Clash Verge Rev Setup Guide: From Subscription Import to Verified Connection

STEP 00 · PREPARE

Prerequisites: Install the Client and Get Your Subscription Link Ready

Start with the client. Go to the download page and grab the build for your platform. Windows users should download the x64 installer for Clash Verge Rev and just follow the setup wizard. macOS users need to check their chip first - Apple Silicon gets the arm64 build, Intel gets x64 - then drag it into Applications; the first launch requires going to System Settings → Privacy & Security and clicking "Open Anyway." Linux users should grab the deb or rpm package matching their distro. Once it's installed and running, you'll see a vertical navigation bar on the left: Home, Proxies, Profiles, Connections, Logs, and Settings - we'll use four of these below.

A subscription link is where your nodes come from, provided by your service and shaped like https://example.com/api/v1/client/subscribe?token=xxxx. It's essentially a URL that returns a config file - the client periodically fetches it to refresh your node list and routing rules. Two things to watch for: the token in the link acts as your account credential, so never paste it into chat groups or public repos; and always copy the entire string, since even one missing character will break the import.

Before moving on, check two things: the client opens normally, and the subscription link is sitting in your clipboard. Ready? Move to step one. If you haven't installed the client yet, now's the time to hit the download page - come back once it's installed.

STEP 01 · IMPORT

Step 1: Import the Subscription Link

Open Clash Verge Rev and click "Profiles" in the left sidebar. There's a long input field at the top of the page - paste the entire subscription link into it, then click "Import" on the right, or just hit Enter. The client will start downloading the remote config, and within a few seconds a new profile card appears in the list, showing the profile name, last update time, and node count. If your provider includes traffic data in the subscription, you'll also see a usage bar.

Activate the profile. Importing just downloads the config locally - you still need to click the card to make it the active profile. An active card shows a checkmark in the top-right corner, and it's what the Home and Proxies pages actually read from. A common mix-up: the subscription imports fine, but nobody clicked to activate it, so the Proxies page stays empty and it looks like the import failed. Check whether the card is selected before assuming anything else is wrong.

Multiple subscriptions and updates. The Profiles page supports keeping several subscriptions at once - just click to switch between them. Right-click a card for an "Update" option to pull the latest nodes manually. It's worth turning on auto-update in the Settings page too, say every 24 hours, so new or removed nodes from your provider sync automatically without you having to check.

Import failures usually come down to one of three things: an incomplete copy of the link, the provider resetting the token on their end, or a temporary network issue reaching the subscription URL. If you've ruled all three out and it still fails, check the "Installation & Setup" category on the FAQ page - there's a full troubleshooting checklist there covering five common error messages and how to fix each one.

# Config downloaded locally from the subscription (excerpt)
mixed-port: 7897
mode: rule
log-level: info
proxies:
  - name: "Hong Kong 01"
    type: trojan
    server: hk01.example.com
    port: 443
proxy-groups:
  - name: "Auto Select"
    type: url-test
    proxies: ["Hong Kong 01", "Japan 01", "US 01"]
rules:
  - GEOSITE,cn,DIRECT
  - GEOIP,CN,DIRECT
  - MATCH,Auto Select

Most subscription configs include the same core sections: port, node list, proxy groups, and routing rules. The mode switch in the next step controls how the rules section behaves.

STEP 02 · MODE

Step 2: Choose a Proxy Mode

What the three modes mean. Proxy mode determines how traffic gets routed, and the core offers three options: Rule mode matches traffic against the rules list one by one - anything matching a proxy rule goes through a node, everything else connects directly; Global mode ignores the rules entirely and sends all traffic through the currently selected node; Direct mode also ignores the rules but sends everything straight out with no proxy at all, effectively disabling the proxy temporarily. For everyday use, stick with Rule mode.

Where to switch modes. Clash Verge Rev gives you two spots: the mode card on the Home page, which expands when clicked, and the mode row at the top of the Proxies page. The system tray icon's right-click menu has the same toggle too. All three control the same underlying core state, so switching from any one of them works.

Typical symptoms of the wrong mode. In Global mode, sites in mainland China suddenly feel slow because traffic is being routed through a node unnecessarily. In Direct mode, sites that need the proxy stop loading entirely. If everything suddenly stops working, check the mode row first - odds are it got switched to Direct by accident. If you want to change the routing rules themselves (forcing a specific site through the proxy or direct connection), that's a config override topic covered in the rules syntax section of the config reference - this guide won't go into that.

