Brimline

Install Brimline

Brimline is a Mac app only: macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. There is no Windows or Linux version. Install it in one line, from the disk image, or build it from its public source code.

What you need

  • A Mac with macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel (one universal app). It is developed and tried on Apple silicon with a recent macOS; Intel and Sonoma itself are not tried yet.
  • At least one account signed in to Claude Code, the official command line tool (Claude is on by default). ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and Cursor are read through their own tool, if you use it, and are off until you turn them on. See Link your accounts.

In one line (recommended)

In Terminal:

curl -fsSL https://brimline.thanaelfontaine.eu/install.sh | sh

The script (read it here) checks that the Mac runs macOS 14 or later, downloads Brimline.dmg of the latest release from GitHub with its SHA-256, installs nothing if they differ, copies Brimline.app to /Applications (or where Brimline already is, or ~/Applications when /Applications is not writable), links the command at ~/.local/bin/brimline and opens the app. It asks for no administrator password. Run the same line again to update. On macOS 27, hiding the icons of other apps works only from /Applications: a copy kept in ~/Applications is refused until it is moved.

The disk image

  1. Download Brimline.dmg. Its SHA-256 is in Brimline.dmg.sha256, on the release page.
  2. Open it: a window shows Brimline next to a shortcut to Applications. Drag Brimline onto Applications.
  3. Open Brimline from Applications. The first time, macOS asks for one approval (next section).

The first time you open it

Brimline is not notarized by Apple: that goes through the paid Apple Developer Program, which Brimline does not use. So when you open the app downloaded in a browser for the first time, macOS blocks it. Close the message, open System Settings, Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway, then Open (Apple's page). macOS asks this once.

macOS asks this for files a browser downloaded. In our tests (macOS 27), the app installed by the one-line script, which downloads with curl, did not carry that mark.

From the source

You need Apple's Command Line Tools, which bring Swift (no Xcode, no Apple account). If they are missing, install them with:

xcode-select --install

Then get the source code, build the app and install it:

git clone https://github.com/ThanaelFontaine/Brimline.git
cd Brimline
scripts/build_app.sh
scripts/install.sh

scripts/build_app.sh compiles the app and the brimline command and assembles build/Brimline.app, signed ad hoc on your Mac (codesign -s -). scripts/install.sh copies it to /Applications (or to ~/Applications when /Applications is not writable), moves to the Trash a copy left in ~/Applications by an earlier install, links the command to ~/.local/bin/brimline and opens the app; add --login to also open it at login. No administrator password is asked. To update, run git pull in that folder, then both scripts again.

After installing

  1. Its gauge appears in the menu bar, near the clock (there is no Dock icon). Click it to see your accounts.
  2. To type brimline in a terminal, ~/.local/bin must be in your PATH; if it is not, add this line to your ~/.zshrc:
    export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

First launch

Brimline looks for your Claude Code accounts at once. If one is missing, open Settings… from the window, tab Accounts: click Search again, or add its folder with Add a Claude Code folder… See Link your accounts. To start Brimline with your Mac, turn on Open at login in the General tab.

Update

  • Installed in one line: run the same line again. It quits the running copy before replacing it.
  • From the disk image: quit Brimline, download the new image and drag Brimline onto Applications again, replacing the old one.
  • From the source: in the source folder, fetch the new version, build it and install it again:
    cd Brimline
git pull
scripts/build_app.sh
scripts/install.sh

Remove

  1. Turn off Open at login (Settings, General) if you turned it on: the app removes its own login item.
  2. Quit Brimline (Quit at the bottom of its window).
  3. Remove the app, the command link, the login item if it is still there, and the folder of Brimline, which holds the numbers (usage.json) and your preferences (settings.json), and no secret:
    rm -rf /Applications/Brimline.app ~/Applications/Brimline.app
rm -f ~/.local/bin/brimline
rm -f ~/Library/LaunchAgents/eu.thanaelfontaine.brimline.plist
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Brimline

Brimline never wrote anything to your Claude Code folders, to the Keychain or to the files of the other tools it reads: there is nothing to clean up there. If you gave it the Accessibility permission (macOS 27, to hide icons), remove Brimline from System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility.