Copying was a side effect of a click, which made it impossible to build a selection with the mouse and surprising when the intent was to pick something up rather than copy it immediately. A click now selects (or deselects), and copying is an explicit action from the selection bar or the right-click menu.
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AGENTS.md
Prompt is a native macOS app written in Swift/SwiftUI. Single executable SwiftPM package, no external dependencies (all Apple frameworks). It is a Copper-style (shadcn) capture panel: prompts and photos live in sections, clicking an item copies it back to the clipboard.
Architecture
Sources/Prompt/App.swift—@mainentry using a bareSettings { EmptyView() }scene; the app owns itsNSStatusItemmanually (same reason as SimpleTopBar: placement control on notched Macs, seeded viaNSStatusItem Preferred Position Prompt). Left click toggles the panel, right click shows the menu (accessibility state, launch at login, open data folder, quit). Contains the single-instance guard andLoginItem(SMAppService). Also setsNSApp.mainMenuwith Hide Panel (Cmd+W) and Quit (Cmd+Q) — an accessory app shows no menu bar, but the main menu still services key equivalents, which is the only way to quit from the keyboard while the panel has focus.applicationShouldHandleReopenshows the panel so launching an already-running app does something. Supports--sync-checkand--diag(writes the status item's frame and permission state to/tmp/prompt-diag.txt, then exits).Sources/Prompt/Store.swift—@MainActorObservableObjectsingleton. Data model:Section→[PromptItem], item content is.text(String)or.image(String)(filename). Persists to~/Library/Application Support/Prompt/store.json; images are PNG files inImages/next to it, cached in anNSCache. Owns all mutations (add, toggle done, edit, delete, move, merge, clear done) and clipboard writes (copy,copyAsListfor numbered output,copyAsLinesfor plain newlines; both text modes skip image items). Batch mutations (delete(ids:),setDone(_:ids:),move(ids:to:)) back the selection context menu, so one action applies to every selected item and image files are cleaned up once. Saves on every mutation.Sources/Prompt/PanelView.swift— the panel UI. Header (section switcher, search, add photos, close), item list, composer. Composer# Namecreates/ switches sections. Click = select (Shift+click for a range); the selection bar offers Copy (single item), Copy as List and Copy as Lines; right-click = context menu acting on the whole selection (Copy, Copy as List, Copy as Lines, Done, Edit, Open, Merge, Move To, Delete). Esc clears the selection before it hides the panel. Drop target for images/files.Sources/Prompt/PanelController.swift— owns the floatingNSPanel(.nonactivatingPanel,.floating, right-edge docked, frame autosaved asPromptPanel), the Cmd+V image-paste monitor, andEditWindowController(separate edit window with aTextEditor).Sources/Prompt/HotkeyManager.swift— double-Shift detection via a CGEvent tap onflagsChanged(left Shift ×2 = capture, right Shift ×2 = toggle panel), plus CarbonRegisterEventHotKeyfallbacks (Cmd+Shift+Space toggle, Cmd+Shift+C capture) that work without Accessibility.Sources/Prompt/Capture.swift— selection capture: backs up every pasteboard item, simulates Cmd+C, pollschangeCountfor ≤0.5s, reads the string, restores the backup. Runs off the main thread (hotkey dispatches to a global queue); only the store append hops back to main.Sources/Prompt/SyncService.swift— optional sync client. Holds the group code and server URL inUserDefaults(sync.code,sync.serverURL,sync.version). The URL defaults toSyncService.defaultServerURL(https://prompt.tzgyn.dev); nothing is sent anywhere until a code exists, because polling only runs when one is set. Pushes the whole store as JSON and polls every 5s.Server/main.go— the Go sync backend (single file,net/http+lib/pq). Also shipsServer/Dockerfile(static binary on distroless) andServer/README.md(self-hosting). Logs one line per request, creates its schema on startup, shuts down gracefully on SIGTERM so a redeploy cannot cut off a push, and supports-healthcheck(pings local/healthz) so the shell-less image needs no curl for its DockerHEALTHCHECK.
Sync protocol
No authentication by design: a sync group is named by an 8-digit code
(1234-5678) that doubles as the shared secret. The server stores the client
payload as opaque JSONB; it never parses note contents.
| Endpoint | Behaviour |
|---|---|
POST /api/codes |
Generates a unique code and inserts an empty group |
GET /api/sync/{code} |
{"version":N,"updatedAt":…,"data":{…}|null}, 404 if unknown |
GET /api/sync/{code}/version |
{"version":N} — the cheap poll |
PUT /api/sync/{code} |
Upserts the payload, returns the incremented version |
GET /healthz |
Liveness |
Client rules:
- Payload =
{sections, activeSectionID, images}, whereimagesmaps a filename to base64 PNG so photos travel with the notes. - Polling is two-step:
GET /versionevery 5s (tiny) and the full payload only when the version moved. Fetching the payload unconditionally would re-download every base64 photo every 5 seconds. - Version counter is server-owned; the client stores the last version it saw
in
sync.versionand only applies a remote payload whenremote.version > lastVersion. - Never push a payload that came from the server.
pushNow()compares a sorted-keys encoding againstlastSyncedPayloadand skips identical payloads. Without this, applying a remote change would immediately push it back, bump the version, and the two Macs would ping-pong forever. TheapplyingRemoteflag alone is not enough: the save-triggered push is dispatched asynchronously, so it runs after the flag is cleared. - Conflict resolution is last-writer-wins at whole-store granularity. That is acceptable for personal use; it is not a merge.
apply()writes incoming images, deletes image files no longer referenced, and replaces the store in one shot.Prompt --sync-checkrunsSyncService.runDiagnostic(): pushes any local change and prints local vs remote versions, then exits. Use it to debug a second Mac without the UI.
