Agent skill · design visual · ehmo
macos-design-guidelines
Apple Human Interface Guidelines for Mac. Use when building macOS apps with SwiftUI or AppKit, implementing menu bars, toolbars, window management, or keyboard shortcuts. Triggers on tasks involving Mac UI, desktop apps, or Mac Catalyst.
Why this skill is useful
Provides actionable design patterns and guidelines specific to macOS app development that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
About 10k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-03-19. 481 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
macOS Human Interface Guidelines Mac apps serve power users who expect deep keyboard control, persistent menu bars, resizable multi-window layouts, and tight system integration. These guidelines codify Apple's HIG into actionable rules with SwiftUI and AppKit examples. --- 1. Menu Bar (CRITICAL) Every Mac app must have a menu bar. It is the primary discovery mechanism for commands. Users who cannot find a feature will look in the menu bar before anywhere else. Rule 1.1 — Provide Standard Menus Every app must include at minimum: App, File, Edit, View, Window, Help. Omit File only if the app is not document-based. Add app-specific menus between Edit and View or between View and Window. Rule 1.2 — Keyboard Shortcuts for All Menu Items Every menu item that performs an action must have a keyboard shortcut. Use standard shortcuts for standard actions (Cmd+C, Cmd+V, Cmd+Z, etc.). Custom shortcuts should use Cmd plus a letter. Reserve Cmd+Shift, Cmd+Option, and Cmd+Ctrl combos for secondary actions. Standard Shortcut Reference: Action Shortcut -------- ---------- New Cmd+N Open Cmd+O Close Cmd+W Save Cmd+S Save As Cmd+Shift+S Print Cmd+P Undo Cmd+Z Redo Cmd+Shift+Z Cut Cmd+X Copy Cmd+C Paste Cmd+V Select All Cmd+A Find Cmd+F Find Next Cmd+G Preferences/Settings Cmd+, Hide App Cmd+H Quit Cmd+Q Minimize Cmd+M Fullscreen Cmd+Ctrl+F Rule 1.3 — Dynamic Menu Updates Menu items must reflect current state. Disable items that are not applicable. Update titles to match context (e.g., "Undo Typing" not just "Undo"). Toggle checkmarks for on/off states. Rule 1.4 — Contextual Menus Provide right-click context menus on all interactive elements. Context menus should contain the most relevant subset of menu bar actions for the clicked element, plus element-specific actions. Rule 1.5 — App Menu Structure The App menu (leftmost, bold app name) must contain: About, Preferences/Settings (Cmd+,), Services submenu, Hide App (Cmd+H), Hide Others (Cmd+Option+H), Show All, Quit (Cmd+Q). …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills ehmo/macos