ClashX Common Issues & Troubleshooting: Quick Solutions to Problems

Introduction & Problem Categories

As a powerful proxy tool, ClashX may encounter various issues during daily use. These issues can be broadly categorized as follows:

This guide will explain diagnostic methods and solutions for each type of issue, helping you quickly restore normal operation.

Connection Issues Troubleshooting

Connection issues are the most common ClashX failures. This section explains how to diagnose and resolve these problems.

Issue 1: Cannot Connect / Proxy Not Working

Symptoms

• Applications cannot access the internet
• Connection timeout errors
• ClashX is running but has no effect

Troubleshooting Steps

# Check in terminal for ClashX process
ps aux | grep clash

# Output example:
# xxx /Applications/ClashX.app/Contents/MacOS/ClashX

# Check if ClashX is listening on the expected port
lsof -i :7890
lsof -i :7891

# Test proxy connection
curl -x http://127.0.0.1:7890 http://www.gstatic.com/generate_204

Issue 2: Connection Timeout

Symptoms

• Connection normal but response slow
• Large file downloads failing
• Some websites cannot load

Solution

# Edit config.yaml, add in General settings: 
protocol: TLS1.2

# TCP connection timeout (s)
connect-timeout: 5

# read timeout (s)
read-timeout: 5

# If it still times out, try increasing to: 
connect-timeout: 10
read-timeout: 10

Issue 3: Intermittent Connection Drops

Symptoms

• Connection randomly drops during use
• Need to restart ClashX to recover
• Particularly unstable during certain times

Solution

• Update Nodes: Manually update subscription link, remove unstable nodes
• Switch Protocol: Try different proxy protocols (SS, Trojan, VMess)
• Check Router: Restart network devices, check connection stability
• Enable Keep-Alive: Enable TCP Keep-Alive in configuration

proxies:
  - name: "Stable node"
    type: ss
    server: example.com
    port: 443
    cipher: aes-256-gcm
    password: "password"
    udp: true

    # Enable Keep-Alive
    keep-alive: true

TUN Mode Issues

TUN mode is a system-level proxy that does not require separate configuration for each application. However, it can also cause issues.

Issue 1: TUN Mode Cannot Be Enabled

Common Errors

Troubleshooting Steps

# Check if current user is admin
id

# Check ClashX permissions
ls -la /Applications/ClashX.app/Contents/MacOS/ClashX

Solutions

1. Ensure using administrator account
2. Grant TUN permissions in ClashX settings
3. Try using gvisor protocol stack (more stable)
4. Check for conflicts with other VPN software

Issue 2: No Network After Enabling TUN Mode

Symptoms

• Completely no network after enabling TUN mode
• Local IP address displays abnormally
• DNS resolution failed

Quick Recovery

# Force disable TUN
defaults write com.west2online.ClashX tun-enabled -bool false

# Restart ClashX
killall ClashX

Configuration Fix

tun:
  enable: true
  stack: gvisor          # Recommended gvisor
  dns-hijack:
    - any:53             # Hijack all DNS queries
  auto-route: true       # Auto configure routing
  auto-detect-interface: true

# DNS Configuration
dns:
  enable: true
  listen: 127.0.0.1:53
  enhanced-mode: fake-ip
  nameserver:
    - 119.29.29.29
    - 223.5.5.5

Issue 3: TUN Mode Affecting Other Applications

Symptoms

• Some apps (like iMessage, Apple Music) cannot function normally
• Local services (like MySQL, Redis) connection failed
• VoIP apps have no audio

Solution

# Configure in config.yaml
tun:
  enable: true
  stack: gvisor
  dns-hijack:
    - any:53
  auto-route: true
  auto-detect-interface: true

  # Traffic filtering - Apps excluded from TUN
  include-apps:
    - com.apple.dt.Xcode
    - com.docker.docker

  # Network interfaces excluded from TUN
  exclude-interfaces:
    - en1
    - en2

Subscription Link Issues

Subscription links are an important way to configure ClashX. Common subscription issues include import failures and nodes not displaying.