Commands
swift build # debug build
swift run Prompt # dev run (menu bar icon appears)
./Prompt.app/Contents/MacOS/Prompt --sync-check # push + report sync state, then exit
./build-app.sh 0.1.0 # release build + .app bundle + icon + codesign
./release.sh 0.1.0 # build-app.sh + dist/Prompt.zip + notarize + sha256
scripts/make-icon.sh # regenerate Prompt.app/Contents/Resources/Icon.icns
# sync server (Go, needs Postgres)
createdb prompt_sync
cd Server && go run . # :8080, PROMPT_SYNC_DATABASE_URL / PROMPT_SYNC_ADDR
There is no test target and no linter/formatter configured. Verification =
swift build, go build ./..., and manual run (--sync-check for sync).
Bundle build & signing
build-app.sh does: release build → handwritten Info.plist (NOT generated
from Package.swift) → make-icon.sh → codesign. It resolves a
Developer ID Application identity from the login keychain and falls back to
ad-hoc signing (-) if none is present. LSUIElement is true → no Dock icon.
Bundle id is dev.tzgyn.prompt.
Release process
Notarization is required: an unnotarized build is not a release. Never
publish one, and never suggest quarantine workarounds (xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine, brew install --cask --no-quarantine). release.sh
enforces this — it fails if it cannot notarize, and refuses to print a sha256
unless spctl reports source=Notarized Developer ID. PROMPT_SKIP_NOTARY=1
exists only for a local dev build and prints a "NOT FOR PUBLICATION" warning.
./release.sh <version>— builds, notarizes, staples, zipsPrompt.apptodist/Prompt.zip, and prints its sha256 (it does not tag or upload). Uses thePROMPT_NOTARY_*env vars, defaulting to the shared Kapture App Store Connect key at~/.config/kapture/AuthKey_K5KXMMSB28.p8.- Commit and push
main. tea releases create --tag v<version> --title "Prompt <version>" --note "<what changed>" --asset dist/Prompt.zip --repo TZGyn/prompt --login gitea.tzgyn.dev.- Add/update
~/.cache/homebrew-tap/Casks/prompt.rb(version+sha256), push the tap, thengit -C /opt/homebrew/Library/Taps/tzgyn/homebrew-tap pull --ff-onlyandbrew audit --cask tzgyn/tap/prompt. - Verify by downloading the release asset back, comparing the sha256 with the
cask, and unzipping with
ditto -x -k(notunzip, which adds._*files and breaks the signature check) thenspctl -a -vv Prompt.app.
Always print the upgrade script after any release or version bump:
brew update
brew upgrade --cask prompt
Gotchas
- Never assign
NSApp.mainMenu. SwiftUI installs a menu whose Edit items are how AppKit routes Cmd+C/V/X/A/Z; replacing it with a hand-built menu silently breaks pasting, copying and select-all in the composer (this shipped once and had to be reverted).installMenuItems()only augments the existing menu: it adds Hide Panel (Cmd+W) and removes SwiftUI's Settings item, whose empty scene would otherwise shadow the in-panel Cmd+, sync panel. - Cmd+V is handled by the paste monitor, not the menu. The panel is a
.nonactivatingPanel, so it can be key while the app is not active, and menu key equivalents are not reliably delivered in that state. The monitor dispatchespaste:to the responder chain itself for text, and adds the clipboard image to the store when there is no text.Prompt --diagdumps the menu so the wiring can be checked without a keyboard. - A row is not a
Buttonbecause it contains a checkboxButton, and nested buttons never receive clicks. The row usescontentShape+onTapGestureso a click anywhere on the card selects it. Selection is driven by the card click, the checkbox, Cmd+click (toggle) and Shift+click (range); the context menu acts on the whole selection viaeffectiveIDs(for:). Copying is an explicit action (selection bar or context menu), never a side effect of a click — that was changed deliberately. - Never bind bare keys as
.keyboardShortcutin the panel (Space, Delete, plain Cmd+C). SwiftUI key equivalents are matched before text input and would steal characters from the composer TextField. Only Cmd-modified shortcuts that TextFields don't use are bound (Cmd+F/K/N, Shift+Cmd+C, Option+Cmd+C). This is why Copy has no in-panel shortcut: click-to-copy is the primary gesture, matching Copper's intent. - The panel is a
.nonactivatingPanel; itscanBecomeKeyoverride is what lets the composer TextField take focus. Don't replace it with a plain NSWindow config without rechecking that typing works without the app becoming active. - The Cmd+V paste monitor only intercepts when the pasteboard has an image AND no string, so pasting text into the composer is never swallowed.
- CGEvent tap callbacks run off-main;
HotkeyManagerhops to main before firing. The tap is re-enabled ontapDisabledByTimeout. Storeis@MainActor; anything reaching it from monitors/callbacks must go throughTask { @MainActor in }.captureSelection()blocks up to 0.5s polling the pasteboard — keep it off the main thread (the hotkey handler already dispatches to a global queue).- The double-Shift tap needs Accessibility; without it the event tap silently
fails and only the Carbon fallbacks work. The panel banner and the status
menu both surface the permission state, and
AppDelegateshows a launch alert when it is missing — otherwise a user who hides the panel is locked out (no hotkey, no Dock icon) and reports it as "the app won't come back". Check withPrompt --diag(accessibility: falseis the tell). Info.plistsetsNSAllowsArbitraryLoadsbecause the sync server URL is user-supplied and is often plain HTTP (LAN address, self-hosted box). ATS would otherwise block it with a confusing error.- The server keeps
dataas opaqueJSONB, so the payload shape can evolve without a migration — but both Macs should run the same app version, since a newer client writing unknown fields will round-trip them to an older one. .gitignorecovers.build/,Prompt.app/,dist/— build artifacts should never be committed.