Open
Open the project in VS Code, Finder or Terminal, or in the app it usually opens with. Use a different editor or terminal? Pick yours instead.
Project Board
Menu bar app · Mac
All your projects, one keystroke away.
Press ⌥⌘P and a panel slides in over whatever you're doing, even a full-screen app. Every project is there with its own buttons: open it in your editor, Finder or Terminal, visit its website or run its commands. One click, and you're back at work.
For MacComing soon
▶ Watch how it works
The panel slides in from the right edge, over a full-screen app. The button below shows and hides it, just as pressing Option-Command-P does.
Try it: tap the keys, or press ⌥⌘P on your keyboard. Esc hides it.
- One keystroke
- Every button showing
- Describe it, it's set up
The problem
Too many folders. Too many windows.
An app, a website, a client job, a podcast. Each one lives in its own folder, opens in its own editor, and has something to run and a site to check. So you dig through Finder, hunt for the right Terminal tab and type the same command again.
One panel, every project, one key
The panel
Every button, always showing.
Each project gets a coloured header and a row of big buttons, with its folders and files underneath. Nothing to open up or dig through. Click a button and it's done, and the panel tucks itself away when you click elsewhere or switch apps, unless you pin it.
App
Launch any app on your Mac, either with the project open in it or on its own.
Website
Any link, opened in the browser you choose. Links that open other apps, such as an email link, work too.
Command
Run a command in a Terminal window, or quietly in the background. Hover over a command button to see exactly what it runs.
The four kinds of button, in the Brutalist look.
Folders and files, with their own buttons
Keep a project's docs, designs or a single file underneath it, each with small buttons of its own.
Background commands you can stop
Start a dev server or a build quietly in the background. It runs with your usual Terminal setup, so the tools you've installed are there.
While one runs, right-click the menu bar icon and choose Stop Background Command. Quitting the app stops them too.
Edit right in the panel
Hover over a project and a + appears for adding a button. Right-click a project, a row or a button to change it.
New projects start ready
Add a folder and it gets VS Code, Finder and Terminal buttons straight away, plus a Repo button that opens its online repository, if it has one.
Deleting a project only takes it off the panel. No files are touched.
NEW Describe with AI
Describe your projects. It sets them up.
Tell it about your projects the way you'd tell a friend: which folder, which editor, the sites you check, the commands you run. It sets each one up with its buttons, ready to click, and shows it in your panel's own look so you can check it first. Do several at once. Nothing is saved until you say so.
- Describe it
Click the ✦ button at the top of the panel and say what each project should open, in your own words. Describe as many as you like.
- Work It Out
Press Work It Out and you see exactly what will be sent before anything leaves your Mac. Leave out your folder list if you like, then send it, or don't. It finds the folders you mean and makes the buttons for you: editors, folders, links and commands.
- Check, then add
You get a short summary, a note about anything it couldn't find, and each project as it will look in your panel. Press Add, or change your words and try again.
Change with AI…
Just say what should be different. Everything you didn't mention stays as it was, in the same order.
Add a button that runs the tests in Terminal, and open the docs in Safari.
Dev containers
Work in dev containers? Ask for one and you get a Container button that opens the project inside it in VS Code. The app sets that button up itself from the project's own settings, so nothing is guessed.
⚠ No dev container set up in ~/Code/tidepool
It doesn't guess
It uses the links, folders and apps you mention or that it finds on your Mac. It will turn a social handle into a link, but it won't make up an address it doesn't know. It leaves that button out and tells you.
⚠ Folder not found: ~/Code/old-site
Your AI, privacy first.
- Off until you turn it on. Everything else in Project Board works without it.
- Your own AI account. Add a Claude or OpenAI API key. It's kept in your Mac's keychain, and Check Key shows which models you can use, so you can pick one.
- Straight to the provider. Requests go from your Mac to Anthropic or OpenAI, and they bill your account for what you use. Nothing goes to us. We don't run a server.
- Only when you use it. It sends what you type, a list of your code folders so it can find the right one and, when you're changing a project, that project's buttons.
The privacy policy lists exactly what's sent, line by line.
Six looks
Six looks. Pick yours.
Brutalist is the default. Five more are a click away in Settings, and the panel changes as you pick, so you can see each one. Choose a width too: Narrow, Standard or Wide.
The same projects, in each look.
Setup
Ready in about a minute.
The first time it opens, a short setup walks you through it: pick a look, turn on Describe with AI if you want it, then describe your projects or pick them from a list, choose your usual buttons and set your shortcut. Run it again any time from Settings.
Finds your code folders
It looks in the usual places, like your Code, Developer, Projects and Sites folders, and lists the code projects it finds, most recently worked on first. The search happens on your Mac.
Leaves Desktop and Documents alone
macOS keeps Desktop and Documents private, so Project Board doesn't look there unless you click Look in Desktop and Documents, in setup or Settings. Then macOS asks you first. No pop-ups out of the blue.
Keys and links
Quick from the keyboard. Handy for power users.
Keys
- ⌥⌘P
- Show or hide the panel, on whichever screen you're using. Change it in Settings to ⌃⌥Space, ⌥Space, ⇧⌘Space, F19, or record your own.
- P
- Pin the panel open, or unpin it. Pinned, it stays until you close it.