STEP 03 · CONNECT

Step 3: Enable the System Proxy and Select a Node

Turn on the system proxy. Go back to the Home page and find the "System Proxy" toggle, then click it. On Windows, this rewrites your system's proxy server setting to 127.0.0.1:7897 (the default mixed-port). On macOS, the first time you enable it, you'll get an authorization prompt - enter your login password to allow the network settings change. Once the toggle is on, traffic from most browsers and desktop apps gets handled by the core - that's the entire "connect" action, there's no separate connect button in the interface.

Pick a node. Switch to the "Proxies" page, which lists the proxy groups from your config - common ones include "Auto Select" and "Manual Select" type groups. Click the lightning bolt icon next to a group to run a latency test, then once it finishes, select a node showing a normal response time (an actual millisecond number, not a timeout). Whichever node is currently selected in the group becomes your exit node. The differences between group types (url-test, fallback, etc.) are advanced topics covered in their own section on the config reference page - no need to dig into that here.

When to turn on TUN mode. The system proxy only affects apps that respect the system's proxy settings - games and some command-line tools ignore it entirely, which is where TUN mode comes in. It creates a virtual network adapter outside the core to capture all system traffic. Before enabling TUN, you need to install the service mode first - there's a setup button on the Settings page for that, and after installing it's a one-click toggle. Regular browsing and office apps work fine with just the system proxy, so leave TUN off until you confirm something specific isn't going through the proxy. TUN's fields and how it works are also covered on the config reference page.

STEP 04 · VERIFY

Step 4: Verify the Proxy Is Working

Check one: exit IP. With the system proxy on and mode set to Rule, open an IP lookup site (like ip.sb) in your browser. The location shown should match your currently selected node's region. Then visit a site in mainland China and check again - this time it should show your local ISP's IP. If the two results differ, rule-based routing is working correctly - that's the entire point of Rule mode.

Check two: the Connections page. The "Connections" page on the left lists every connection the core is currently handling in real time: source process, destination domain, matched rule, and the proxy group/node it went through. Keep this page open while browsing a few sites - new entries should keep appearing, confirming traffic is actually passing through the core. If the page stays empty, traffic isn't reaching the core at all - double-check the system proxy toggle and whether your browser has a separate proxy extension installed.

Check three: the Logs page. Set the log level to "info" on the "Logs" page on the left, and the core will print each rule match as it happens. Here's what two real log entries look like:

time="2026-07-28T10:23:11+08:00" level=info msg="[TCP] 127.0.0.1:52314 --> www.google.com:443 match DomainSuffix(google.com) using Auto Select[Hong Kong 01]"
time="2026-07-28T10:23:16+08:00" level=info msg="[TCP] 127.0.0.1:52315 --> www.baidu.com:443 match GeoIP(CN) using DIRECT"

How to read it: whatever comes after "match" is the rule that fired, and whatever comes after "using" is the exit - the first entry routes through a node, the second connects directly, both matching what Rule mode is supposed to do. If verification fails, check things in this order: IP hasn't changed - the system proxy toggle either didn't take effect or another proxy tool is overriding it; no entries on the Connections page - a browser extension is bypassing the system proxy, disable it first; connections show up but the site still won't load - the node itself is having issues, go back to the Proxies page, pick a different node, and retest. A longer symptom-based troubleshooting list lives in the "Troubleshooting" category on the FAQ page.

NEXT · Keep Reading

What's Next: Everyday Settings and Where to Go Deeper

Two settings worth turning on right away, both on the "Settings" page: Launch on Startup - the client runs automatically after you log in, so you don't have to open it manually every day; Auto-update subscription - mentioned earlier, keeps your node list fresh. The rest (theme, language, hotkeys) are just personal preference and don't affect how the proxy functions.

Three paths to go deeper from here. If you want to edit rules, write overrides, or understand every YAML field, head to the config reference - it's the most comprehensive article on this site, covering everything from port settings to rule syntax and override merging. If you're dealing with a specific error or symptom, check the FAQ, which covers basic concepts, installation, usage tips, and troubleshooting across four categories that handle most post-setup questions. And if you're still deciding which client to use, see the client comparison, which breaks down the differences and recommendations by platform.

Haven't installed the client yet? Grab it from the download page first, then come back and follow this guide.