic totals be treated as the provider’s plan usage. Check the displayed measurement range and units before drawing conclusions.

On Demand and Global Routing serve different purposes: the former can trigger a connection under specified conditions, while the latter determines how requests are routed once a connection is established. Enabling On Demand does not automatically turn on the right rules or guarantee lower battery use. To investigate battery drain, consider system battery records, usage periods and connection activity rather than drawing conclusions from the toggle’s name alone.

Type and Subscribe: enter protocol parameters in the right place

When adding an entry, Type specifies its type. Shadowsocks, VMess, VLESS, Trojan, Hysteria2 and WireGuard are names of different protocols or tunnel types; Subscribe specifies a subscription source. Don’t enter one protocol’s parameters under a different type just to make the screens look alike, and don’t paste a whole subscription link into a server address field.

443 is only an example port number. It does not mean a particular protocol must use it, or that entering 443 automatically enables the right security settings. If an entry was created from a subscription, check the original information after updating. If you edit it manually, note that the next subscription update may overwrite your changes.

Common questions: check each English label and its location

When following a tutorial, record these four things in order: the current page, the selected server, the value under Global Routing and the active Config file. This helps distinguish “I can’t find the button” from “the settings didn’t produce the expected result.” For more interface terms, see the glossary. For your first setup, follow the Getting Started guide step by step.