Ping Island

AI coding session monitor for the macOS menu bar
Website • Try it • Install • Features • Supported Tools • Build • Contributors • Privacy
English | 简体中文

_{Watch active coding sessions, answer follow-up questions, and jump back to the right terminal or IDE window.}

_{Official website: erha19.github.io/ping-island}

                     

_{Claude Code · Codex · Gemini CLI · Hermes Agent · Qwen Code · Kimi CLI · OpenClaw · OpenCode · Cursor · Qoder · CodeBuddy · GitHub Copilot}

Let’s try it!

Detach the active pet from the notch and keep session status nearby while you work across other windows.

On notch-screen Macs, Ping Island expands from the notch with session context and action controls when an agent needs attention.

Installation

Install with Homebrew Cask

brew install --cask ping-island

Download a Release

1. Visit the official website for the product overview and latest download link, or go straight to Releases.
2. Download the latest DMG.
3. Move Ping Island.app into your Applications folder.
4. Launch the app and start the clients you want Ping Island to monitor.

On first launch, macOS may ask you to confirm the app or grant Accessibility / Apple Events permissions for focus features.

Build from Source

Requires macOS 14+ and an Xcode toolchain that can build the Xcode project and the Swift 6.1 Prototype package tests.

git clone https://github.com/erha19/ping-island.git
cd ping-island

# Debug build
xcodebuild -project PingIsland.xcodeproj -scheme PingIsland -configuration Debug build

# Release build
xcodebuild -project PingIsland.xcodeproj -scheme PingIsland -configuration Release build

To create a locally shareable unsigned package for local testing:

./scripts/package-unsigned.sh

The script re-signs the built app bundle with a consistent ad-hoc signature before creating the .dmg and .zip, which helps embedded frameworks launch more reliably on another machine. The package is still unsigned for distribution and not notarized, so first launch may still require Open from Finder's context menu or manual quarantine removal. The generated files land in releases/unsigned/ as PingIsland-<version>.dmg and PingIsland-<version>.zip. The DMG uses the repo-tracked installer artwork at docs/images/ping-island-dmg-installer-background.png by default; set PING_ISLAND_DMG_BACKGROUND_SOURCE if you want to preview a different background locally.

To create signed and notarized release packages in GitHub Actions, configure the release secrets described in docs/sparkle-release.md and run .github/workflows/release-packages.yml against a v* tag or the manual workflow dispatch input. Official Homebrew Cask release notes are documented in docs/homebrew-cask-release.md.

The same workflow also publishes a Linux PingIslandBridge asset that Ping Island can download when bootstrapping Linux SSH hosts.

For the full notarized release flow and the GitHub Releases backed Sparkle appcast setup, see docs/sparkle-release.md.

What is Ping Island?

Ping Island is a macOS menu bar app that expands into a compact session surface when your coding agents need attention. It listens to Claude-style hooks, Codex hooks, Gemini CLI hooks, Hermes Agent plugin hooks, Qwen Code hooks, Kimi CLI hooks, OpenClaw internal hooks plus session transcripts, the Codex app-server, OpenCode plugins, and compatible IDE integrations so approvals, input requests, completions, and session summaries show up without babysitting terminal tabs.

If you have seen Vibe Island, Ping Island is positioned as an independent open-source alternative in the same category: a native macOS notch/menu bar surface for monitoring and controlling AI coding sessions.

Features

Ping Island focuses on the moments that actually interrupt coding flow, then keeps them visible and actionable from a native macOS notch surface.

• Attention-first UI - Stay compact until a session needs approval, input, review, or intervention.
• Act from the notch - Approve tools, deny requests, and answer follow-up prompts without hunting through tabs.
• Claude Code auto-approve - Turn on per-session auto-approval when you want Claude Code to stop pausing on every permission request.
• One-click return - Jump back to the right iTerm2, Ghostty, Terminal.app, tmux pane, or IDE window.
• SSH terminal support - Bootstrap a remote PingIslandBridge over SSH, rewrite remote hooks to point back at your Mac, forward remote Codex app-server activity, and keep remote terminal activity visible in the same local Island UI.
• Multi-agent coverage - Track Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Hermes Agent, Qwen Code, Kimi CLI, OpenClaw, OpenCode, Cursor, Qoder, CodeBuddy, WorkBuddy, GitHub Copilot, and other compatible sessions in one place.
• OpenClaw gateway support - Follow OpenClaw sessions from managed internal hooks, then refill the conversation from OpenClaw's local session transcripts so the Island UI can show the actual back-and-forth instead of a single inbound message.
• Codex hook + app-server sync - Support Codex CLI hooks, live app-server threads, and rollout parsing fallback when needed.
• Custom sounds - Pick per-event macOS sounds or import local sound packs for your own notification style.
• Custom agent mascots - Give each client its own animated mascot override across the notch, session list, and hover UI.
• Buddy detach in v0.5.0+ - Drag the active Buddy out of the notch so it can stay nearby as an independent floating companion.
• Hermes courier-fox mascot - Hermes Agent uses a gold courier fox with a winged helmet and satchel so plugin-hook sessions stay visually distinct from the Claude/Qwen family.
• Qwen capybara mascot - Qwen Code now ships with a mint-scarf capybara mascot tuned for prompt, reply, and notification-heavy flows.
• Kimi keyboard-orb mascot - Kimi CLI keeps its original blue keyboard-orb mascot so its hook sessions stay visually distinct in the README strip and app UI.

