SwiftBar

Add custom menu bar programs on macOS in three easy steps:

• Write a shell script
• Add it to SwiftBar
• … there is no 3rd step!

You can get plugins from awesome BitBar repository, or in SwiftBar itself using the Get Plugins... menu item.

How to get SwiftBar

Download from GitHub Releases

or Install with Homebrew

brew install swiftbar

Runs on macOS Catalina (10.15) and up.

…or build it from source

• Clone or download a copy of this repository
• Open SwiftBar/SwiftBar.xcodeproj
• Press play

Plugin Repository

SwiftBar is bundled with a Plugin Repository. You can access it at Swiftbar → Get Plugins…

If you want to add\remove plugin or have other questions about repository content please refer to this issue.

Creating Plugins

To add a new plugin to SwiftBar, you need to create an executable script following the required format (see below) and put it into Plugin Folder.

Plugin Folder

With the first launch, Swiftbar will ask you to set the Plugin Folder. SwiftBar will try to import every file in this folder as a plugin.

Important:

• hidden folders are ignored
• nested folders are traversed by SwiftBar, including symlinks
• .swiftbarignore file is supported, you can use it to exclude files from being imported as plugins.

You can hide a folder by prepending . or using this command chflags hidden <folder name>.

Plugin Naming

Plugin files must adopt the following format:

{name}.{time}.{ext}

• name - Anything you want.
• time - Refresh interval (optional). Should be a number + duration modifier (see below)
• ext - File extension.

Duration modifiers:

• ms - milliseconds, e.g. 1ms - refresh every millisecond
• s - seconds, e.g. 1s - refresh every second
• m - minute, e.g. 10m - refresh every ten minutes
• h - hour, e.g. 3h - refresh every three hours
• d - day, e.g. 1d - refresh every day

Example filename: date.1m.sh

Whether you are using a plugin from the plugin repository, or creating your own, plugins will initially appear in the menu bar in no pre-determined order. However, you can reorder how they appear by holding down Cmd and dragging them (this process can sometimes also be used on some other non-SwiftBar icons in the menu bar too). Plugin position will be remembered unless you change the name of the plugin file, in which case they’ll need to be re-positioned again.

Plugin API

Plugin is an executable script in the language of your choice. When SwiftBar detects a new file in Plugin Folder it makes this file executable if needed and runs it.

Script should produce output (STDOUT) in the required format (see next chapter). Script errors should be redirected to STDERR.

Plugin API is adopted from the BitBar\xbar, which means that SwiftBar can run any existing BitBar\xbar plugin.

Script Output

When parsing plugin output SwiftBar recognizes the following blocks:

• Header: responsible for what you see in the menu bar
• Body: responsible for dropdown menu contents

Header is everything before first ---. Each --- after the first one will be interpreted as a menu separator.
You have one or more lines in the header.

The simplest plugin looks like this:

echo "This is Menu Title"

If you provide multiple titles, the provided titles will be cycled in the menu bar and shown in the dropdown menu:

echo "This is a primary Menu Title"
echo "This is a secondary Menu Title"
echo "This is a n-th Menu Title"
echo "---"
echo "This is not a Menu Title, this will be shown in the drop-down menu only"

Script output for both header and body is split by line (\n). Each line must follow this format:

<Item Title> | [param = ...] 

Where:

• “Item Title” can be any string, this will be used as a menu item title.
• [param = …] is an optional set of parameters\modificators. Each parameter is a key-value separated by =. Use | to separate parameters from the title.

Parameters

Text Formatting:

Parameter	Value	Description
color	CSS color or HEX, light_color,dark_color	Sets item text color. If only one color is provided, it is used for both light and dark appearance.
sfcolor	CSS color or HEX, light_color,dark_color	Sets SF Symbol color. If only one color is provided, it is used for both light and dark appearance. If you fame multiple SF Symbols you can provide different colors by adding index, like this sfcolor2
font	macOS font name	Sets font name to use in item text
size	Number	Sets item text size
md	True	Enables markdown support in menu title for **bold** and *italic*
sfsize	Number	Sets size for SF Symbol image embedded in text
length	Number	Trims item text to a provided number of characters. The full title will be displayed in a tooltip.
trim	True	Trims whitespace characters
ansi	True	Enables support of ANSI color codes. Conflicts with: symbolize
emojize	False	Disables parsing of GitHub style Emojis (e.g., :mushroom: into 🍄). Requires: symbolize=false when setting to true.
symbolize	False	Disables parsing of SF Symbols (e.g., "SF Symbols Test :sun.max: :cloud.fill: :gamecontroller.fill: :bookmark: :sun.dust:" → ). Always False on Catalina.

