A little shortcut. A lot more flow.
Tabnax is a native macOS switcher that brings windows, browser tabs, and apps into one keyboard-driven view. Give destinations stable letters, type an address, and get back to your work.
macOS 15+ · Apple silicon · Swift 6 · AppKit + SwiftUI · Apache-2.0 · In active development
Install · Product overview · Build the app · Website · Documentation · Security
▶ Watch the full walkthrough (1 min): switching, search, launching, restoring minimized windows, the six layouts and themes. The walkthrough is recorded from the website's interactive demo and ends with the native app.
- Go straight to a destination. Stable, prefix-free addresses select on the final keypress. Choose ergonomic letter sets, initials, or pairs; use search when you need it.
- Bring windows, tabs, and apps together. Search titles and browser context, activate apps, restore minimized windows, and request normal app quitting.
- Keep your app shortcuts. Assign persistent app letters and optionally launch assigned apps when they are closed.
- Choose one of six layouts. Switch between compact lists, window plaques, app columns, a spatial grid, app families, and a current/previous-window view.
- Make it fit your Mac. Configure the activation shortcut, press/hold behavior, optional mouse selection, display, and per-layout placement.
- Make it yours. Six themes, System/Light/Dark appearance, larger labels, stronger outlines, and native glass with accessibility fallbacks.
- See changes before applying them. Six settings panes share the actual native preview renderer, with explicit letter drafts, scoped resets, and Undo.
- Stay in control. Optional launch at login, explicit macOS permissions, local browser connections, and no analytics or cloud account in the current source.
| Layout | How it works |
|---|---|
| Shore | A compact list with a direct address for each destination. |
| Beacons | Letters beside visible windows, with a fallback bank for other targets. |
| Canopy | App columns containing their windows and tabs. |
| Lattice | An address grid with stable slots and explicit overflow. |
| Fold | Choose an app prefix, then a child window or tab. |
| Relay | Return to the previous observed window, with other destinations on a shelf. |
The images show app-owned native views with sample data. The website provides a separate interactive simulation of all six layouts.
Requirements: a Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
brew install --cask danmartuszewski/tap/tabnaxHomebrew handles the first-launch approval described below, so you can go straight to First launch.
- Download Tabnax.dmg from the latest release.
- Open it and drag Tabnax to Applications.
- Open Tabnax from Applications. macOS says it can't verify the app: click Done.
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the Security section, click Open Anyway next to the Tabnax message, and confirm with your password or Touch ID.
Instead of steps 3–4 you can run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Tabnax.app once.
Why the extra step: releases are signed with the project's own certificate but are not notarized by Apple, which needs a paid developer account. You approve Tabnax once; updates keep working and keep the Accessibility permission. Each release lists a .sha256 checksum, and codesign -dvv /Applications/Tabnax.app shows Authority=Tabnax Release Signing.
- Tabnax lives in the menu bar and opens its Settings on first launch. Click Allow access… and turn Tabnax on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. It needs this to list and focus windows.
- Hold Command and press Tab to open the switcher, then type a letter while still holding Command. A quick ⌘Tab jumps back to your previous window. Prefer to keep the macOS app switcher? Choose Use ⌃⌥ Space in Settings → General, or record any shortcut. Layout and theme live in Settings too.
- Browser tabs: Arc, Chrome, Edge and Brave work after you allow the macOS Automation prompt for each browser. Firefox, Zen and Safari need a companion extension; see Browser connections.
Tabnax checks for updates with Sparkle and asks before checking automatically. Homebrew users can also run brew upgrade --cask tabnax.
Quit Tabnax from the menu bar and move it to the Trash, or run brew uninstall --cask tabnax (add --zap to remove its settings too).
From the repository root, preview the product website with Python 3:
make websiteOpen localhost:4173. Only the self-contained website/ directory is served. It needs no npm install or build step; website/index.html also opens directly in a browser.
To build and run the native app, use an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 15+, Xcode with the macOS 26 SDK or newer, and its command-line tools selected:
make build
open macos/build/DerivedData/Build/Products/Debug/Tabnax.app --args --settings
# Or rebuild and reopen automatically as native source changes:
make devEnable Accessibility for the build you run in Settings → General, then press Command–Tab. The shared project uses ad-hoc signing; no private certificate is required. See the native guide for local signing overrides and browser setup.
| Browsers | Adapter | Approval/setup |
|---|---|---|
| Arc, Chrome, Edge, Brave | Built-in Apple Events | Per-browser macOS Automation consent. |
| Firefox, Zen | Companion extension + native messaging | Temporary development installation; permanent distribution needs a signed add-on. |
| Safari | Embedded Safari web extension | Safari extension approval; current releases are not Apple-signed and require unsigned-extension mode. |
The Safari companion needs an Apple-signed app, so for now it works only with Safari's Allow unsigned extensions developer setting, which resets when Safari quits.
Private tabs are excluded. Connections expose tab metadata for switching; they do not inject content scripts or read page contents. The privacy overview describes the data and permissions involved.
tabnax/
├── macos/ Native app, Xcode project, core package, companions, tests
├── website/ Self-contained product website, demo, curated images
├── docs/ Product, architecture, privacy, development, publication
├── design-exploration/ Historical layout prototypes and design rationale
├── settings-exploration/ Historical settings prototype and behavior contracts
├── scripts/ Portable checks and publication tooling
└── .github/ CI, dependency updates, issue and PR templates
Each area has its own README. Native paths remain stable for Xcode and existing development workflows. Build output, raw verification captures, local agent files, credentials, and signing material are ignored. Structure and ownership explains where new files belong.
make check # Public-file policy, docs/site links, JS and Python checks
make test-core # Pure Swift models (macOS / Swift 6)
make test-native # Core + native XCTest contracts (Xcode)
make test-ui # Includes interactive XCUITest scenarios
make audit # Candidate-file and full Git-history Gitleaks scanmake audit requires a verified Gitleaks installation. CI checks portable code, native build/tests, and secret exposure. Releases are cut by merging the Release Please PR; releasing covers the pipeline, versioning, and distribution. make dmg packages an ad-hoc DMG for local testing.
The native implementation and product demo are present. Versions stay on 0.x while compatibility is validated. The Firefox/Zen companion is not yet published as a signed add-on. Compatibility across Spaces, full-screen apps, Stage Manager, input utilities, and hardware arrangements needs broader validation. Intel builds, a Windows/Linux native app, and cloud sync are outside the current implementation.
See the feature matrix, and native verification record. Historical prototypes describe earlier design stages; the current app and product docs take precedence.
Read CONTRIBUTING.md before making changes, and SECURITY.md before reporting a vulnerability.
Tabnax is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. You may use, modify, and redistribute it, including commercially, provided you keep the copyright and NOTICE attribution that points back to this project and mark files you changed.