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 tap melonamin/formulae
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...

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

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:

• 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

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, which means that SwiftBar can run any existing BitBar 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 "This is not a Menu Title, this will be showed 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.

Here is the list of supported 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.
font	macOS font name	Sets font name to use in item text
size	Number	Sets item text size
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.
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	Sets an image for item.
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.
checked	True	Sets a checkmark in front of the item.
tooltip	Text	Sets a tooltip for the item.

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	⌘+⌥+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
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).

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:

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

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>

URL Scheme

Endpoint	Parameter	Description	Example
refreshallplugins	none	Force refresh all loaded plugins	swiftbar://refreshallplugins
refreshplugin	name plugin name	Force refresh plugin by name	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
addplugin	src source URL to plugin file	Add plugin to Swiftbar from URL	swiftbar://addplugin?src=https://coolplugin
notify	plugin plugin name, notification fields title, subtitle, body and disable sound silent=true	Show notification	swiftbar://notify?plugin=MyPlugin&title=title&subtitle=subtitle&body=body&silent=true

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
• Sparkle
• ShellOut
• SwiftCron

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