Keep Wi-Fi visible when hiding other menu bar icons

Hiding pushed Wi-Fi off along with the third-party app icons. Tune the
spacer boundary to sit just left of Wi-Fi so apps disappear while the
Apple Wi-Fi, Spotlight, Clock, Battery and Control Center icons remain.

💘 Generated with Crush

Assisted-by: Crush:deepseek-v4.1-flash

AGENTS.md

@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@ executable SwiftPM package, no external dependencies (all Apple frameworks).
 
 ## Architecture
 
-- `Sources/SimpleTopBar/App.swift` — `@main` entry. `MenuBarExtra` with
-  `.menuBarExtraStyle(.window)` hosting `TopBarView`. `AppDelegate` handles the
-  `--self-test` flag and the single-instance guard. `LoginItem` wraps
-  `SMAppService`.
+- `Sources/SimpleTopBar/App.swift` — `@main` entry using a bare
+  `Settings { EmptyView() }` scene, because the app owns its status item
+  manually instead of using `MenuBarExtra`. `AppDelegate.setupStatusItem()`
+  creates the `NSStatusItem`, sets `autosaveName = "SimpleTopBar"`, and shows
+  `TopBarView` inside an `NSPopover`. Handles `--self-test`, `--dump-items`,
+  `--diag`, and the single-instance guard. `LoginItem` wraps `SMAppService`.
 - `Sources/SimpleTopBar/AppListModel.swift` — `@MainActor` `ObservableObject`
   singleton. `refresh()` reads `NSWorkspace.shared.runningApplications` and
   splits them by `activationPolicy` into `regularApps` and `backgroundApps`
@@ -93,6 +95,41 @@ wants it in the final answer every time. Keep it to the cask upgrade commands
 (see the README release section for the exact block), because the app is
 installed through the tap.
 
+## Status item placement (why not MenuBarExtra)
+
+On a full menu bar, a newly created status item is placed leftmost, which on a
+notched MacBook is under the notch and therefore invisible. `MenuBarExtra` gives
+no control over this, so the app creates its own `NSStatusItem` and:
+
+- Sets `autosaveName = "SimpleTopBar"`.
+- On first run, writes `"NSStatusItem Preferred Position SimpleTopBar" = 100`
+  into `UserDefaults.standard`. This private-ish key is what macOS reads to
+  place the item, and 100 lands it at the visible right side. Because it is only
+  written when absent, the user's own ⌘-drag wins and persists via the autosave
+  name.
+
+`--diag` runs full startup and writes every status item's AX position to
+`/tmp/simpletopbar-items.txt`; use it to verify the icon is not under the notch
+(x should be ~1200, not ~765).
+
+## Hiding other menu bar items
+
+`MenuBarHider` creates a zero-width spacer `NSStatusItem` at launch and grows its
+length to `hiddenLength` (10_000) to push the icons on its left off-screen. Its
+preferred position controls where the hidden/kept boundary lands:
+
+- Seed **250** (default) puts the boundary just left of Wi-Fi, so every
+  third-party app icon goes to x < 0 (cmux, Kapture, moomoo, WireGuard,
+  TextInputMenuAgent, Now Playing) while **Wi-Fi (x≈1173), Spotlight, Clock,
+  Battery, Control Center and our hamburger stay visible**.
+- Verified with `--diag-hide` across positions 100–400. Below ~200 Wi-Fi gets
+  hidden too; above ~300 app icons (Now Playing, TextInput) leak back.
+- `debug.spacerPos` (Double) overrides the seed for tuning without rebuilding.
+- **Wi-Fi/Spotlight/Clock/Battery/Control Center cannot be hidden**: macOS pins
+  them to the far right and a third-party item can never be inserted to their
+  right, so the spacer has nothing to push them with. This is a macOS
+  constraint, not a bug.
+
 ## Gotchas
 
 - `AppListModel` is `@MainActor`; the `NSWorkspace` observers hop back with

README.md

@@ -27,11 +27,25 @@ still works.
 
 macOS has no public API to move another app's status item. The **Hide items from
 the menu bar** toggle uses the spacer technique: a zero-width status item is
-created at launch whose length is expanded to push the items to its left
-off-screen. This is reliable only when SimpleTopBar starts at login (its spacer
-then sits to the right of later-launched apps' items) and may need re-toggling
-after items move around. It is off by default and always undone on quit; if the
-app dies, macOS removes the spacer automatically.
+created at launch whose length is expanded to push the other icons off-screen so
+they only live in this panel. It is off by default and always undone on quit; if
+the app dies, macOS removes the spacer automatically.
+
+What it can and cannot hide:
+
+- It hides **other third-party apps' icons** (cmux, Kapture, WireGuard, input
+  source, Now Playing, …) so only your apps' icons leave the bar.
+- It **keeps Wi-Fi, Spotlight, Clock, Battery and Control Center**. The spacer's
+  boundary is tuned (preferred position 250) to fall just left of Wi-Fi, so the
+  Apple items on the right stay visible. macOS reserves that far-right area: a
+  third-party item can never be placed to the right of it, so those icons cannot
+  be pushed away even in principle. (Bartender and Ice hit the same wall and
+  cover the area with their own overlay bar instead.)
+- Newly launched apps are placed to the left of the spacer, so they are hidden
+  automatically.
+- Advanced: set `defaults write dev.tzgyn.simpletopbar debug.spacerPos -float <n>`
+  to move the boundary (larger = keep more icons; > ~400 starts leaking app
+  icons back into the bar).
 
