Quiet macOS menu bar app for repeatable personal checklists — no dashboards, no tracking, just small patterns you run on autopilot.
A quiet menu bar app that holds repeatable work patterns so you don't have to rebuild them from memory every time. Click the icon, pick your stage, check the steps. Done.
Examples:
- New Project — scaffold, name, folder, Git init, README template
- Start Session — close distractions, open tools, set intention
- End Session — commit, clean up, note next step
- Prepare Release — changelog, version bump, tags, archive
- Publish / Upload — compress, name, upload, log
- Clean Folder — sort, delete, archive, empty trash
Not a task manager. Not a project tracker. Not a productivity dashboard. No numeric progress bars. No gamification. No cloud accounts.
Rituals avoids motivation theater. It's a quiet tool for ADHD brains that forgets the how even when the what is clear. See PHILOSOPHY.md for the full reasoning.
| Menu bar rituals | Inline checklist |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Editor | Icon picker |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Two surfaces, intentionally separate:
- Grouped ritual list by stage (Start, End, Release, Clean)
- Inline checklist with live checkboxes
- Section collapse/expand
- Reset, mark all done, Escape to exit
- Completion micro-animation
- Add, rename, delete, reorder rituals/sections/steps
- Confirmation dialogs for destructive actions
- SF Symbol icon picker
- Section color selection (6-color palette)
- Export as JSON or Markdown
Keeping editing separate from running prevents accidental changes during routine use.
- Native macOS SwiftUI app using
MenuBarExtra - Pure menu bar behavior — no Dock icon
- Local-first storage (UserDefaults + Application Support)
- System, Light, and Dark appearance modes
- Open at Login support
- Create custom rituals with sections and steps
- Icon selection from SF Symbols
- Color-coded sections
- Live checkbox state persistence
- Section collapse state saved per ritual
- Settings window: General, Appearance, Editor, About
- Custom app icon + adaptive menu bar icon
- Quiet typography, macOS-native spacing
- No emoji in UI — SF Symbols only
- Creator links in About pane
- Export rituals as JSON
- Export rituals as Markdown
- Default rituals loaded from bundled Markdown files
| ✅ Does | ❌ Does Not |
|---|---|
| Quiet typography | Numeric progress bars |
| SF Symbols icons | Emoji in UI |
| Local-first storage | Cloud accounts or login |
| Separate edit/run surfaces | Dashboard or project picker |
| One ritual visible at a time | Gamification or streaks |
| Micro-animations for completion | Noisy motivation messages |
Primary visual reference: assets/rituals-minimal-mock.png
Default rituals live in two places:
| Location | Purpose |
|---|---|
checklists/*.md |
Repository source |
Rituals/Resources/Checklists/*.md |
Bundled runtime copy |
Shared items:
data/shared-items.json(repo source)Rituals/Resources/Data/shared-items.json(bundled)
Runtime state (checked steps, collapsed sections) stored in UserDefaults.
Current limitation: Edited templates are not auto-loaded back into the app at runtime. Next step: persist user edits to Application Support/Rituals/.
# Recommended
./script/build_and_run.sh --verify
# Or open in Xcode
open Rituals/Rituals.xcodeproj
# Then run the "Rituals" scheme on My Mac| File | Description |
|---|---|
| PHILOSOPHY.md | Purpose and ADHD-centered design |
| ARCHITECTURE.md | Technical structure |
| CHANGELOG.md | Version history |
| TODO.md | Current roadmap |
| docs/DESIGN.md | Visual and interaction direction |
| docs/CHECKLIST_MODEL.md | Data model concepts |
| Rituals/BUILD_INSTRUCTIONS.md | Detailed build notes |