Supported Tools

Ping Island also ships VS Code-compatible focus extensions for VS Code, Cursor, CodeBuddy, WorkBuddy, and Qoder. QoderWork is hook-only today and does not participate in the IDE extension path.

Qoder IDE and Qoder CLI both store hooks in ~/.qoder/settings.json, but Ping Island treats them as separate managed integrations because their hook behavior is not identical. On launch, Ping Island checks qodercli -v; when the local CLI is newer than 0.2.5, it refreshes only the Qoder CLI managed entries while preserving Qoder IDE hooks and unrelated JSON settings. New Qoder CLI follows Claude Code-compatible blocking hooks and response payloads, while Qoder IDE and QoderWork stay notify-only so Ping Island does not submit answers or approvals back into those clients.

CodeBuddy IDE and CodeBuddy CLI both use ~/.codebuddy/settings.json, but Ping Island manages them as separate hook profiles. The CodeBuddy CLI profile writes its own codebuddy-cli hooks, uses the CLI's Claude-compatible hook response shape, and preserves CodeBuddy IDE hooks plus unrelated settings in the same file.

Hermes Agent is integrated through a generated plugin directory at ~/.hermes/plugins/ping_island/. Hermes' gateway hook directories under ~/.hermes/hooks/ do not run in the CLI, so Ping Island uses the official ctx.register_hook() plugin surface to observe prompt submission, tool activity, model replies, and session end events.

Qwen Code is supported as a first-class hook client through ~/.qwen/settings.json, and its built-in mascot is the mint-scarf capybara shown in the README GIF strip. The visual is meant to feel calm and dependable, while still carrying a small Qwen-tinted scarf and reply bubble instead of another generic bird or blob.

Kimi CLI is supported through its official hooks in ~/.kimi/config.toml. Ping Island installs managed [[hooks]] entries while preserving unrelated TOML configuration, treats Kimi Stop as an assistant-turn completion rather than a closed session, and waits for SessionEnd before marking the session ended. Its built-in mascot is the original blue keyboard-orb GIF shown above.

OpenClaw is supported through a managed internal hook directory under ~/.openclaw/hooks/ plus transcript-aware session refresh from ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/. That combination lets Ping Island surface OpenClaw's lightweight message hooks quickly, then backfill the full conversation from the local session log once the assistant reply lands.

SSH support is a core workflow, not a sidecar script. Ping Island can bootstrap a bridge onto a remote macOS or Linux host, rewrite remote Claude-compatible and Qwen Code hook configs to use that bridge, install supported OpenClaw internal hooks on the remote host, forward recent remote Codex app-server thread activity, and keep a bidirectional forwarding path back into the local menu-bar UI. That means approvals, follow-up questions, notifications, Codex progress, and jump-back routing from remote SSH terminals still land in the same Island surface on your Mac.

The mascot GIFs used throughout this README are generated from the live MascotView implementation via ./scripts/render-mascots.sh. The OpenClaw feature poster in docs/images/ping-island-openclaw-poster.png is generated via ./scripts/render-openclaw-poster.sh.

Testing

The fastest full-repo regression path is:

./scripts/test.sh

That covers:

swift test --package-path Prototype
xcodebuild -project PingIsland.xcodeproj -scheme PingIsland -configuration Debug CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO test -only-testing:PingIslandTests
xcodebuild -project PingIsland.xcodeproj -scheme PingIsland -configuration Debug CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY=- test

Useful targeted slices:

swift test --package-path Prototype --filter IslandBridgeE2ETests
xcodebuild -project PingIsland.xcodeproj -scheme PingIsland -configuration Debug CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO test -only-testing:PingIslandTests
xcodebuild -project PingIsland.xcodeproj -scheme PingIsland -configuration Debug CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY=- test -only-testing:PingIslandUITests

If PingIslandUITests-Runner stays suspended on macOS, run the UI tests from Xcode with a valid local signing identity and check amfid / AppleSystemPolicy logs before treating it as an app regression.