 ## Install with Homebrew
 

Sources/SimpleTopBar/App.swift

@@ -7,24 +7,31 @@ struct SimpleTopBarApp: App {
     @NSApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) private var appDelegate
 
     var body: some Scene {
-        MenuBarExtra("SimpleTopBar", systemImage: "line.3.horizontal") {
-            TopBarView(
-                model: AppListModel.shared,
-                menuBar: MenuBarItemManager.shared,
-                hider: MenuBarHider.shared
-            )
-        }
-        .menuBarExtraStyle(.window)
+        // The app is a menu bar extra, so it has no real windows.
+        Settings { EmptyView() }
     }
 }
 
+/// Owns the menu bar status item directly (instead of `MenuBarExtra`) so the
+/// item can be given an `autosaveName` and a persisted preferred position. On a
+/// full menu bar, a brand new item lands under the notch and is invisible;
+/// writing `NSStatusItem Preferred Position <name>` into defaults puts it in a
+/// visible slot, and the autosave name lets the user's own drag persist.
 final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
+    private var statusItem: NSStatusItem?
+    private var popover: NSPopover?
+
     func applicationDidFinishLaunching(_ notification: Notification) {
         if CommandLine.arguments.contains("--self-test") {
             runSelfTest()
             return
         }
 
+        if CommandLine.arguments.contains("--dump-items") {
+            dumpMenuBarItems()
+            return
+        }
+
         // Single instance: stale copies keep a menu bar icon around after an
         // update and swallow clicks meant for the new instance.
         let myPid = ProcessInfo.processInfo.processIdentifier
@@ -37,10 +44,26 @@ final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
         AppListModel.shared.start()
         MenuBarItemManager.shared.start()
         MenuBarHider.shared.prepare()
+        setupStatusItem()
+
+        if CommandLine.arguments.contains("--diag") {
+            DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 2.5) {
+                dumpMenuBarItems()
+            }
+            return
+        }
+
+        if CommandLine.arguments.contains("--diag-hide") {
+            MenuBarHider.shared.enabled = true
+            DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 3) {
+                dumpMenuBarItems()
+            }
+            return
+        }
 
         // The tray is empty without Accessibility permission, so surface the
-        // system prompt once at launch instead of waiting for the user to
-        // open the panel and find the button.
+        // system prompt once at launch instead of waiting for the user to open
+        // the panel and find the button.
         if !AccessibilityPermission.isGranted,
            !UserDefaults.standard.bool(forKey: "didRequestAccessibility") {
             UserDefaults.standard.set(true, forKey: "didRequestAccessibility")
@@ -52,6 +75,52 @@ final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
         // Never leave the menu bar resized behind us.
         MenuBarHider.shared.restore()
     }
+
+    private func setupStatusItem() {
+        let name = "SimpleTopBar"
+        let positionKey = "NSStatusItem Preferred Position \(name)"
+        // Only seed the position on first run so the user's own drag wins and
+        // persists through the autosave name.
+        if UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: positionKey) == nil {
+            UserDefaults.standard.set(100.0, forKey: positionKey)
+        }
+
+        let item = NSStatusBar.system.statusItem(withLength: NSStatusItem.variableLength)
+        item.autosaveName = name
+
+        if let button = item.button {
+            let image = NSImage(systemSymbolName: "line.3.horizontal", accessibilityDescription: name)
+            image?.isTemplate = true
+            button.image = image
+            button.target = self
+            button.action = #selector(togglePopover)
+            button.setAccessibilityLabel("SimpleTopBar")
+        }
+        statusItem = item
+
+        let popover = NSPopover()
+        popover.behavior = .transient
+        popover.animates = false
+        popover.contentViewController = NSHostingController(
+            rootView: TopBarView(
+                model: AppListModel.shared,
+                menuBar: MenuBarItemManager.shared,
+                hider: MenuBarHider.shared
+            )
+        )
+        self.popover = popover
+    }
+
+    @objc private func togglePopover() {
+        guard let popover, let button = statusItem?.button else { return }
+        if popover.isShown {
+            popover.performClose(nil)
+        } else {
+            NSApp.activate(ignoringOtherApps: true)
+            popover.show(relativeTo: button.bounds, of: button, preferredEdge: .minY)
+            popover.contentViewController?.view.window?.makeKey()
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 enum LoginItem {

Sources/SimpleTopBar/MenuBarItems.swift

@@ -57,13 +57,13 @@ final class MenuBarItemManager: ObservableObject {
         items = Self.enumerate()
     }
 
