Loft

A macOS developer toolbox — one focused module at a time.

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Loft is a native macOS app that hosts focused developer utilities under one window. Each module solves one workflow well, slots into the sidebar, and ships independently.

The first module is Storage Explainer. The plan is to grow into a full developer toolbox — process management, load average, network inspection, and whatever else the community brings.

Status

Pre-1.0. Storage Explainer is functional and tested. No notarized binary distributed yet — local builds only. The shell, design system, and navigation are ready for a second module to drop in.

This project is open to contributions. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Current module — Storage Explainer

Tells you what's on your disk (including the "System Data" macOS keeps mysterious) and lets you act on it safely.

• Capacity at a glance — total disk, used, and a per-category bar that matches macOS Settings → Storage.
• 13 categories — Applications, Developer, Documents, Downloads, Desktop, Photos, Music & Movies, Mail, iCloud Drive, Trash, Time Machine, System Data, and a transparent "Other".
• System Data demystified — drills into ~/Library/Caches, ~/Library/Containers, ~/Library/Application Support, /Library/*, /private/var/*, and more so you can see what's really there.
• Recursive folder drill-down — every directory in every category is clickable; subsequent views compute sizes on demand.
• Cleanup hints + safe delete — items detected as safely cleanable are tagged; selected items move to the macOS Trash (recoverable). Every operation is logged to ~/Library/Logs/Loft/operations.log.
• Reveal in Finder — every row has a one-click Reveal so you can act outside Loft.
• Ask AI — generates a context-rich prompt about an item / category / folder and lets you copy it or open it in ChatGPT or Claude.
• Full Disk Access onboarding — one prompt on first launch; every per-folder TCC popup disappears after granting.

What it deliberately does NOT do (yet):

• Permanent delete (V1 is Trash-only).
• Uninstall apps automatically (it points you at the .app in Finder).
• Manage Photos / Mail / iCloud directly (those categories are read-only inside Loft).

Roadmap

Storage Explainer is the first of many. The aim is one polished, native module per common developer pain point — replacing scattered menubar utilities and command-line one-liners.

• Storage Explainer — what's on disk, drill-down, safe delete, Ask AI
• Process Manager — visualise + kill heavy processes (Activity Monitor for devs)
• Load Average — CPU / memory / system load history with sensible defaults
• Network Inspector — active connections, listening ports, bandwidth per process
• Git Lens — multi-repo status across your workspace
• Dev Server Manager — start / stop / log local services
• your idea here — open a new module proposal

See docs/MODULES.md for the module philosophy and how to design / contribute one.

Quick start

Requirements: macOS 14+, Xcode 26+, Homebrew with xcodegen.

brew install xcodegen
git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/loft.git
cd loft
xcodegen generate
xcodebuild -project Loft.xcodeproj -scheme Loft -configuration Release build
open ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Loft-*/Build/Products/Release/Loft.app

Debug builds (-configuration Debug) are SwiftUI-slow — use Release to evaluate UX.

On first launch, Loft will ask for Full Disk Access. Grant it once and every per-folder permission popup goes away.

Note on code signing. project.yml ships with a personal Apple Development team. If you fork, replace DEVELOPMENT_TEAM with your own, or remove it for ad-hoc signing (works locally, prompts for permissions every build). See CONTRIBUTING.md#signing.

Contributing

Loft is open to contributions of every kind:

• New modules (process, network, git, anything dev-adjacent)
• New scanners or categories within Storage Explainer
• Design / UX improvements
• Bug fixes, refactors, tests
• Documentation, translations

Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, then browse open issues.

Documentation

• Architecture — current build, end-to-end
• Modules — philosophy + how to add one
• Changelog — narrative of how Loft got here
• Contributing — dev setup, conventions, PR process
• Code of Conduct
• Security — reporting vulnerabilities

License

MIT © 2026 Alden Kang and Loft contributors.