LM Studio Symlinker

A macOS menu bar app that keeps LM Studio models and hub data on an external drive by symlinking ~/.lmstudio/models and ~/.lmstudio/hub to the drive. When the drive is disconnected, the app removes the symlinks so LM Studio doesn’t break; when you plug it back in, it restores them automatically.

Features

• Drive selection — Choose an external volume to store LM Studio models and hub data
• One-time setup — Initialize: copy or move existing data to the drive and create symlinks from ~/.lmstudio/models and ~/.lmstudio/hub to the drive
• Volume monitoring — Detects when the selected drive is mounted or unmounted and updates symlinks so LM Studio keeps working
• Launch at login — Optional launch agent so the app runs in the background and restores symlinks after reboot
• Menu bar only — Runs from the system tray (link icon); Settings and Quit are in the menu

Requirements

• macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later
• Swift 6 (for building from source)

Build & Run

# Clone and enter the project
cd LMStudioSymlinker

# Build
swift build

# Run
swift run LMStudioSymlinker

The built executable is at .build/debug/LMStudioSymlinker. You can copy it to /Applications or another folder and run it from there.

Build on Ubuntu / Linux

On Linux only the CLI is available (the menu bar app is macOS-only). Use Swift 6.x (e.g. from swift.org or your distro).

# From the project root (where Package.swift is)
cd LMStudioSymlinker

# Debug build
swift build --product LMStudioSymlinkerCLI

# Release build
swift build -c release --product LMStudioSymlinkerCLI

• Debug binary: .build/debug/LMStudioSymlinkerCLI
• Release binary: .build/release/LMStudioSymlinkerCLI

Run with: ./.build/debug/LMStudioSymlinkerCLI or ./.build/release/LMStudioSymlinkerCLI.

You must pass --product LMStudioSymlinkerCLI because the default swift build would try to build the macOS app, which fails on Linux (SwiftUI/AppKit and macOS-only dependencies).

Creating a .app for distribution (e.g. GitHub)

1. Build the app bundle (release binary + macOS app structure):

   ./scripts/build-app.sh

   This produces build/LMStudioSymlinker.app.

2. Zip it for upload (e.g. to a GitHub Release):

   cd build && zip -r LMStudioSymlinker-macOS.zip LMStudioSymlinker.app && cd ..

   Upload build/LMStudioSymlinker-macOS.zip as a release asset.

3. Create a GitHub Release:

   • Repo → Releases → Draft a new release
   • Choose a tag (e.g. v1.0.0) and title
   • Add release notes, then attach LMStudioSymlinker-macOS.zip
   • Publish

Users can download the zip, unzip it, and drag LM Studio Symlinker.app into Applications (or run it from the folder). On first launch, macOS may show “unidentified developer”; they can open via Right‑click → Open or System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open anyway.

Optional (Apple Developer account): To avoid the “unidentified developer” prompt, code-sign and notarize the app before zipping (e.g. codesign and xcrun notarytool). See Apple’s notarization docs for details.

Usage

1. Launch — Start the app. A link icon appears in the menu bar.
2. Open Settings — Click the tray icon → Settings (or press ⌘,).
3. Pick a drive — Choose the external volume that will hold models and hub.
4. Initialize — Click Initialize. The app will:
   • Create models and hub on the drive if needed
   • Copy or move existing data from ~/.lmstudio if present
   • Create symlinks so ~/.lmstudio/models and ~/.lmstudio/hub point to the drive
5. Optional: Launch at login — Enable in Settings so the app runs on login and keeps symlinks correct when you plug the drive in later.

After setup, use LM Studio as usual; it will read and write via the symlinks. Eject the drive when you’re done; when you reconnect it, the app will restore the symlinks automatically (if it’s running or set to launch at login).

Development

• Stack: Swift 6, SwiftUI, Swift Package Manager
• Dependencies: Tray (menu bar), NoLaunchWin (no dock/window on launch)
• Paths: LM Studio base is ~/.lmstudio; symlink targets are ~/VolumePath/models and ~/VolumePath/hub

License

MIT. This project is not affiliated with LM Studio; LM Studio’s license is separate (see lmstudio-ai/lms).