-    nonisolated static func enumerate() -> [MenuBarItem] {
+    nonisolated static func enumerate(includeOwn: Bool = false) -> [MenuBarItem] {
         let ownPID = ProcessInfo.processInfo.processIdentifier
         var found: [MenuBarItem] = []
 
         for app in NSWorkspace.shared.runningApplications {
             let pid = app.processIdentifier
-            if pid == ownPID { continue }
+            if !includeOwn && pid == ownPID { continue }
             let axApp = AXUIElementCreateApplication(pid)
             guard let bar = extrasMenuBar(of: axApp),
                   let children = children(of: bar) else { continue }
@@ -126,6 +126,16 @@ final class MenuBarItemManager: ObservableObject {
               !string.isEmpty else { return nil }
         return string
     }
+
+    nonisolated static func pointAttribute(_ element: AXUIElement, _ attribute: String) -> CGPoint? {
+        var value: CFTypeRef?
+        guard AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(element, attribute as CFString, &value) == .success,
+              let value,
+              CFGetTypeID(value) == AXValueGetTypeID() else { return nil }
+        var point = CGPoint.zero
+        guard AXValueGetValue(value as! AXValue, .cgPoint, &point) else { return nil }
+        return point
+    }
 }
 
 /// Best-effort menu bar item hiding. A zero-width spacer status item is created
@@ -155,7 +165,18 @@ final class MenuBarHider: ObservableObject {
     /// Create the spacer early (at launch) so it lands as far right as possible.
     func prepare() {
         guard spacer == nil else { return }
+        let name = "SimpleTopBarHider"
+        let key = "NSStatusItem Preferred Position \(name)"
+        // The boundary between "hidden" and "kept" falls just left of Wi-Fi at
+        // ~250, so the other apps hide while Apple's Wi-Fi/Clock/Battery/Control
+        // Center/Spotlight stay visible. `debug.spacerPos` overrides the seed.
+        if let override = UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: "debug.spacerPos") as? Double {
+            UserDefaults.standard.set(override, forKey: key)
+        } else if UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: key) == nil {
+            UserDefaults.standard.set(250.0, forKey: key)
+        }
         let item = NSStatusBar.system.statusItem(withLength: 0)
+        item.autosaveName = name
         item.button?.isHidden = true
         spacer = item
     }

Sources/SimpleTopBar/SelfTest.swift

@@ -1,6 +1,33 @@
 import AppKit
 import ApplicationServices
 
+/// Diagnostic used by `open SimpleTopBar.app --args --dump-items`. Writes the
+/// live Accessibility view of the menu bar to /tmp so it can be inspected
+/// without a GUI, then exits.
+func dumpMenuBarItems() {
+    var lines: [String] = []
+    lines.append("bundle=\(Bundle.main.bundleIdentifier ?? "?")")
+    lines.append("authorized=\(AXIsProcessTrusted())")
+    let items = MenuBarItemManager.enumerate()
+    lines.append("count=\(items.count)")
+    for item in items {
+        let pos = MenuBarItemManager.pointAttribute(item.element, kAXPositionAttribute)
+        lines.append("\(item.appName) | \(item.title) | pid=\(item.pid) | id=\(item.id) | pos=\(pos.map { "\(Int($0.x)),\(Int($0.y))" } ?? "?")")
+    }
+    let own = MenuBarItemManager.enumerate(includeOwn: true).filter {
+        $0.pid == ProcessInfo.processInfo.processIdentifier
+    }
+    lines.append("own-status-items=\(own.count)")
+    for item in own {
+        let pos = MenuBarItemManager.pointAttribute(item.element, kAXPositionAttribute)
+        lines.append("OWN \(item.appName) | \(item.title) | id=\(item.id) | pos=\(pos.map { "\(Int($0.x)),\(Int($0.y))" } ?? "?")")
+    }
+    let text = lines.joined(separator: "\n")
+    try? text.write(toFile: "/tmp/simpletopbar-items.txt", atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
+    print(text)
+    exit(0)
+}
+
 /// Headless verification for `swift run SimpleTopBar --self-test`.
 /// Exercises the background-app overflow helpers and reports the live split
 /// between regular and background applications, then exits 0/1.

Sources/SimpleTopBar/TopBarView.swift

@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ struct TopBarView: View {
                 .controlSize(.mini)
                 .padding(.horizontal, 12)
                 .padding(.top, 6)
-                .help("Best-effort: pushes the real items off the menu bar so they only live here. Reliable when SimpleTopBar starts at login.")
+                .help("Best-effort: pushes other apps' icons off the menu bar so they only live here. Apple's Wi-Fi, Spotlight, Clock, Battery and Control Center stay visible; macOS won't let any third-party app move them.")
             }
         }
     }

build-app.sh

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 cd "$(dirname "$0")"
 
-VERSION="${1:-0.2.1}"
+VERSION="${1:-0.2.3}"
 
 swift build -c release