# System Integration

When it helps, a Glaze app can reach beyond its own window into the rest of macOS: respond to a keystroke from anywhere, open the file types it owns, exchange files with Finder by dragging, and hand off to the browser or other apps. Ask the agent for any of these in plain language.

## Global Keyboard Shortcuts

An app can register a **global hotkey**, a keyboard shortcut that works system-wide even when the app is not focused. This is how a quick-capture note or a clipboard tool springs open from whatever you are doing with a single keystroke. You choose the combination, and macOS routes it to your app no matter which app is in front.

> [!WARNING]
> A global shortcut is exclusive: if another app or macOS already uses the combination, your app cannot also claim it. Pick a less common chord if your first choice does not register.

## File Associations

An app can declare itself the opener for certain **file types**, so opening a matching file in Finder launches your app, and the file shows your app's icon. A custom editor for a `.recipe` file or a viewer for a niche format becomes a first-class citizen of the system this way.

## Drag-and-Drop

Apps can take part in drag-and-drop in every direction:

- **Into the app**: Drop files from Finder onto a drop zone to import or open them.
- **Out of the app**: Drag a generated or selected file from your app onto the desktop, into Finder, or into another app.
- **Within the app**: Drag to reorder a list or move items between areas.

This makes file-heavy workflows feel natural, with no dialogs required when a drag will do. See [Files & Data](/capabilities/files-and-data) for what happens to the files once they arrive.

## Deep Links and Custom Protocols

Every app gets its own **URL scheme**, assigned automatically from the app's identity so a link anywhere on your system can open the app and take it to a specific place. Click a link in a different app and your app comes forward on the right screen. This is how apps tie into links from emails, web pages, and other tools, and it is the same mechanism that lets a browser hand control back to your app after signing in to a service.

## Handing Off to Other Apps

Apps can also hand off to the rest of macOS: open a web address in your default browser, reveal a file in Finder, or open a project in an IDE. A "View on the web" button or a "Show in Finder" action is a small touch that makes an app feel connected to everything around it.