Visuals:

Parameter	Value	Description
dropdown	False	Only applicable to items in Header. When set to False, item will not be displayed in dropdown menu, but will be cycled in the menu bar.
alternate	True	Marks a line as an alternative to the previous one for when the Option key (⌥) is pressed in the dropdown.
image	Image encoded in Base64, light_image,dark_image	Sets an image for item. If only one image is provided, it is used for both light and dark appearance.
templateImage	Image encoded in Base64	Same as image, but the image is a template image. Template images consist of black and clear colors (and an alpha channel). Template images are not intended to be used as standalone images and are usually mixed with other content to create the desired final appearance.
sfimage	SFSymbol name	Sets an image for item from SF Symbol. Only available on Big Sur and above.
sfconfig	SFSymbol configuration	Configures Rendering Mode for sfimage. Accepts a json encoded as base64, example json {"renderingMode":"Palette", "colors":["red","blue"], "scale": "large", "weight": "bold"}. Original issue #354
checked	True	Sets a checkmark in front of the item.
tooltip	Text	Sets a tooltip for the item.
webview	True	Present provided href as a webview, instead of standard menu bar menu
webvieww	Number	Sets webview width in pixels
webviewh	Number	Sets webview height in pixels

Actions:

Parameter	Value	Description
refresh	True	Plugin Script will be executed on item click
href	Absolute URL	Sets an URL to open when item clicked
bash	Absolute file path	Executable script to run in Shell
terminal	False	bash script will be run in the background, instead of launching the Terminal
params	param0=,param1=,param10=…	Parameters for bash script
shortcut	CMD+OPTION+T	Hotkey assigned to item. If item is in header, hotkey will show the menu; otherwise, hotkey will launch associated action.

Environment Variables

When running a plugin, SwiftBar sets the following environment variables:

Variable	Value
SWIFTBAR	1
SWIFTBAR_VERSION	The running SwiftBar version number (in x.y.z format)
SWIFTBAR_BUILD	The running SwiftBar build number (CFBundleVersion)
SWIFTBAR_PLUGINS_PATH	The path to the Plugin Folder
SWIFTBAR_PLUGIN_PATH	The path to the running plugin
SWIFTBAR_PLUGIN_CACHE_PATH	The cache to data folder, individual per plugin
SWIFTBAR_PLUGIN_DATA_PATH	The path to data folder, individual per plugin
SWIFTBAR_PLUGIN_REFRESH_REASON	Plugin refresh reason\trigger
SWIFTBAR_LAUNCH_TIME	SwiftBar launch date and time, ISO8601
OS_APPEARANCE	Current macOS appearance (Light or Dark)
OS_VERSION_MAJOR	The first part of the macOS version (e.g., 11 for macOS 11.0.1)
OS_VERSION_MINOR	The second part of the macOS version (e.g., 0 for macOS 11.0.1)
OS_VERSION_PATCH	The third part of the macOS version (e.g., 1 for macOS 11.0.1)
OS_LAST_SLEEP_TIME	Last OS sleep date and time, ISO8601. Empty if OS didn’t sleep since SwiftBar launch.
OS_LAST_WAKE_TIME	Last OS wake from sleep date and time, ISO8601. Empty if OS didn’t sleep since SwiftBar launch.

