daveebbelaar/bama

daveebbelaar/bama has 1,676 GitHub stars and 205 forks. GitHot measured +29 stars in 24 hours. Last checked 2026-11-08 05:28 UTC. Last push 2026-11-01.

How these counts are measured

BAMA: Build Any Mac App. Agent skills to research, clone, design, build, optimize, and test native macOS apps with Swift and SwiftUI.

1,676 stars 205 forks +29 in 24h

Measured star growth

in 24h: +29
in 7 days: Update delayed
in 15 days: Update delayed
in 1 month: Update delayed

Net star changes over overlapping periods, not daily totals. Missing measurements are left blank. Stars measure attention, not software quality.

README.md

Original

See an app you like. Rebuild it as your own native Mac app.

Agent skills that take a native macOS app from idea to your Dock.
Swift and SwiftUI. Local data. No Xcode GUI.

Quick start · How it works · Skills · Specs · Install

On Windows? Use BAWA: Build Any Windows App instead.

Quick start

npx skills@latest add daveebbelaar/bama

Then ask your agent:

Clone my to-do app as a native Mac app.
Screenshot every screen, write the user stories, and build milestone 1.

Not sure where to start? Type /bama. It looks at your project and picks the next skill.

How it works

1. Clone

Your agent opens the app you like and screenshots every screen. It writes a screen index.

2. Plan

It turns the screens into user stories with checkable acceptance criteria, in milestones.

3. Build

It builds one story per commit. Before each commit it snapshots every page in light and dark mode and runs the tests.

Skills

Stage	Skill	What it does
Start	`bama`	Router: finds where you are and calls the right skill
`app-brief`	Turns an idea into a one-page brief
`new-mac-app`	A working app from a template: Swift package, SwiftData, build script, snapshot mode, git
Plan	`research`	Parallel researcher agents: market, users, features, design, macOS APIs
`clone`	Screenshots every screen of any app with computer use or a browser, writes a screen index
`user-stories`	A backlog with checkable acceptance criteria, in milestones
Code	`swift-swiftui`	Swift 6 concurrency, state, SwiftData, AppKit bridges, compiler errors
`os-integrations`	Global hotkeys, menu bar, floating panels, window control, screen capture, Shortcuts, URL schemes, CLI, permissions
`performance`	Measure, then fix: main thread, GPU compositing, images, Instruments from the command line
`improve-architecture`	Finds hot spots as the app grows and refactors one step per commit, with behavior proven unchanged
`agent-cli`	Optional: a command line and MCP server, so Claude Code, Codex, and scripts can drive your app
Design	`ux-design`	Names, flow, where each feature opens (inline, popover, sheet, window), words, and accessibility, before code
`mac-design`	Liquid Glass, layout, toolbars, menus, keyboard, type, dark mode
`design-system`	Native look with an accent color people pick in Settings, then one set of tokens and one rules page
`layout-grid`	A 4 pt grid with checks that fail on misalignment: a code lint, a layout probe in snapshot mode, and a grid overlay
`design-kit`	Your own parts, not Apple's: three token layers, type, an icon set, every part in every state, custom window chrome, and a parts gallery
`design-from-app`	Rebuilds the look of an app you like from its screenshots: measures sizes, type, and colors, then compares pixel by pixel until it matches
`app-icon`	A Liquid Glass icon written as an Icon Composer file, checked in every look
Ship	`build-and-verify`	Build, install, snapshot every page in light and dark, look at them
`test-mac-app`	Swift Testing, an in-app self-test, a debug bridge an agent can drive
`improve-loop`	Works through the backlog one story per commit until a milestone is done

Specs

Not sure what to build? specs/ has 12 build plans for small Mac apps: a window snapper, a window switcher, a launcher, clipboard history, screenshots, a screen recorder, and more. I took them apart from Onyx, my own menu bar app. Copy one into an empty folder and tell your agent:

Build the app in window-snapper.md with BAMA.

Install

Pick one route per agent. Two routes install every skill twice.

Claude Code

/plugin marketplace add daveebbelaar/bama
/plugin install bama@bama

To get new versions, run this in your shell, then start a new session:

claude plugin marketplace update bama
claude plugin update bama@bama

To update on its own: run /plugin, open Marketplaces, select bama, and select Enable auto-update.

Codex

codex plugin marketplace add daveebbelaar/bama
codex plugin add bama@bama

Any other agent (Cursor, Gemini CLI, Copilot, and more)

Uses skills.sh. Install all skills, or one with --skill.

npx skills@latest add daveebbelaar/bama -a <agent>
npx skills@latest add daveebbelaar/bama --skill=clone

By hand

git clone https://github.com/daveebbelaar/bama.git
bama/scripts/link-skills.sh       # links every skill into ~/.claude/skills and ~/.agents/skills

Requirements

macOS 26 or later
Xcode 26 or later, for the Swift 6.2 toolchain (you never open it)
An agent that supports skills: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI
For clone on native apps: computer use (Claude Pro or Max)

Credits

The idea and the "any" promise come from REA: Reverse Engineer Anything by morluto. REA showed that an agent can reverse engineer any app. BAMA takes that idea to the Mac.
Skill format and writing rules follow Matt Pocock's skills and his writing-for-agents skill.
Works well with SwiftUI Pro by Paul Hudson and SwiftUI Expert by Antoine van der Lee.

License

MIT