Build from source

You need a Swift toolchain with the macOS 26 SDK or newer: Xcode, or the Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install). Dynotch itself runs on macOS 14 or later. The newer SDK is what the Glass material compiles against.

git clone https://github.com/ALIRAZA47/dynotch.git
cd dynotch
./scripts/build.sh
open build/Dynotch.app

scripts/build.sh builds a release binary, generates the app icon if it’s missing, assembles build/Dynotch.app and signs it. Move the app to /Applications before turning on Launch at login.

For a quick loop, swift build and .build/debug/Dynotch also work.

Signing

Run this once first:

./scripts/make-signing-identity.sh

It creates a self-signed “Dynotch Local Signing” certificate in a keychain of its own, ~/Library/Keychains/dynotch-signing.keychain-db, with a password you choose. build.sh signs with it, so macOS keeps Dynotch’s permissions across rebuilds.

That keychain stays out of the keychain search list and locks when the Mac sleeps or an hour after it was last used, so nothing else on the Mac can sign with the identity unnoticed. build.sh asks for the password when it’s locked.

Without an identity, the app is signed ad hoc, which looks like a new app to macOS after every build.

The app is signed with the hardened runtime. Support/Dynotch.entitlements lists what it may still reach: the camera, location, calendars and Apple events.

Packaging a release

./scripts/package.sh

This builds and signs a release, puts Dynotch-<version>.dmg and a .zip of the app in dist/, and prints their SHA-256 checksums. The version comes from Support/Info.plist.

Tools for development

Flag	What it does
`--snapshot <folder>`	Renders every state of the notch with sample data to PNGs. Add `--only <prefix>,<prefix>` for some of them. It’s how the screenshots in these docs are made
`--energy-probe`	Counts how often the polls would run and wake the Mac in an hour. See Energy
`--capture-test`	Opens the capture editor over a made-up picture of each display, so its tools can be tried without Screen Recording
`--capture-self-test <folder>`	Drives the capture tools with synthesized events off screen, and prints a line per check

How the code is laid out

Sources/Dynotch/
  App/            entry point, settings model, hot key, energy coordinator, helpers
  Notch/          panel, geometry, shape, pointer handling, live activities, open and closed views
  Media/          Now Playing service, player UI
  Calendar/       EventKit service, calendar and reminders widgets
  Tray/           tray store, file actions, tray UI and drop zones, screenshot watcher, Quick Look
  Capture/        freezing the displays, the overlay and editor, rendering, pinned captures
  Command/        the command field and what it understands
  Widgets/        mirror, focus timer, notes, stats, batteries, quick toggles, shortcuts, weather
  HUD/            volume and brightness monitors, media-key tap
  Notifications/  Notification Center reader, settings
  Activities/     microphone and camera, downloads, Focus
  Profiles/       saved setups and the rules that switch them
  Settings/       settings window and permissions page
  Welcome/        the first-run welcome tour
  UI/             theme, shared components
  Debug/          snapshot renderer, energy probe, capture self-test
Support/          Info.plist, entitlements, app icon
scripts/          build and signing scripts, icon generator, the dynotch command and the zsh hook
docs/             this site

The notch panel is as large as the open notch but only accepts the mouse while the pointer is over the visible shape. Everywhere else, clicks pass through to the apps underneath. A global and a local event monitor track the pointer for hover, swipes and file drags.

Contributing

main is protected, so every change lands through a pull request that the maintainer approves. Keep each one to one topic. The contributing guide has the rest, including one rule that matters: use the @ViewState wrapper instead of @State, because the macOS SDK ships the @State macro only with Xcode, and the app builds with the Command Line Tools.

These docs

This site lives in docs/. It’s built with Astro and needs Node 22.23.4 or later.

cd docs
npm install
npm run dev

Every page is an .mdx file in src/content/docs, and src/data/nav.ts sets the order. npm run screens renders the screenshots again from the app, so they can’t drift from it. Its header says what to watch for.