CleanX

Native macOS screenshot app inspired by CleanShot X. Menu-bar utility built in Swift, AppKit, SwiftUI on top of ScreenCaptureKit.

Version: 1.0.0 · Requires: macOS 14+

Features

• Capture — area, window, fullscreen. Multi-monitor.
• Quick Access overlay — bottom-left floating thumbnail, hover reveals Copy / Save / Edit / Cloud / Pin / Close. Auto-dismiss.
• Annotation editor — arrow, rectangle, ellipse, highlight, text, blur (CIPixellate). Color picker, stroke slider, undo, copy / save.
• Recents panel — horizontal carousel of past captures (60 max). Right-click for Open / Copy / Save As / Reveal / Delete. Mouse-wheel scroll, drag-out to any app.
• Drag-out — drop screenshots into Finder, browsers, chat apps, terminals as real files.
• Global hotkeys — fully rebindable. Defaults ⌘⌥⇧2/3/4/5/6.
• Settings — sidebar nav (General / Capture / Shortcuts / About). PNG/JPEG with quality slider, save folder, copy-on-capture, save-on-capture, Dock visibility.
• Stable code signing — self-signed identity script so screen recording TCC permission survives rebuilds.

Build

./scripts/build.sh
open .build/CleanX.app

First launch will request Screen Recording permission. Approve in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording, then relaunch.

One-time: stable signing identity (recommended)

./scripts/create-signing-cert.sh

Creates a self-signed CleanX Developer cert in your login keychain. Without it, every rebuild changes the code hash and macOS re-prompts for permission.

Default hotkeys

Action	Hotkey
Capture area	⌘⌥⇧2
Capture window	⌘⌥⇧3
Capture fullscreen	⌘⌥⇧4
Open last capture	⌘⌥⇧5
Toggle Recents	⌘⌥⇧6

Rebindable in Settings → Shortcuts.

Project layout

Package.swift
Info.plist
AppIcon.icns
scripts/
  build.sh                 SPM build + .app assembly + codesign
  make-icon.swift          Programmatic CoreGraphics icon generator
  create-signing-cert.sh   One-shot stable self-signed identity
Sources/CleanX/
  App/                     Entry point, AppDelegate, menu bar
  Capture/                 ScreenCaptureKit, area / window pickers
  Editor/                  Annotation model, canvas, renderer
  Hotkeys/                 Carbon RegisterEventHotKey wrapper
  Storage/                 File save, clipboard, drag, last capture
  Permissions/             Screen Recording TCC
  QuickAccess/             Post-capture overlay
  Recents/                 Recents store, horizontal carousel
  Settings/                Preferences + SwiftUI UI

Distribution

For shipping to others (Apple Developer ID required):

codesign --force --options runtime --sign "Developer ID Application: YOUR NAME (TEAMID)" .build/CleanX.app
xcrun notarytool submit CleanX.zip --wait
xcrun stapler staple .build/CleanX.app

Not yet built

• Scrolling capture · Screen recording (mp4/gif) · Webcam · OCR · Cloud upload backend · Self-timer · Hide desktop · Sparkle auto-update

License

MIT.