clawdbot/docs/clawdis-mac.md

Clawdis macOS Companion (menu bar + XPC broker)

Author: steipete · Status: draft spec · Date: 2025-12-05

Purpose

• Single macOS menu-bar app named Clawdis that:
  • Shows native notifications for Clawdis/warelay events.
  • Owns TCC prompts (Notifications, Accessibility, Screen Recording).
  • Brokers privileged actions (screen capture, shell with elevated UI context) via XPC.
  • Provides a tiny CLI (clawdis-mac) that talks to the app; Node/TS shells out to it.
• Replace the separate notifier helper pattern (Oracle) with a built-in notifier.
• Offer a first-run experience similar to VibeTunnel’s onboarding (permissions + CLI install).

High-level design

• SwiftPM package in apps/macos/ (macOS 15+, Swift 6):
  • Dependency: https://github.com/ChimeHQ/AsyncXPCConnection (>=0.6.0).
  • Targets:
    • ClawdisIPC (shared Codable types + helpers).
    • Clawdis (LSUIElement MenuBarExtra app; embeds XPC listener and notifier).
    • ClawdisCLI (client that forms requests, talks XPC, prints JSON for scripts).
• Bundle ID: com.steipete.clawdis; XPC service name: com.steipete.clawdis.xpc.
• The CLI lives in the app bundle Contents/Helpers/clawdis-mac; dev symlink bin/clawdis-mac points there.
• Node/TS layer calls the CLI; no direct XPC from Node.

IPC contract (ClawdisIPC)

• Codable enums; small payloads (<1 MB enforced in listener):

enum Capability { notifications, accessibility, screenRecording }
enum Request {
  notify(title, body, sound?)
  ensurePermissions([Capability], interactive: Bool)
  screenshot(displayID?, windowID?, format="png")
  runShell(command:[String], cwd?, env?, timeoutSec?, needsScreenRecording: Bool)
  status
}
struct Response { ok: Bool; message?: String; payload?: Data }

• Listener validates caller auditToken == same UID, rejects oversize/unknown cases.

App UX (Clawdis)

• MenuBarExtra icon only (LSUIElement; no Dock).
• Menu items: Status, Permissions…, Pause Clawdis toggle (temporarily deny privileged actions/notifications without quitting), Quit.
• Settings window (Trimmy-style tabs):
  • General: launch at login toggle, default sound, logging verbosity.
  • Permissions: live status + “Request” buttons for Notifications/Accessibility/Screen Recording; links to System Settings.
  • Debug (when enabled): PID/log links, restart/reveal app shortcuts, manual test notification.
  • About: version, links, license.
• Pause behavior: matches Trimmy’s “Auto Trim” toggle. When paused, XPC listener returns ok=false, message="clawdis paused" for actions that would touch TCC (notify/run/screenshot). State is persisted (UserDefaults) and surfaced in menu and status view.
• Onboarding (VibeTunnel-inspired): Welcome → What it does → Install CLI (shows ln -s .../clawdis-mac /usr/local/bin) → Permissions checklist with live status → Test notification → Done. Re-show when welcomeVersion bumps or CLI/app version mismatch.

Built-in services

• NotificationManager: UNUserNotificationCenter primary; AppleScript display notification fallback; respects sound setting.
• PermissionManager: checks/requests Notifications, Accessibility (AX), Screen Recording (capture probe); publishes changes for UI.
• ScreenCaptureManager: window/display PNG capture; gated on permission.
• ShellRunner: executes Process with timeout; rejects when needsScreenRecording and permission missing; returns stdout/stderr in payload.
• XPCListener actor: routes Request → managers; logs via OSLog.

CLI (clawdis-mac)

• Subcommands (JSON out, non-zero exit on failure):
  • notify --title --body [--sound]
  • ensure-permissions --cap accessibility --cap screenRecording [--interactive]
  • screenshot [--display-id N | --window-id N] [--out path]
  • run -- cmd args... [--cwd] [--env KEY=VAL] [--timeout 30] [--needs-screen-recording]
  • status
• Internals: builds Request, connects via AsyncXPCConnection, prints Response as JSON to stdout.

Integration with warelay/Clawdis (Node/TS)

• Add helper module that shells to clawdis-mac:
  • Prefer ensure-permissions before actions that need TCC.
  • Use notify for desktop toasts; fall back to JS notifier only if CLI missing or platform ≠ macOS.
  • Use run for tasks requiring privileged UI context (screen-recorded terminal runs, etc.).

Permissions strategy

• All TCC prompts originate from the app bundle; CLI and Node stay headless.
• Permission checks are idempotent; onboarding surfaces missing grants and provides one-click request buttons.

Build & dev workflow (native)

• cd native && swift build (debug) / swift build -c release.
• Run app for dev: swift run Clawdis (or Xcode scheme).
• Package app + helper: swift build -c release && swift package --allow-writing-to-directory ../dist (tbd exact script).
• Tests: add Swift Testing suites under apps/macos/Tests (especially IPC round-trips and permission probing fakes).

Icon pipeline

• Source asset lives at apps/macos/Icon.icon (glass .icon bundle).
• Regenerate the bundled icns via scripts/build_icon.sh (uses ictool/icontool + sips), which outputs to apps/macos/Sources/Clawdis/Resources/Clawdis.icns by default. Override DEST_ICNS to change the target. The script also writes intermediate renders to apps/macos/build/icon/.

Open questions / decisions

• Where to place the dev symlink bin/clawdis-mac (repo root vs. apps/macos/bin)?
• Should runShell support streaming stdout/stderr (XPC with AsyncSequence) or just buffered? (Start buffered; streaming later.)
• Icon: reuse Clawdis lobster or new mac-specific glyph?
• Sparkle updates: out of scope initially; add later if we ship signed builds.