Setting Up Clash: From Subscription Import to Verified Connection

A subscription is essentially a config file hosted on the provider's side, already populated with available nodes, proxy groups, and routing rules. Once the client has the link, it periodically re-fetches updates, so you never have to manually maintain the node list — this is the step with the most moving parts, and the one most worth getting right.

• Copy the subscription link

  Log into your provider's dashboard and find the "Copy Subscription" or one-click subscribe button. Make sure the whole link comes through intact — no stray spaces or line breaks at either end. A trailing space from a manual copy is the single most common cause of import failures.

• Paste it into the client

  Open Clash Verge Rev, go to the "Profiles" tab in the left sidebar, and paste the link into the field at the top, then click "Import" on the right. The client fetches it immediately, and within a few seconds a new profile card appears named after the subscription, showing the node count and traffic info (if the provider includes that data). Equivalent spots in other clients: in Clash Plus, click "Add Subscription" on the home screen; in FlClash, go to "Profiles," tap the "+" in the bottom right, and choose "Import from URL"; in ClashX Meta, use the menu bar icon → "Config → Managed Config → Add"; in Clash Meta for Android, go to "Profiles," tap "+," choose "URL," paste, and save.

• Activate the profile

  A successful import doesn't mean it's active yet. In Clash Verge Rev, click the profile card that just appeared — a highlighted border means it's now the active one. Switch to the "Proxies" tab and you should see the proxy groups and nodes from the subscription expand one by one. If "Proxies" is still empty, go back to "Profiles" and confirm the card is selected, or click its refresh icon to re-fetch.

Clash offers three modes with clearly distinct behavior: Rule mode matches traffic against the rules in your config — domestic sites go direct, anything matched by a rule goes through the proxy — and it's the standard choice for everyday use; Global mode skips all rule matching and routes every request through the proxy exit, which noticeably slows down local sites, so it's best used briefly for testing or edge cases; Direct mode disables the proxy entirely, effectively a temporary off switch. For a first setup, just pick Rule mode — your subscription already ships with a working rule set.

• Switch to Rule mode

  In Clash Verge Rev, the "Proxies" tab has a row of mode buttons at the top (Rule / Global / Direct) — click "Rule" to select it. In ClashX Meta, check "Rule" under the "Proxy Mode" submenu from the menu bar icon; Clash Meta for Android and FlClash both expose a mode switcher on the main screen — look for "Rule." The change takes effect immediately, no restart needed.

• Pick a node in a proxy group

  The "Proxies" tab lists nodes grouped by proxy group. Find the main group named something like "Proxy," "PROXY," or similar, and click a node inside it to set it as the active exit. Most subscriptions also include an auto-select group (often labeled "Auto") that has the client pick the fastest node by latency automatically — the easiest option if you don't want to compare manually.

• Run a latency test before you commit

  Each proxy group has a lightning bolt or waveform icon in the top right — click it and the client tests latency for every node in the group. Within a few seconds, each node shows a number in milliseconds: lower is faster, and any node showing "timeout" is temporarily unusable, so just avoid those. Pick a node with stable, low latency and this step is done.

Once Clash starts, it's just listening on a local port — traffic doesn't flow in on its own. Desktop and mobile hook in differently, so they're covered separately.

• Desktop: enable the system proxy

  In Clash Verge Rev, find the "System Proxy" toggle on the "Settings" page. Turning it on points your system's proxy settings at Clash's local mixed port (7897 by default; older core versions commonly used 7890 — check the Settings page for the exact value). From then on, browsers and most apps that respect system proxy settings will route through this port into the rule engine. In ClashX Meta, the equivalent is checking "Set as System Proxy" from the menu bar icon. Once enabled, the main window or menu bar icon shows a status change confirming the system proxy is registered.

• Desktop, optional: use TUN mode to capture everything

  Some apps — CLI tools, certain games, and other client software — ignore the system proxy setting entirely, so enabling it won't touch their traffic. To capture that as well, turn on "TUN Mode" on the "Settings" page: the client creates a virtual network adapter and intercepts all outbound traffic at the network layer. The first time you enable it, you'll be prompted to install a service or grant admin rights — a one-time authorization that persists afterward. For light everyday use, the system proxy alone is usually enough; see the FAQ's Tips & Tricks section for when TUN mode makes sense and what to watch out for.

• Android: authorize the VPN connection

  In Clash Meta for Android, tap the start button at the bottom of the main screen. The system shows a "Connection request" dialog — tap "OK" (or "Allow"). This is Android's VpnService mechanism setting up a local tunnel, not handing your traffic to a third-party VPN service. Once authorized, a key icon appears in the status bar, confirming the tunnel is up. Some Android phones' battery-saving features can kill background tunnels — add the client to your battery optimization whitelist to avoid random disconnects.

• Optional: enable auto-start on boot

  If you want the proxy running as soon as your device boots, enable "Launch on Boot" (or "Auto Start") on the desktop client's "Settings" page — pair it with "Silent Start" so the client stays minimized in the tray instead of popping open its main window. This step doesn't affect today's setup and can be configured any time after you're done.

• Check 1: connection activity in the client

  Open the "Connections" tab in Clash Verge Rev's left sidebar (other clients may call it "Connections," "Logs," or similar), then open any webpage in your browser. If new entries keep scrolling into the panel, each tagged with the rule it matched and its exit (DIRECT or a node name), traffic is genuinely flowing through the rule engine. If the panel stays empty, nothing's getting through — go back to A-03 and check your system proxy or VPN authorization.

• Check 2: confirm the exit location in a browser

  Open any IP-lookup page in your browser that shows the visitor's location. In Rule mode, visiting a site outside your country should show a location matching the node you picked in A-02. If it still shows your ISP's local address, that request went direct instead — either the rule set didn't match it, or something else is overriding the system proxy. Work through the FAQ's Troubleshooting section to sort it out.

• Check 3: verify the port from the command line

  A terminal ignores the system proxy setting, which makes it perfect for testing Clash's local port in isolation. Run the following command (use the mixed port from your client's settings page — Clash Verge Rev defaults to 7897; the example below uses the traditional default, 7890):

  curl -x http://127.0.0.1:7890 https://www.gstatic.com/generate_204 -I

  Copy

  A response header starting with HTTP/1.1 204 or 200 confirms the full chain — local port → rule engine → exit node — is working. "Connection refused" means the port number is wrong or the client isn't running; a timeout usually means the node itself is down — go back to A-02 and pick a node with normal latency instead.