macOS App Without Xcode

Example session (illustrative; paths and names will match your project).

1. Build script (build.sh)

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
APP=MyApp.app
rm -rf "$APP"
mkdir -p "$APP/Contents/MacOS" "$APP/Contents/Resources"
swiftc -O -parse-as-library MyApp.swift -o "$APP/Contents/MacOS/MyApp"
cp Info.plist "$APP/Contents/Info.plist"
cp AppIcon.icns "$APP/Contents/Resources/" 2>/dev/null || true
codesign --force --sign - "$APP"
echo "Built $APP"

2. Info.plist essentials
CFBundleExecutable MyApp, CFBundleIdentifier com.example.myapp, CFBundleIconFile AppIcon, LSUIElement true for a menu-bar or panel app with no Dock icon.

3. Glass fix
The panel looked flat because .ultraThinMaterial inside a borderless NSPanel blends with the window's own background, not the desktop. The fix is to host the SwiftUI view on an NSVisualEffectView with blendingMode = .behindWindow and state = .active, and make the panel non-opaque with a clear background.

4. Panel behaviour
A borderless, non-activating NSPanel that floats above other windows, resizes from the top edge in step with the SwiftUI spring animation, and closes on Esc.

5. Rebuild loop
Run ./build.sh && open MyApp.app. If the old icon still shows, touch the bundle and re-register it with LaunchServices.

Next steps

• Add a menu-bar item, or a native admin prompt for one privileged action.