Issue 1: Subscription Import Failed

Symptoms

• No response after pasting link
• Displays "Invalid URL"
• Configuration file empty after import

Troubleshooting Steps

# Check if link is valid
curl -I "https://example.com/subscribe"

# Validate response content-type
curl -I -H "Accept-Encoding: gzip" "https://example.com/subscribe"

Common Causes & Solutions

Issue 2: Subscription Update Failed

Symptoms

• No response when clicking update button
• Displays "Update failed"
• Nodes remain old list

Solution

Issue 3: Nodes Not Displayed in Subscription

Symptoms

• Subscription imported but no available nodes
• proxy-groups is empty
• Rules cannot match

Check Process

# Open the config file
open ~/.config/clash/config.yaml

# Check the following:
# 1. proxies section has nodes
# 2. proxy-groups are correct
# 3. rules are complete

Common Reasons

• Subscription link format incompatible with ClashX
• Node information incomplete or format error
• Proxy protocol version not supported
• YAML syntax error

Performance Optimization

ClashX performance issues usually manifest as slow speed, high memory usage, and high CPU usage.

Issue 1: Slow Proxy Speed

Symptoms

• Slow web page loading
• Video buffering
• File download speed lower than normal

Troubleshooting Steps

# Run speed test in ClashX Dashboard
# Or test with CLI
curl -x socks5://127.0.0.1:7891 http://www.gstatic.com/generate_204 -w "%{time_total}\n" -o /dev/null

# Check latency to different regions
ping -c 4 8.8.8.8  # requires proxy settings

Optimization Solutions

• Select Optimal Node: Use url-test to automatically select lowest latency node
• Adjust DNS: Use low-latency DNS servers
• Enable Multiplexing: Enable HTTP/2 on supported protocols
• Check Local Network: Ensure Wi-Fi signal is stable

# Use url-test Auto Select fast nodes
proxy-groups:
  - name: "♻️ Auto Select"
    type: url-test
    proxies:
      - "nodes1"
      - "nodes2"
      - "nodes3"
    url: "http://www.gstatic.com/generate_204"
    interval: 300        # test every 5 minutes
    tolerance: 50        # 50ms tolerance

# optimize DNS Configuration
dns:
  enable: true
  enhanced-mode: redir-host  # better performance than fake-ip
  nameserver:
    - 119.29.29.29       # Fast CN DNS
    - 223.5.5.5
  fallback:
    - https://1.1.1.1/dns-query  # Fast Global DNS

Issue 2: High Memory Usage

Symptoms

• ClashX using more than 500MB memory
• System becomes sluggish
• Other applications respond slowly

Solution

• Reduce Node Count: Delete unused nodes and rule sets
• Disable Unnecessary Features: Turn off Dashboard, TUN mode
• Optimize Rules: Use rule sets instead of individual rules
• Regular Restart: Restart ClashX daily to free memory

Monitor Memory Usage

# View ClashX real-time memory usage
top -p $(pgrep ClashX)

# Export memory usage details
ps aux | grep ClashX

Issue 3: High CPU Usage

Symptoms

• ClashX process CPU usage over 50%
• Fan spinning fast
• Battery draining quickly (laptop)

Solution

• Check Rule Complexity: Too many rules increase CPU burden
• Disable Fake-IP: Use redir-host mode
• Limit url-test Frequency: Increase test interval
• Update to Latest Version: New versions usually have performance optimizations

dns:
  enable: true
  enhanced-mode: redir-host  # instead of fake-ip

# Reduce log level
log-level: warning

# Reduce test frequency
proxy-groups:
  - name: "♻️ Auto Select"
    type: url-test
    interval: 600  # increase to 10 minutes

Configuration File Issues

Configuration file errors are a common cause of ClashX not working properly.

