Appify UI

Making a tiny Mac app should not feel like starting a religion.

Appify UI is for turning local software into real Mac-shaped things: a small native shell around the tool that already works, with the operating system doing the parts the operating system is good at.

Not Electron-as-a-city. Not a generic cross-platform fantasy. A folder-shaped Mac app, a tiny host, a local runner, and as little ceremony as possible between an idea and a double-clickable thing.

Current Shape

The repo is intentionally object-first:

.
├── LazyGit.app
├── SQLitePeek.app
├── TLCanvas.app
├── source/
│   └── AppifyHost/
├── Scripts/
│   └── verify-root-apps.sh
└── README.md

The rule is simple:

• *.app/ contains everything specific to that app: runtime payloads, app servers, runners, scripts, fixtures, docs, and developer tooling.
• source/AppifyHost/ contains the shared SwiftPM document host used by the app bundles.
• Git history carries old experiments. The main tree stays clean.

Apps

LazyGit.app opens .lazygit marker packages. The marker lives inside a repo folder; the app starts ttyd, runs lazygit --path for that repo, and shows it in a native WebKit window.

SQLitePeek.app opens .db, .sqlite, and .sqlite3 files. It starts a local terminal runner and opens the selected database with tw from the tabiew package.

TLCanvas.app opens .tlcanvas document packages. Its bundled Runner is the canonical TLCanvas source, including the tldraw SDK app, server, tests, schema, and lockfile.

source/AppifyHost is the shared host layer. It knows how to open macOS documents, start an app-bundled server command, wait for APPIFY_HOST_OPEN_URL, validate that URL, and show it in a native WebKit window. It does not know about LazyGit, SQLite, TLCanvas, Bun, ttyd, or tldraw.

Build

Shared host:

cd source/AppifyHost
swift test

LazyGit:

cd LazyGit.app/Contents/Developer
Scripts/build-app.sh
Scripts/smoke-ui.sh

SQLite Peek:

cd SQLitePeek.app/Contents/Developer
Scripts/build-root-app.sh
Scripts/smoke-menus.jxa.js "$PWD/../.." com.subtlegradient.SQLitePeek "SQLite Peek"

TLCanvas:

cd TLCanvas.app/Contents/Resources/Runner
bun install --frozen-lockfile
bun test tests/*.test.ts
bun build src/index.html --outdir /private/tmp/tlcanvas-runner-build

cd ../../Developer
Scripts/build-app.sh
Scripts/smoke-ui.sh

Verify the checked-in root apps:

Scripts/verify-root-apps.sh

History

The old apps and experiments are archived by git, not by folders in the current tree. The pre-cleanup snapshot is:

archive/pre-cleanup-2026-05-21

Useful landmarks inside that tag:

• legacy app bundles
• AppifyUI2026 .webapp experiment
• WebappHost experiment
• Appify UI 23
• web-components-native idea sketch

To pull any old artifact back locally:

git checkout archive/pre-cleanup-2026-05-21 -- path/to/thing

Boundaries

This is serious software for me and intentionally toy-like in public posture. It is useful, inspectable, forkable, and not a support contract.

I do not accept pull requests for this repo anymore. Issues are still welcome: bugs, notes, screenshots, ideas, and "look what I made" chatter are all useful signal. An issue does not imply a response, fix, roadmap slot, support obligation, merge, or security review.

Fork it. Change anything. Ship your version. Brag. Do not wait for me.

Similar Projects

• https://github.com/MacGapProject/MacGap2
• https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js
• https://github.com/sveinbjornt/Platypus

Those are probably still what many people should use.

Appify UI is the stubborn smaller thing: local tools, native document packages, WebKit where it helps, SwiftUI where it belongs, and as little machinery as possible between an idea and a double-clickable Mac app.