Install

Peekaboo ships in three flavors. They all use the same Swift core and the same toolset — pick whichever surface fits your workflow.

#Homebrew (recommended)

The CLI is signed, notarized, and lives in openclaw/homebrew-tap.

brew install openclaw/tap/peekaboo
peekaboo --version

Update with brew upgrade openclaw/tap/peekaboo.

#npm (for MCP clients)

The npm package wraps the same CLI plus an MCP shim, so you can launch the server with npx:

npx -y @steipete/peekaboo mcp

This is the form you point Codex, Claude Code, and Cursor at. See MCP.md.

#Mac app

The full menu-bar app (visualizer, permission flows, status item) ships as a drag-to-Applications DMG on the Releases page. The app and CLI are separate installs; use Homebrew or npm above when you also need the peekaboo command on your PATH.

In Settings, Show Peekaboo in → Menu bar only keeps Peekaboo out of the Dock and Command-Tab, even while Settings, Inspector, or an enabled Sessions window is open. Use the menu-bar item or configured keyboard shortcuts to return to those windows. Menu bar and Dock keeps the Dock and Command-Tab entry available even after all windows are closed.

An unattended background Bridge host stays out of the Dock and suppresses automatic window presentation regardless of the saved Dock preference. Explicitly opening a window from the menu bar or a shortcut resumes that preference for the running host; it does not force a Dock entry when Menu bar only is selected.

#Build from source

Requires macOS 15.0+ and a Swift 6.2+ toolchain. See platform-support.md for the support matrix across the CLI, app, Swift packages, and pnpm helper scripts.

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/openclaw/Peekaboo.git
cd Peekaboo
pnpm install
pnpm run build:cli         # debug build
pnpm run build:swift:all   # universal release

The output binary lives under Apps/CLI/.build/.... See building.md for signing and notarization. Raw SwiftPM and manual unstamped Xcode builds use stable unknown placeholders for source and build-time metadata. Use the repository's debug or release build scripts from a clean checkout when peekaboo --version --json must include immutable provenance. Dirty or unverifiable debug builds remain available but report sourceCommit: unknown; release builds and debug builds with PEEKABOO_REQUIRE_SOURCE_PROVENANCE=1 refuse that source state. peekaboo --version --json exposes the canonical 40-hex sourceCommit; background certification requires it and pins one exact Bridge socket for remote execution, requiring that host to advertise the same source commit. Raw builds remain available for ordinary CLI development, but capture action is deliberately stricter because its manifest claims end-to-end artifact and execution-host provenance around an arbitrary child command. That subcommand requires either an Apple-anchored, source-stamped local executable or an authenticated selected Bridge host; an unstamped local build refuses before focus or child dispatch instead of publishing a non-certified manifest.

#Verify

peekaboo --version
peekaboo permissions status
peekaboo app list

If any of those error out, jump to permissions.md.