clawdbot/docs/platforms/macos.md

summary, read_when

summary	read_when
Clawdbot macOS companion app (menu bar + gateway broker)	Implementing macOS app features Changing gateway lifecycle or node bridging on macOS

Clawdbot macOS Companion (menu bar + gateway broker)

The macOS app is the menu‑bar companion for Clawdbot. It owns permissions, manages/attaches to the Gateway locally (launchd or manual), and exposes macOS capabilities to the agent as a node.

What it does

• Shows native notifications and status in the menu bar.
• Owns TCC prompts (Notifications, Accessibility, Screen Recording, Microphone, Speech Recognition, Automation/AppleScript).
• Runs or connects to the Gateway (local or remote).
• Exposes macOS‑only tools (Canvas, Camera, Screen Recording, system.run).
• Starts the local node host service in remote mode (launchd), and stops it in local mode.
• Optionally hosts PeekabooBridge for UI automation.
• Installs the global CLI (clawdbot) via npm/pnpm on request (bun not recommended for the Gateway runtime).

Local vs remote mode

• Local (default): the app attaches to a running local Gateway if present; otherwise it enables the launchd service via clawdbot daemon.
• Remote: the app connects to a Gateway over SSH/Tailscale and never starts a local process. The app starts the local node host service so the remote Gateway can reach this Mac. The app does not spawn the Gateway as a child process.

Launchd control

The app manages a per‑user LaunchAgent labeled com.clawdbot.gateway (or com.clawdbot.<profile> when using --profile/CLAWDBOT_PROFILE).

launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/com.clawdbot.gateway
launchctl bootout gui/$UID/com.clawdbot.gateway

Replace the label with com.clawdbot.<profile> when running a named profile.

If the LaunchAgent isn’t installed, enable it from the app or run clawdbot daemon install.

Node capabilities (mac)

The macOS app presents itself as a node. Common commands:

• Canvas: canvas.present, canvas.navigate, canvas.eval, canvas.snapshot, canvas.a2ui.*
• Camera: camera.snap, camera.clip
• Screen: screen.record
• System: system.run, system.notify

The node reports a permissions map so agents can decide what’s allowed.

Node service + app IPC:

• When the headless node service is running (remote mode), it connects to the Gateway WS as a node.
• system.run executes in the macOS app (UI/TCC context) over a local Unix socket; prompts + output stay in-app.

Diagram (SCI):

Gateway -> Bridge -> Node Service (TS)
                 |  IPC (UDS + token + HMAC + TTL)
                 v
             Mac App (UI + TCC + system.run)

Exec approvals (system.run)

system.run is controlled by Exec approvals in the macOS app (Settings → Exec approvals). Security + ask + allowlist are stored locally on the Mac in:

~/.clawdbot/exec-approvals.json

Example:

{
  "version": 1,
  "defaults": {
    "security": "deny",
    "ask": "on-miss"
  },
  "agents": {
    "main": {
      "security": "allowlist",
      "ask": "on-miss",
      "allowlist": [
        { "pattern": "/opt/homebrew/bin/rg" }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Notes:

• allowlist entries are JSON-encoded argv arrays.
• Choosing “Always Allow” in the prompt adds that command to the allowlist.
• system.run environment overrides are filtered (drops PATH, DYLD_*, LD_*, NODE_OPTIONS, PYTHON*, PERL*, RUBYOPT) and then merged with the app’s environment.

Deep links

The app registers the clawdbot:// URL scheme for local actions.

clawdbot://agent

Triggers a Gateway agent request.

open 'clawdbot://agent?message=Hello%20from%20deep%20link'

Query parameters:

• message (required)
• sessionKey (optional)
• thinking (optional)
• deliver / to / channel (optional)
• timeoutSeconds (optional)
• key (optional unattended mode key)

Safety:

• Without key, the app prompts for confirmation.
• With a valid key, the run is unattended (intended for personal automations).

Onboarding flow (typical)

1. Install and launch Clawdbot.app.
2. Complete the permissions checklist (TCC prompts).
3. Ensure Local mode is active and the Gateway is running.
4. Install the CLI if you want terminal access.

Build & dev workflow (native)

• cd apps/macos && swift build
• swift run Clawdbot (or Xcode)
• Package app: scripts/package-mac-app.sh

Debug gateway discovery (macOS CLI)

Use the debug CLI to exercise the same Bonjour + wide‑area discovery code that the macOS app uses, without launching the app.

cd apps/macos
swift run clawdbot-mac-discovery --timeout 3000 --json

Options:

• --include-local: include gateways that would be filtered as “local”
• --timeout <ms>: overall discovery window (default 2000)
• --json: structured output for diffing

Tip: compare against pnpm clawdbot gateway discover --json to see whether the macOS app’s discovery pipeline (NWBrowser + tailnet DNS‑SD fallback) differs from the Node CLI’s dns-sd based discovery.

Remote connection plumbing (SSH tunnels)

When the macOS app runs in Remote mode, it opens an SSH tunnel so local UI components can talk to a remote Gateway as if it were on localhost.

Control tunnel (Gateway WebSocket port)

• Purpose: health checks, status, Web Chat, config, and other control-plane calls.
• Local port: the Gateway port (default 18789), always stable.
• Remote port: the same Gateway port on the remote host.
• Behavior: no random local port; the app reuses an existing healthy tunnel or restarts it if needed.
• SSH shape: ssh -N -L <local>:127.0.0.1:<remote> with BatchMode + ExitOnForwardFailure + keepalive options.

For setup steps, see macOS remote access. For protocol details, see Gateway protocol.

Related docs

• Gateway runbook
• Gateway (macOS)
• macOS permissions
• Canvas