Issue 1: YAML Syntax Errors

Symptoms

• Displays "Parse error" or "Invalid config"
• Configuration file cannot load
• Some configuration items not taking effect

Common Errors & Fixes

Validate Configuration File

# Validate YAML with Python
python3 -c "import yaml; yaml.safe_load(open('config.yaml'))"

# No output means config is valid

Issue 2: Configuration Items Not Taking Effect

Symptoms

• Rules still not applied after modification
• New proxy nodes not displayed
• DNS settings invalid

Solution

• Ensure configuration file is saved
• Use "Reload Configuration" instead of "Enable"
• Check file permissions are correct
• View ClashX logs for more information

Issue 3: Configuration File Lost or Corrupted

Symptoms

• Cannot find configuration file
• Configuration file cannot open
• Error when starting ClashX

Recovery Steps

# macOS default location
~/.config/clash/config.yaml

# Open the config file directory
open ~/.config/clash/

Recovery Actions

1. Close ClashX
2. Backup existing configuration file (if any)
3. Restore from backup or re-import subscription
4. Restart ClashX

Other Common Issues

Issue 1: DNS Resolution Failed

Symptoms

• Cannot access some websites
• Displays "DNS failed" or "Cannot resolve host"
• DNS query timeout

Solution

# Test DNS resolution
nslookup google.com

# Diagnose with dig
dig google.com @119.29.29.29

# test DoH (DNS over HTTPS)
curl -H 'Accept: application/dns-json' 'https://dns.google/resolve?name=google.com'

Configuration Optimization

dns:
  enable: true
  listen: 127.0.0.1:53
  enhanced-mode: redir-host

  nameserver:
    - 119.29.29.29       # Tencent DNS
    - 223.5.5.5          # AliDNS
    - 8.8.8.8            # Google DNS

  fallback:
    - https://1.1.1.1/dns-query    # Cloudflare DoH
    - https://dns.google/dns-query # Google DoH

  fallback-filter:
    geoip: true
    geoip-code: CN
    ipcidr:
      - 240.0.0.0/4

Issue 2: SSL/TLS Certificate Errors

Symptoms

• Displays "Certificate verification failed"
• Some HTTPS websites cannot access
• Browser shows certificate untrusted warning

Temporary Solution (Not Recommended)

proxies:
  - name: "Test node"
    type: trojan
    server: example.com
    port: 443
    password: "password"
    skip-cert-verify: true  # not recommendedlong-termUse

Issue 3: Application Cannot Connect to Proxy

Symptoms

• A specific app cannot use proxy
• App shows offline status
• Other apps work but this one does not

Solution

• Check App Proxy Settings: App itself may need proxy configuration
• Allow Local Connections: Enable "Allow LAN" in ClashX
• Close App Firewall: Some security software may block connections
• Restart App: Clear cached network connections

Prevention Measures & Best Practices

Many issues can be prevented by following best practices.

Regular Maintenance

• Weekly Node Updates: Keep latest node list
• Monthly Log Checks: Discover potential issues early
• Regular Backups: Prevent configuration file loss
• Update ClashX: Get latest features and fixes

Configuration Best Practices

• Keep Configuration Simple: Only configure necessary rules and nodes
• Use Version Control: Manage configuration files with Git
• Document Changes: Record the purpose of each configuration item
• Test New Configurations: Test thoroughly before applying globally

Backup Strategy

# Create config backup
cp ~/.config/clash/config.yaml ~/.config/clash/config.backup.yaml

# Backup with Time Machine (macOS)
defaults write com.west2online.ClashX autosyncconfig -bool true

# Check backups regularly
ls -la ~/.config/clash/

Monitoring & Logging

• Enable detailed log level: log-level: debug
• Regularly check log file: ~/.config/clash/clashx.log
• Monitor system resource usage
• Use Dashboard for real-time monitoring