Script Metadata

It is recommended to include metadata in plugin script. Metadata is used in the About Plugin screen in SwiftBar.
SwiftBar adopts metadata format suggested by BitBar\xbar:

# <xbar.title>Title goes here</xbar.title>
# <xbar.version>v1.0</xbar.version>
# <xbar.author>Your Name</xbar.author>
# <xbar.author.github>your-github-username</xbar.author.github>
# <xbar.desc>Short description of what your plugin does.</xbar.desc>
# <xbar.image>http://www.hosted-somewhere/pluginimage</xbar.image>
# <xbar.dependencies>python,ruby,node</xbar.dependencies>
# <xbar.abouturl>http://url-to-about.com/</xbar.abouturl>
# <xbar.droptypes>Supported UTI's for dropping things on menu bar</xbar.droptypes>

Hiding default items

SwiftBar supports these optional metadata flags to hide default menu items:

# <swiftbar.hideAbout>true</swiftbar.hideAbout>
# <swiftbar.hideRunInTerminal>true</swiftbar.hideRunInTerminal>
# <swiftbar.hideLastUpdated>true</swiftbar.hideLastUpdated>
# <swiftbar.hideDisablePlugin>true</swiftbar.hideDisablePlugin>
# <swiftbar.hideSwiftBar>true</swiftbar.hideSwiftBar>

Option+Click will show all items:

Refresh schedule

A special tag can be used as an alternative to refresh interval defined in plugin’s name, value adopts Cron syntax:

<swiftbar.schedule>01,16,31,46 * * * *</swiftbar.schedule>

You can configure multiple schedules, using the sepparator |:

<swiftbar.schedule>1 * * * *|2 * * * *</swiftbar.schedule>

Other Parameters

• <swiftbar.refreshOnOpen>true</swiftbar.refreshOnOpen> - refreshes plugin on click, before presenting the menu
• <swiftbar.runInBash>false</swiftbar.runInBash> - doesn’t wrap plugins in Bash when running
• <swiftbar.type>streamable</swiftbar.type> - mark plugin as Streamable
• <swiftbar.environment>[var1=default value, var2=default value, ... ]</swiftbar.environment> - this variables will be passed in plugin’s environment, in later release SwiftBar will provide a UI to change values for these variables.
• <swiftbar.persistentWebView>true</swiftbar.persistentWebView> - makes WebView persistent, so it doesn’t reload on each menu bar click

Metadata for Binary Plugins

For binary plugins metadata can be added as an extended file attribute:

xattr -w "com.ameba.SwiftBar" "$(cat metadata.txt | base64)" <plugin_file>

Plugin Types

Standard (default)

For Standard type of plugins, SwiftBar expects that plugin execution is finite, i.e., plugin runs and exits with output to stdout:

• exit with code 0 and non-empty stdout - menu bar is built from the output
• exit with code 0 and empty stdout - nothing in the menu bar
• exit with code 1 - error shown in the menu bar

Optionally, a standard plugin can be run on a repeatable schedule, configured in the plugin’s file name or schedule metadata property.

Shortcuts

This plugin type is aimed for people who want to use Shortcuts app to create menu bar items. The Plugin API is pretty much the same as Standard. Create a Shortcut that outputs text in the required format, select this Shortcut in the Shortcuts Plugin section of SwiftBar’s Settings, and you are good to go.

For Shortcuts plugins, SwiftBar provides a handy UI to configure refresh schedule.

Example Shortcuts:

• SwiftBar: Unsplash Example
• SwiftBar: Fake Weather Example

Ephemeral

Ephemeral plugins create menu bar items on demand by running SwiftBar’s Shortcut action or calling a URL scheme. The Plugin API is pretty much the same as Standard.

Here are the parameters for the URL scheme:

• name - this is the plugin name, should be unique
• content - this is the markup you want SwiftBar to render
• exitafter - this is optional parameter forces plugin to exit after a period of time, set in seconds… Defaults to 0, which means “don’t exit”.

Shortcuts Action is pretty self-explanatory.

This plugin type is best used for notifications or other temporary menu bar items.

Streamable

Swiftbar launches a separate process for each Streamable plugin, which runs indefinitely until SwiftBar is closed or a failure.
You should use Streamable plugins only when dealing with a stream of incoming events; an example could be financial market info read from a websocket or CPU load information for a remote computer.

