TZGyn
e22bcb99c4
The session log showed active=false after every activation attempt on
macOS 26: cooperative activation is denied for LSUIElement apps, and an
inactive app's panels let clicks fall through to the windows below.
Remove .nonactivatingPanel so showing the overlay activates the app
(previous app focus is restored after capture as before).
💘 Generated with Crush
Assisted-by: Crush:deepseek-v4-flash-0731
Kapture
A native macOS menu bar app that captures a screen region, shows the screenshot in a window, and extracts text from it on demand with on-device Vision OCR.
Press ⌘⇧S, drag to select an area, and a window opens with your screenshot. Click Get Text to recognize the text — it is copied to your clipboard and shown alongside the image.
No network calls, no API keys — everything runs locally.
Features
- Global hotkey ⌘⇧S works from any app
- Region selection overlay (all screens, Escape cancels)
- Launch at Login toggle in the menu bar
- The screenshot appears in a window (Screenshot / Text tabs) instead of being instantly OCR'd
- Get Text button runs on-device OCR (English, Chinese simplified/traditional, Japanese, Korean) and auto-copies the result to the clipboard
- Save PNG… keeps the screenshot without any OCR
- Open an existing image file (or drag) via the menu bar icon
- Menu bar icon with permission status
Install with Homebrew
brew tap TZGyn/tap https://gitea.tzgyn.dev/TZGyn/homebrew-tap.git
brew trust TZGyn/tap
brew install --cask kapture
The tap is hosted on Gitea, so the full URL is required. Homebrew may print an "Unsupported tap" warning — it's harmless.
Releases are published as zips on GitHub Releases; release.sh packages a
new one (./release.sh 1.0.1 && git tag v1.0.1 && git push origin v1.0.1).
The cask lives in the TZGyn/homebrew-tap
repository — bump the version and sha256 there for each release.
Note: builds are ad-hoc signed (no App Store / Developer ID notarization), so first launch of a new version may trigger a Gatekeeper warning — users can right-click → Open, or the warning goes away when the binary identity matches a previously-granted permission.
Build & run
./build-app.sh # produces Kapture.app
open Kapture.app # or drag to /Applications
For development without the bundle:
swift run Kapture # runs from terminal (will appear in Dock)
First launch
- Click the menu bar icon → Grant Screen Recording Permission… (required so the app can capture the screen; opening image files works without it).
- Press ⌘⇧S, drag to select a region, release — the screenshot opens in a window.
- Click Get Text — the extracted text is copied to your clipboard and shown in the Text tab.
Note: macOS may require re-granting Screen Recording permission after rebuilding the app, since the binary identity changes.
Smoke test
swift run Kapture --test-ocr # renders text, OCRs it, prints PASS/FAIL
How it works
| Concern | Tech |
|---|---|
| Hotkey | Carbon RegisterEventHotKey (⌘⇧S, global) |
| Selection | Borderless NSPanel overlay per screen, dim + clear-cut rectangle |
| Capture | CGWindowListCreateImage (retina-aware) |
| OCR | Vision VNRecognizeTextRequest (accurate, multi-language) |
| UI | SwiftUI MenuBarExtra + floating result window (Screenshot/Text tabs) |
Layout
Package.swift SwiftPM manifest (macOS 13+)
build-app.sh builds a proper .app bundle + ad-hoc codesign
Sources/Kapture/
App.swift app entry, menu bar UI, permission helper, OCR smoke test
HotkeyManager.swift global ⌘⇧S hotkey
OverlayView.swift selection overlay panel + drawing
CaptureController.swift selection flow, screen capture, coordinate mapping
OCRService.swift Vision text recognition
ResultWindow.swift floating result window (screenshot view, Get Text, Save PNG)