Reconnecting after network loss

Sessions survive disconnects

When a connection drops — bad Wi-Fi, switching networks, server restart — the session stays in your session list with its scrollback intact. Nothing disappears.

Reconnecting

Reconnection is explicit: reopen the session and SigilTTY re-establishes the connection.

Once the connection succeeds, the terminal starts on a cleared screen — the old output belonged to a shell that no longer exists, and leaving it above the new prompt only invites confusion. If the reconnect fails, the previous screen is kept, so you don’t lose it to a failed attempt. The remote shell itself always starts fresh, unless you run something like tmux on the server.

SigilTTY 1.2

Clearing the screen on a successful reconnect is new in 1.2. Earlier versions kept the old output above the new session.

On iPhone and iPad

Locking the screen or switching apps holds your connections for roughly 30 seconds before iOS suspends the app. Beyond that the system drops them and you reconnect as above — see Live Activity and background behavior.

Serial is special

Serial sessions can resume automatically when the same device reappears — see Serial device matching.

Tips for flaky networks

• For long-running remote work, run tmux or screen on the server so your remote state survives disconnects too.
• Tunnel rules stop with their session on disconnect; restart the rule after reconnecting.