Home

Next

Build native macOS menu bar apps in Python.

Nib is a Python framework that lets you create macOS menu bar applications with a declarative, SwiftUI-inspired API. Write your app logic in Python — Nib handles the native rendering through a Swift runtime.

Nib demo

import nib

def main(app: nib.App):
    app.title = "My App"
    app.icon = nib.SFSymbol("star.fill")
    app.width = 300
    app.height = 200

    counter = nib.Text("0", font=nib.Font.TITLE)

    def increment():
        counter.content = str(int(counter.content) + 1)

    app.build(
        nib.VStack(
            controls=[
                counter,
                nib.Button("Add", action=increment),
            ],
            spacing=8,
            padding=16,
        )
    )

nib.run(main)

Why Nib?

  • Native SwiftUI rendering — Your app looks and feels like a real macOS app because it is one. No web views, no Electron.
  • Python simplicity — Write your entire app in Python. No Swift knowledge required.
  • 30+ UI components — Text, buttons, toggles, sliders, pickers, charts, maps, tables, canvas drawing, and more.
  • System integration — Access battery, connectivity, screen, keychain, camera, notifications, and file dialogs.
  • Reactive updates — Mutate a property and the UI updates automatically. No state management boilerplate.
  • Build to .app — Bundle your app into a standalone .app with nib build. Includes Python runtime, dependencies, and code signing.
  • Hot reload — nib run watches your files and reloads on every save.

Quick Start

pip install pynib
nib create myapp
cd myapp
nib run src/main.py

Requirements

  • macOS 14+
  • Python 3.10+

Next Steps

  • Getting Started — Install Nib and build your first app in minutes.
  • Concepts — Understand the architecture, reactivity model, and view system.
  • Guides — Task-oriented guides for layouts, styling, animations, notifications, and more.
  • API Reference — Complete reference for every class, method, and parameter.
Index