Settings

Ping Island currently ships a 4-category settings panel:

• General - launch at login and baseline app behavior
• Display - notch display target and placement behavior
• Mascot - client mascot previews, per-client overrides, animation states
• Sound - event-specific sounds, sound pack mode, sound pack import

Custom Sounds

Ping Island currently supports three sound modes under Settings -> Sound:

• System sounds - choose a macOS sound for each event.
• Built-in 8-bit - use Island's bundled retro sound set, including the fixed client startup sound.
• Sound pack - load a local OpenPeon / CESP-compatible pack from disk.

Quick setup

1. Open Settings -> Sound.
2. Turn on Enable sounds.
3. Pick the mode you want:
   • System sounds if you just want a different macOS sound per event.
   • Sound pack if you want fully custom audio files.
4. Preview each event with the play button and leave only the event toggles you want enabled.

Import a local sound pack

1. Switch Sound mode to Sound pack.
2. Click Import local sound pack.
3. Choose a folder that contains openpeon.json.
4. Pick the imported pack from the Sound pack dropdown.

Ping Island also auto-discovers packs placed under ~/.openpeon/packs and ~/.claude/hooks/peon-ping/packs.

Minimal sound pack layout

my-pack/
  openpeon.json
  session-start.wav
  attention.ogg
  complete.mp3
  error.wav
  limit.wav

{
  "cesp_version": "1.0",
  "name": "my-pack",
  "display_name": "My Pack",
  "categories": {
    "task.acknowledge": {
      "sounds": [{ "file": "session-start.wav", "label": "Session Start" }]
    },
    "input.required": {
      "sounds": [{ "file": "attention.ogg", "label": "Attention" }]
    },
    "task.complete": {
      "sounds": [{ "file": "complete.mp3", "label": "Complete" }]
    },
    "task.error": {
      "sounds": [{ "file": "error.wav", "label": "Error" }]
    },
    "resource.limit": {
      "sounds": [{ "file": "limit.wav", "label": "Limit" }]
    }
  }
}

Event mapping

• Processing started checks task.acknowledge, then session.start.
• Attention required checks input.required.
• Task completed checks task.complete.
• Task error checks task.error.
• Resource limit checks resource.limit.

Release builds can also publish a Linux PingIslandBridge artifact alongside the macOS app packages, which Ping Island uses when bootstrapping remote SSH hosts that are not running macOS.

Sound packs can use .wav, .mp3, or .ogg files. If a selected pack does not provide a matching category for an event, Ping Island falls back to the macOS system sound selected for that event.

How It Works

Claude / Codex / Gemini CLI / Hermes Agent / Qwen Code / Kimi CLI / OpenCode / Cursor / Qoder / CodeBuddy / WorkBuddy / Copilot / ...
  -> hook or app-server event
    -> Ping Island monitor + normalization layer
      -> SessionStore
        -> SessionMonitor / NotchViewModel
          -> notch, list, hover preview, completion popup

Implementation details worth knowing:

• Claude-family tools enter through managed hook files plus the embedded PingIslandBridge launcher.
• Codex sessions can come from hook events or the live codex app-server websocket monitor.
• Gemini CLI hooks are installed into ~/.gemini/settings.json; tool matchers use Gemini's regex-based hook matcher syntax.
• Qwen Code hooks are installed into ~/.qwen/settings.json; the bridge follows the official event names and uses Stop / SessionEnd / Notification messages to surface popup-ready summaries in Island.
• Kimi CLI hooks are installed into ~/.kimi/config.toml; Ping Island preserves unrelated TOML content and maps Kimi Stop to turn completion while SessionEnd closes the session.
• OpenCode is wired through a generated plugin file under ~/.config/opencode/plugins/ and enabled from the documented global config at ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json; legacy config.json entries are still recognized for cleanup.
• Remote SSH hosts can bootstrap PingIslandBridge, rewrite remote Claude-compatible hooks to target that bridge, and forward remote events back into the local Ping Island UI.
• Focus routing spans iTerm2, Ghostty, Terminal.app, tmux, and VS Code-compatible IDE extensions.

Requirements

• macOS 14.0 or later
• Best experience on MacBooks with a notch, but external displays are supported too
• Install whichever CLI or desktop clients you want Ping Island to monitor

Contributors

Thanks to everyone who has helped shape Ping Island through code, issues, ideas, testing, docs, design feedback, and release validation.

See the full contributor history on the GitHub contributors graph.

Acknowledgments

Ping Island follows the lineage of notch-first agent monitors such as claude-island, and adapts that idea into a broader multi-client session surface with hooks, app-server sync, and IDE routing.

License

Apache 2.0 - see LICENSE.md.