Confirm Squirrel works first

Select Squirrel from the macOS Input menu and confirm it produces candidates. The Candidate Window page reads recognized styles and themes. Its preview helps compare choices, but the deployed candidate window remains the final source of truth.

Choose layout before candidate count

Horizontal layout suits short candidates and wide screens; vertical layout can make longer phrases easier to scan. Then adjust candidates per page, corner radius, and spacing. Change one related group at a time.

Candidate Window settings with layout, typography, and a local preview
Use the local preview to compare layout and text hierarchy before saving.

Adjust typography and theme

Prioritize candidate readability, then tune labels and comments. Very large text can make long candidates consume excessive width. Available light and dark themes depend on the recognized Squirrel configuration and version.

Preserve custom configuration

The app writes only fields managed by the interface. Close any editor that is changing the same YAML files before you save.

Save, deploy, and verify

  1. Review the preview for obvious spacing or size problems.
  2. Choose Save & Apply. The app checks conflicts, creates a snapshot, writes safely, redeploys, and verifies.
  3. After the success status appears, open a real text field.
  4. Test short and long candidates, paging, and light/dark appearance.

If the operation fails, inspect Deployment Diagnostics instead of repeatedly clicking Save & Apply.