# MacPowerToys: Seven Native Mac Utilities > A native macOS utility suite for screen measurement, power control, color capture, local OCR, cloud transfers, Claude Code history, and diagnostics. - URL: https://mandalsuraj.com/blog/macpowertoys - Author: Suraj Mandal (https://mandalsuraj.com) - Published: 2026-08-09 - Project date: 2026-08-01 - Tags: macos, swiftui, appkit, opensource, productivity, developer-tools, desktop-app, appdev - GitHub: https://github.com/surajmandalcell/macpowertoys - Releases: https://github.com/surajmandalcell/macpowertoys/releases ![MacPowerToys: Seven Native Mac Utilities cover](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/cover.png) Sections [01 Overview](#one-native-home) [02 Measure](#ruler) [03 Transfer](#cloud-sync) [04 History](#claude-history) [05 Build](#native-by-design) MacPowerToys puts seven focused utilities in one native Mac app. It replaces a pile of unrelated menu bar tools with one launcher, one visual language, and one set of window rules. The suite stays local by default. Recognition, histories, settings, diagnostics, and window state remain on the Mac. Small tools work better when they share one quiet, predictable home. One native home The launcher groups every utility by purpose. Search narrows the catalog, while each tool keeps its own window and restores its last useful position. ![MacPowerToys launcher showing all seven built-in tools](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/launcher.png) | Tool | Job | |---|---| | Ruler | Measure the screen in pixels, millimeters, or inches. | | Awake | Keep the Mac or display awake by mode, time, or process. | | Color Picker | Sample the screen and reuse local color history. | | Text Extractor | Copy text from any screen region with Apple Vision. | | Cloud Sync | Plan and run local and remote rclone transfers. | | Claude History | Search, bookmark, inspect, and export Claude Code sessions. | | Logs | Filter and copy MacPowerToys diagnostics. | 01Developer Measure without leaving the screen Ruler places movable horizontal and vertical rulers over the desktop. Each ruler can use pixels, millimeters, or inches. Create several rulers and cycle between them. Resize, group, align, float, and copy measurements. Set color, opacity, aspect ratio, origin, and calibration. Show a crosshair or pin the rulers at the pointer. ![Ruler controls for units, calibration, guides, and active rulers](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/ruler.png) 02System Keep work running on your terms Awake uses native macOS power assertions. It does not rewrite Energy settings. Stay awake indefinitely, for an interval, or until a date and time. Keep the display on as a separate choice. Start from quick time presets. Attach the awake state to a running process. ![Awake utility with passive, indefinite, timed, and process modes](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/awake.png) 03Developer Sample once, reuse everywhere Color Picker starts the native macOS sampler, copies the chosen value, and adds it to a searchable local history. Copy HEX, RGB, HSL, CSS, SwiftUI, or NSColor output. Pin useful colors and group them into projects. Choose a default copy format. Record a global keyboard shortcut. ![Color Picker history with searchable saved colors](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/color-picker.png) ![Color Picker global shortcut settings](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/color-picker-settings.png) 04Text Copy text from any visible region Text Extractor lets the user drag over the screen, then recognizes the selection with on-device Apple Vision. Copy recognized text as soon as extraction finishes. Keep a local history with one-click copy and detail views. Choose fast or accurate recognition. Set preferred languages and language correction. ![Text Extractor history with saved recognition rows](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/text-extractor.png) ![Text Extractor recognition quality and language settings](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/text-extractor-settings.png) 05Files Plan transfers before files move Cloud Sync gives rclone a native Mac workspace. Every transfer is dry-run planned before copy, move, mirror, or two-way work begins. Track overall and per-file progress with persistent completion state. Retry failed work with backoff and keep the latest local changes. Browse remotes and preview files with Quick Look. Control parallel work, bandwidth, ignore rules, and default operations. ![Cloud Sync transfer dashboard with completed and cancelled jobs](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/cloud-sync.png) ![Cloud Sync settings for ignore rules, concurrency, retries, and rclone](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/cloud-sync-settings.png) 06Developer Make local Claude Code work searchable Claude History reads local Claude Code sessions and groups them by project. New messages can appear while a session is still running. Search session titles or scan message content with deep search. Bookmark sessions and filter user, Claude, and tool messages. Inspect tool input and output beside the conversation. Copy or export selected messages in useful formats. ![Claude History browser with project groups and an empty conversation state](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/claude-history.png) ![Claude History settings for launch, refresh, deep search, and cache](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/claude-history-settings.png) 07System Keep diagnostics readable Logs brings messages from every tool into one selectable view. Search and level filters reduce noise during support work. Filter errors, warnings, information, and debug output. Search across messages and sources. Copy exact log text into a report. Prune entries after two days and clear the active view. ![MacPowerToys Logs window with searchable tool diagnostics](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/logs.png) ## The shell around the tools The app settings keep shared behavior out of each utility. The user can choose appearance, window behavior, and optional iCloud settings sync. The marketplace accepts catalog sources and lists verified add-on tools. Install checks cover checksums, Developer ID identity, bundle identity, and Apple notarization. ![MacPowerToys general app settings](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/app-settings-cropped.png) ![MacPowerToys marketplace catalog settings](https://mandalsuraj.com/images/blog/macpowertoys/marketplace.png) Shared appearance, window, iCloud, and marketplace controls. Native by design MacPowerToys uses SwiftUI for the launcher, compact utilities, and full workspaces. AppKit handles window behavior and the FreeRuler overlay where direct Mac control matters. | Layer | Native job | |---|---| | SwiftUI | Launcher, sidebars, compact applets, settings, sheets, and workspace views. | | AppKit | Ruler windows, menu commands, precise window state, Dock icon changes, and Mac-specific chrome. | | Apple Vision | Local text recognition for Text Extractor. | | macOS power assertions | Awake modes without changing Energy settings. | | rclone | Remote providers, planning, transfer execution, and credential control. | | Local storage | Histories, logs, bookmarks, settings, and remembered window state. | The result is one utility suite that feels consistent without forcing every tool into the same shape. Compact tasks stay compact. Dense work gets a full workspace. The launcher remains the stable way back to everything. ## Build it MacPowerToys requires macOS 26.2 or later and Xcode 26.2 or later. Cloud Sync also needs rclone. ```bash brew install rclone git clone https://github.com/surajmandalcell/macpowertoys.git cd macpowertoys make build ``` The repository includes the Xcode project, tests, Raycast commands, release notes, privacy policy, and security policy under the MIT License.