- Esc
- Close whatever's open on top first, then the panel.
- Return
- The default button: Save, Add, Continue or Finish.
- Menu bar
- Click the icon to show or hide the panel. Right-click it for Settings, About, Run Setup and Quit.
Links for power users
Control the panel from the Shortcuts app, a launcher or your own scripts by opening one of these links.
projectboard://toggleShow or hide the panelprojectboard://show…/hideShow it, or hide itprojectboard://pin…/unpinPin or unpin it, without showing itprojectboard://describeDescribe new projects (or turn Describe with AI on, if it's off)projectboard://settingsOpen Settings;look,aiandaboutopen those windowsprojectboard://setupRun setup again
For power users
Prefer a text file? That works too.
You never have to open it. Everything can be done in the app, settings included: shortcut, panel width, look, Describe with AI, opening when you log in, and whether to look in Desktop and Documents.
But if you like editing by hand, your projects are kept in one plain text file on your Mac, ~/.config/project-board/projects.json. Save a change and the panel catches up within a second. Change something in the app and the file updates too. Only your user account can read it, since commands can hold passwords.
If an edit breaks the file, the app tells you, offers to open it, and won't overwrite your work until it's fixed.
{
"name": "Harbour Bakery",
"path": "~/Code/harbour-bakery",
"color": "orange",
"actions": [
{ "type": "vscode" },
{ "type": "finder" },
{ "type": "shell", "label": "Dev server",
"command": "npm run dev" },
{ "type": "url", "label": "Live site",
"url": "https://harbour-bakery.example.com" }
]
}
Watch how it works
Forty seconds. One keystroke.
Private by design
Nothing goes to us.
No ads, no tracking, no accounts. Your projects stay on your Mac. Describe with AI is optional and off until you turn it on, and then it uses your own AI account: your AI, privacy first.
- Only what you click. Buttons open the apps, links and commands you set up, when you click them. Commands run under your own account, like any you'd type yourself.
- No special permissions. It never asks for Accessibility access, and it doesn't take control of your other apps (unless you set a link to open in a particular Arc space, when macOS asks you once).
- Clicks, not keystrokes. It notices when you click outside the panel, only to tuck it away. It doesn't record anything.
- Your AI, your account. With Describe with AI on, requests go straight to Anthropic or OpenAI with your key. Nothing goes to us.
Stays on this Mac
- Your projects file
- Settings
- Your key, in the keychain
- The search for your projects
- Your buttons and commands
Only when you use Describe with AI → Anthropic or OpenAI
- Your words
- Code folder list
- Home folder path
- Browser names
- Other project names
- The project you're changing
Never sent: what's inside your files, your projects file, or your other projects' buttons.
All your projects, one keystroke away.
Project Board is coming soon for the Mac.
For MacComing soon
macOS 14 Sonoma or laterA Mac with Apple silicon. It doesn't run on Intel Macs.
Menu bar appNo Dock icon. Your shortcut or a click on its menu bar icon brings it in.
No special permissionsIt never needs Accessibility access.
No ads, no trackingNo analytics, no accounts, and your projects never leave your Mac.
Support
Questions, answered.
Something not working, or an idea for the app? Email [email protected] with your Mac model and macOS version. Replies usually within two working days.
What do I need to run Project Board?
A Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 14 Sonoma or later. It doesn't run on Intel Macs.
I can't find it. Where is it?
It lives in the menu bar, so there's no Dock icon. Press ⌥⌘P, or click its icon in the menu bar. Right-click the icon for Settings, About, Run Setup and Quit.
Do I need an AI account to use it?
No. Describe with AI is optional and off until you turn it on, and everything else works without it. To use it, add your own Claude or OpenAI API key in Settings. Anthropic or OpenAI bills your account for what you use.
What does Describe with AI send, and to whom?
Only when you use it, and straight to Anthropic or OpenAI with your key: what you type, the app's instructions, your home folder path, the code folders it found (name, location and online repository address), the names of your browsers and your other projects, and, when you're changing a project, that project with its buttons, links and commands. It never sends what's inside your files. Nothing goes to us. The privacy policy has the full details.
Can I change the shortcut?
Yes. In Settings, pick ⌥⌘P, ⌃⌥Space, ⌥Space, ⇧⌘Space or F19, or choose Record your own. A shortcut needs a modifier key unless it's a function key.
Why might macOS ask about Desktop and Documents?
Only if you ask Project Board to look there, with Look in Desktop and Documents in setup or Settings. macOS keeps those folders private, so it checks with you first. Say no and projects there simply aren't found. You can still add any folder yourself.
How do I stop a command running in the background?
Right-click the menu bar icon and choose Stop Background Command. Background commands also stop when you quit Project Board.
Can I edit my projects in a text file?
Yes, though you never have to: everything can be done in the app. If you'd like to, they're in ~/.config/project-board/projects.json, and the panel updates within a second of you saving it.
Does it need Accessibility or Automation permission?
It never needs Accessibility: its shortcut uses the standard macOS keyboard shortcut system, and commands open in Terminal the ordinary way. It only asks to control another app if you set a link to open in a particular Arc space, and then only once.
When can I get it?
Soon. Project Board is being prepared for release.