TermBar

One-click access to AI coding agents from your macOS menu bar.

TermBar is a lightweight macOS menu bar app that gives you instant access to your AI CLI tools. Click the terminal icon, pick your agent, and a fresh Terminal window opens ready to go.

Features

• Four AI agents in one dropdown: Claude, Codex, Kimi, and Gemini
• Global hotkeys (Ctrl+Opt+1 through Ctrl+Opt+4) for instant launch
• Global menu hotkey (Ctrl+Opt+T) opens the menu from any app
• Fresh Terminal window every time — no reusing stale sessions
• Native macOS menu bar app — no Electron, no overhead
• Brand logos for each tool — programmatic vector icons, no bundled assets

How It Works

1. Click the terminal icon in your menu bar (or press Ctrl+Opt+T)
2. Select an AI agent from the dropdown
3. A new Terminal window opens with the CLI tool running

Claude Code launched via TermBar with permissions bypass enabled.

Supported Tools

Agent	Command	Shortcut	Description
Claude	claude --dangerously-skip-permissions	Ctrl+Opt+1	Anthropic's Claude Code CLI with auto-permissions
Codex	codex	Ctrl+Opt+2	OpenAI's Codex CLI agent
Kimi	kimi-cli	Ctrl+Opt+3	Moonshot AI's Kimi CLI agent
Gemini	gemini	Ctrl+Opt+4	Google's Gemini CLI agent

Installation

Prerequisites

Install the CLI tools you want to use:

# Claude Code
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

# Codex
npm install -g @openai/codex

# Kimi CLI
# See https://github.com/anthropics/kimi-cli

# Gemini CLI
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/gemini

Build from Source

Requires Swift 6 and macOS 13+.

git clone https://github.com/CharlescSturt/term-bar.git
cd term-bar
bash Scripts/build_app.sh

This builds a release binary and installs it to ~/Applications/TermBar.app.

Launch

open ~/Applications/TermBar.app

To start TermBar automatically at login, add it to System Settings > General > Login Items.

Configuration

TermBar is configured in Sources/TermBar/AppDelegate.swift. To add or modify tools, edit the tools array:

private let tools: [ToolItem] = [
    ToolItem(name: "Claude", command: "claude --dangerously-skip-permissions",
             keyCode: UInt32(kVK_ANSI_1), shortcutLabel: "Ctrl+Opt+1"),
    ToolItem(name: "Codex", command: "codex",
             keyCode: UInt32(kVK_ANSI_2), shortcutLabel: "Ctrl+Opt+2"),
    // Add more tools here
]

Then rebuild:

bash Scripts/build_app.sh

Technical Details

• Swift 6 with strict concurrency
• Swift Package Manager (no Xcode project required)
• Carbon API for global hotkey registration
• NSStatusItem for native menu bar integration
• LSUIElement — runs as a menu bar agent (no Dock icon)
• Launches tools via .command files opened by NSWorkspace — no AppleScript or Accessibility permissions needed

Why TermBar?

If you work with multiple AI coding agents throughout the day, switching between them means opening Terminal, typing the command, waiting for it to load. TermBar removes that friction — the agent you need is always two clicks (or one hotkey) away.

License

MIT