rallyHelpChapter 9 · Settings and shortcuts / 9.1
The Settings window
Open Settings, find any setting by searching, and set up your profile and time zone.
Everything you can adjust in Rally is in the Settings window. It opens beside the main window rather than on top of it, so you can change something and watch the effect in the conversation behind.
Opening Settings
There are three ways in:
- Press ⌘ , (Command and comma). This is the same key that opens settings in almost every Mac app, so your fingers may already know it.
- Choose Rally → Settings… from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
- Click your name at the bottom of the sidebar to open the account menu, then choose Settings.
Some links and buttons elsewhere in Rally open Settings straight at the right section, so you may land in the middle of it rather than at the top.
Rally only ever keeps one Settings window. Opening it again brings the existing one to the front instead of making a second.
Changes take effect the moment you make them. There is no Save button to forget, with one exception: the Digest section, which has Save digest because a schedule is easier to set up in one go.
Closing it
Click the X (Close settings), press ⌘ W, or press Esc. Escape is polite about it: it will not close the window while a dialog or menu is open, while you are halfway through typing something you have not saved, or while there is text in the search box. In that last case the first Esc clears the search and the second closes the window.
The sections
The list down the left side has two groups. The first, headed Settings, is about you and your Organization. The second, headed Desktop app, is about Rally on this Mac.
| Section | What you find there | More in |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Your profile, your default time zone, and Sign out of Rally. | This page, and Signing in, signing out and Lockdown mode |
| Digest | When Rally writes you a summary and where it sends it. | The digest |
| Notifications | Whether this Mac tells you about mentions and additions. | Notifications |
| Organization | The Organization's name, its default time zone, its members and invitations. | Organization settings |
| Internet access | Where code Rally runs is allowed to connect. Sits indented under Organization. | Organization settings |
| Connections | Every tool you or your Organization have connected, and the ones you could add. | Settings → Connections |
| GitHub | Which repositories Rally may touch. Indented under Connections. | GitHub |
| MCP tools | The tools offered by a custom MCP server. Indented under Connections. | Custom MCP server |
| Application | Security, privacy, appearance, the menu bar, the app icon, updates, startup and the version number. | The rest of this chapter |
Not everyone sees every section, and a missing one is not a fault:
- Digest is hidden if digests have been switched off for your account.
- Notifications appears only once notifications on the Mac have been turned on for your account. Rally is still rolling this out, so many people do not have it yet.
- GitHub appears only after someone has connected GitHub, and MCP tools only after a custom MCP server is connected.
Searching Settings
At the top of the list is a Search box. It searches every setting by its label, its description and the names of its options, and it also knows the everyday words people reach for. A few examples:
| You type | It finds |
|---|---|
| theme | Appearance |
| colour | Your profile Color |
| time zone | Both Default timezone pickers (yours and the Organization's) |
| startup | Open Rally at login |
| privacy, diagnostics | Product analytics |
| workspace | The Organization settings |
Once you have typed something:
- Return opens the first result.
- ↓ moves from the box into the list of results, so you can pick another one.
- Esc clears the box.
Settings that only administrators can change are left out of the results if you are not one, so you will not be sent somewhere you cannot touch. Secret values, such as an API key or a password you typed into a connection, are never searchable.
Tip
You do not need to remember which section a setting is in. Press ⌘ ,, type a word, press Return. It is the fastest way to anything in this chapter.
Your profile
Account opens on Profile, which is how the rest of your Organization sees you. The subtitle under it still says "Your Rally identity and access in this workspace". Workspace is the old word for Organization; they are the same thing.
At the top is a preview of your avatar next to your name, your email address and a badge with your role in the current Organization. The email address and the role are shown here for reference only. Roles are changed by an administrator, as Roles explains.
Below that you can change three things:
- Name: your display name, the one teammates see on your messages and when they @-mention you.
- Avatar initials: the letters inside your avatar. Rally suggests two from your name, but you can type your own.
- Color: your avatar colour, which also tints parts of Rally for you. Pick one of the round swatches. The next page explains what it changes.
The preview updates as you go, so you can try a colour on before you commit to it. Since there is no Save button, you have, in fact, already committed to it. Pick another one if it does not suit.
Your profile belongs to your account, not to this Mac, so it follows you to any computer you sign in on.
Your time zone
Under Account → Preferences is Default timezone. Pick your time zone from the list.
Rally uses it in two places:
- Your Sidekicks. When one of your personal Sidekicks runs "every weekday at 9" and does not name a time zone of its own, it means 9 in this one. The description under the setting still calls them "personal automations", which is the old name for Sidekicks. See Triggers and schedules.
- Your digest. Digest times are in this time zone too. The Digest section has a link that brings you back here to change it.
This is your own time zone. The Organization has a separate Default timezone under Organization, used for Sidekicks that belong to the whole Organization. That one only an administrator can change.
Signing out
Account → Session has Sign out of Rally and its Sign out button, which removes your saved session from this Mac. What that means, and how long Rally keeps you signed in otherwise, is in Signing in, signing out and Lockdown mode.
Which version you are running
At the bottom of Application is About, with a Version row that shows which release of Rally this Mac is running. You can also choose Rally → About Rally from the menu bar. If the version cannot be read, the row says Unknown.
It is the first thing support will ask for. Find it now, while nothing is on fire. Contacting support has the rest of what to include.