To let SwiftBar know when to update the menu bar item, Streamable plugins must use a special line separator ~~~. SwiftBar will reset the menu item on each occurrence of this separator.

In the example below, SwiftBar will show “Test 1” in the menu bar for 3 seconds, then nothing for 5 seconds, and “Test 2” indefinitely.

#!/bin/bash
#<swiftbar.type>streamable</swiftbar.type>

echo "Test 1"
echo "---"
echo "Test 2"
echo "Test 3"
sleep 3
echo "~~~"
sleep 5
echo "~~~"
echo "Test 2"

You can mark a plugin as streamable with a special metadata property <swiftbar.type>streamable</swiftbar.type>

URL Scheme

Some notes:

• Instead of the plugin name, you can (and probably should) use the plugin file name. This considered a unique plugin ID, whereas name can be the same between multiple plugins. If your plugin’s filepath is ~/Documents/SwiftBar/myplugin.1m.sh, then the name is myplugin and the ID myplugin.1m.sh
• When using open(1) to trigger scheme URLs, use -g to prevent the command from stealing focus from your active app.

Endpoint	Parameter	Description	Example
refreshallplugins	none	Force refresh all loaded plugins	swiftbar://refreshallplugins
refreshplugin	name or plugin plugin name	Force refresh plugin by name. If provided, additional URL parameters are exposed as ENV variables to the plugin	swiftbar://refreshplugin?name=myplugin
refreshplugin	index plugin index in menubar, starting from 0	Force refresh plugin by its position in menubar	swiftbar://refreshplugin?index=1
enableplugin	name or plugin plugin name	Enable plugin by name	swiftbar://enableplugin?name=myplugin
disableplugin	name or plugin plugin name	Disable plugin by name	swiftbar://disableplugin?name=myplugin
toggleplugin	name or plugin plugin name	Toggle(enable\disable) plugin by name	swiftbar://toggleplugin?name=myplugin
addplugin	src source URL to plugin file	Add plugin to Swiftbar from URL	swiftbar://addplugin?src=https://coolplugin
notify	name or plugin plugin name. Notification fields: title, subtitle, body. href to open an URL on click (including custom URL schemes). silent=true to disable sound	Show notification	swiftbar://notify?plugin=MyPlugin&title=title&subtitle=subtitle&body=body&silent=true
setephemeralplugin	name plugin name, should be unique. content - plugin content, exitafter - optionally set the lifetime of the menubar in seconds	Creates an Ephemeral Plugin. To remove existing Ephemeral Plugin set it’s content to an empty string ""	swiftbar://setephemeralplugin?name=ephemeral&content=hi

Preferences aka ‘defaults’

List of preferences that are not exposed in SwiftBar UI:

• defaults write com.ameba.SwiftBar StealthMode -bool YES - hides SwiftBar menu item when all plugins are disabled
• defaults write com.ameba.SwiftBar DisableBashWrapper -bool YES - doesn’t wrap plugins in Bash when running
• defaults write com.ameba.SwiftBar MakePluginExecutable -bool NO - disables auto chmod +x all files in Plugin Directory
• defaults write com.ameba.SwiftBar PluginDeveloperMode -bool YES - enables editing in Preferences -> Plugins
• defaults write com.ameba.Swiftbar PluginDebugMode -bool YES - enables Plugin Debug View
• defaults write com.ameba.SwiftBar StreamablePluginDebugOutput -bool YES - enables debug output for Streamable plugins, Swiftbar will expose the stream data in Console.App

Logs and Error

If plugin fails to run SwiftBar will show ⚠️ in the menu bar, you can see details by clicking on Error in dropdown menu.
Use macOS Console.app to view SwiftBar logs.

Acknowledgements

SwiftBar uses these open source libraries:

• HotKey
• LaunchAtLogin
• Preferences
• Sparkle
• SwiftCron

To freeze and secure dependencies these libraries are forked to SwiftBar organization.

Translation/Localization

SwiftBar can be translated here.

More Apps

If you enjoy SwiftBar you may like these as well:

• TRex - Easy to use text extraction tool for macOS
• Esse - Swiss army knife of text transformation for iOS and macOS