KamiNotch

KamiNotch is a menubar-only macOS terminal HUD that drops from the notch with a clean liquid-glass look. It keeps your shell running when collapsed, so you can pop it open and keep working.

Status Alpha. Core HUD, hotkey, terminal, workspaces, themes, and DMG packaging are implemented.

• Official GitHub releases are intended to be Developer ID signed + notarized + stapled.

• Local builds are development artifacts and are not intended for end-user distribution.

• Design doc: docs/plans/2026-02-05-macos-liquid-glass-terminal-hud-design.md

Current Features

• Menubar toggle and global hotkey.
• Built-in terminal (SwiftTerm) with local shell.
• Tabs grouped into workspaces, persisted to JSON.
• Liquid-glass theming with presets and custom controls.
• Size presets: Compact, Tall, Full.

Screenshots No production screenshots are committed yet. Before broader promotion, add:

• HUD open under notch.
• Workspace tab switcher.
• Theme settings panel.

Install (Official Release)

1. Click Download for macOS.
2. Drag KamiNotch.app to Applications.
3. Launch from Applications (double-click).

Optional verification:

spctl -a -vv /Applications/KamiNotch.app
codesign -dv --verbose=4 /Applications/KamiNotch.app
scripts/verify-release.sh /Applications/KamiNotch.app /path/to/KamiNotch.dmg

If a published release still shows a Gatekeeper malware-verification warning, treat it as a release pipeline defect and open an issue.

Development Requirements:

• macOS with Xcode and Swift 6 toolchain.

Build a local DMG:

chmod +x scripts/create-dmg.sh
scripts/create-dmg.sh

Build and run:

swift build
swift run

Run tests:

swift test

Notes:

• Local DMGs are ad-hoc signed by default unless you set CODESIGN_IDENTITY and numeric bundle versions.
• Signing and notarization setup is documented in docs/release-notarization.md.

Release from GitHub Actions:

git tag v0.1.0
git push origin v0.1.0

The Release DMG workflow signs, notarizes, staples, and uploads KamiNotch.dmg.

Security + Data Model

• Security model: docs/security-model.md
• Stored app files:
  • ~/Library/Application Support/KamiNotch/workspaces.json
  • ~/Library/Application Support/KamiNotch/theme.json
• The app does not persist terminal output itself. Your shell may still persist history in your normal shell history files (for example ~/.zsh_history).

Display Behavior

• Notch devices: panel is anchored to top-center around notch geometry.
• Non-notch displays: panel still anchors to top-center.
• Multi-display setups: current notch hit target follows the main display; improvements are planned for per-display behavior.

Tech Direction

• SwiftUI UI with AppKit window control.
• NSStatusItem menubar integration.
• SwiftTerm for terminal rendering.
• KeyboardShortcuts for global hotkey.
• JSON persistence for workspaces and theme.

Roadmap

• Scaffold native macOS app shell.
• Menubar toggle and panel window.
• Terminal session manager and tab UI.
• Workspace persistence and restore.
• Theme system and preset packs.
• App packaging (DMG build + release upload).
• Release screenshots and demo media.
• UI polish and animations.
• Multi-display notch target behavior.

Contributing See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.

Disclaimer KamiNotch is an independent project and is not affiliated with Apple.