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A small macOS app for private, ambient presence among friends who are building things together.
Vibes shows which friends are online and coding, plus coarse daily stats from local Git repositories. The app is designed for small friend groups, privacy-respecting defaults, and a lightweight native desktop experience.
Status
Fully functional implementation. The repository includes a SwiftUI macOS client with local Git scanning and presence status derivation, a SvelteKit relay backed by SQLite with schema migrations, an invite-based friend flow, contract schema testing, and deployment playbooks.
Project Shape
client/: native SwiftUI macOS app project.server/: SvelteKit relay (API + web signup) backed by SQLite.deploy/: nginx and systemd templates for a relay host.scripts/: local and server deployment helpers.docs/plans/active/spec-v2.md: product and implementation plan.
Requirements
- macOS with Xcode 26 or newer.
- Node.js 20, 22, or 24 for the relay. Node 26 is not supported by the current SQLite native dependency.
- GitHub CLI for repo administration.
- SSH access to a VPS-style host for deployment.
Quick Start
git clone git@github.com:marcus/vibes.git
cd vibes
make check
Open the macOS app:
open client/Vibes.xcodeproj
Run the relay locally (dev server with hot reload):
cd server && npm install
cd .. && make server-dev
curl http://127.0.0.1:5173/healthz
Build the macOS app from the command line:
make client
Relay
The relay is intentionally small. Set DEPLOY_DOMAIN, DEPLOY_HOST, and related values in .env.deploy before deploying to a server.
For v1 it should store user identity, friend invites, friend relationships, and latest status blobs. SQLite is the expected database for the first implementation.
Client
The client is a SwiftUI macOS app. The first build target is a small mostly chromeless desktop window with:
- manual status
- online / offline presence, with a one-tap Offline toggle
- configured local Git repo scanner
- aggregate daily stats
- friend feed from the relay
- optional menu bar companion
Development
Useful commands:
make check # run server tests + build the macOS target
make client # build the macOS target
make server-dev # run the relay dev server (hot reload)
make server # build and run the production relay
make server-check # run the relay test suite
make deploy # deploy the relay to the configured VPS
Read AGENTS.md before starting implementation work. It captures repo conventions, privacy constraints, and suggested first tasks.
Deployment
The deploy scaffold expects a VPS-style host:
- nginx terminates TLS.
- systemd runs Node on
SERVICE_HOST:SERVICE_PORT. - app files live under
DEPLOY_PATH. - certbot manages certificates for
DEPLOY_DOMAIN.
See docs/server-runbook.md for bootstrap and deploy details.
Releases
The macOS client ships as a Developer ID–signed, notarized app with Sparkle auto-updates (planned). Release scripts live in scripts/ (release-mac.sh, generate-appcast.sh, setup-notary.sh). See docs/client-runbook.md for the signing, notarization, and publishing flow.
License
MIT. See LICENSE.