Answer Claude Code from your menu bar.

Hoot taps you on the shoulder when Claude Code needs you and you're not looking at the terminal. Approve commands, answer questions and review plans from the menu bar, and keep an eye on your usage.

Download for macOS View source on GitHub

Free and open source (MIT) · macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple Silicon

Narrated demo with sample data, under a minute. Turn the sound on, or read what it shows

Meet Hoot, a menu-bar owl for Claude Code.
Claude Code is busy in your terminal, and you've moved on to something else.
When Claude needs permission, Hoot lets you know right away.
Open the menu to see exactly what will run. Allow it once, always allow it, or deny it with a reason for Claude.
Answer from the menu bar, and the terminal picks up where it left off.
If Claude has a question, pick an answer, or type your own.
Plans work the same way. Approve them, or send them back with feedback.
The Usage tab shows how much of your session and weekly limits you've used, plus your tokens and an estimated cost.
And your session usage sits right next to the owl, so you can check it at a glance.
Hoot is free and open source. Find it on GitHub.

Unofficial and not affiliated with Anthropic. "Claude" and "Claude Code" are trademarks of Anthropic.

Everything Claude needs from you, in one place

Claude Code pauses whenever it needs a decision. Hoot makes sure you notice, and lets you decide without hunting for the right terminal tab.

Permissions

See it, then decide

Every request shows the full command, or a diff for file edits. Choose Allow Once, Always Allow (from the exact options Claude Code offers), or Deny with a reason Claude will read.

Questions & plans

Answer without switching

When Claude asks a multiple-choice question, pick an answer or type your own. When it has a plan, read it, approve it, or send it back with feedback.

Notifications

Only when you're away

Hoot stays quiet while your terminal or editor is in front and notifies you when it isn't, with an optional single reminder. Allow and Deny work right from the notification.

Usage

Tokens and cost

Today's and the last 7 days' tokens, sessions, your busiest project and a 7-day chart, plus an estimate of what the same tokens would cost at API prices.

Plan limits

Know where you stand

Opt in to see how much of your 5-hour session and weekly limit is used: as bars in the menu, and as a percentage right next to the owl.

Private

Nothing leaves your Mac

No accounts, no analytics, no network connections. Claude Code talks to Hoot over a private local socket that only your user account can reach.

Hoot's Activity tab showing a Bash permission request with Deny, Always Allow and Allow Once, plus plan usage bars and recent notifications — Activity: what's waiting for you

Hoot's Activity tab in dark mode — Activity: what's waiting for you

Hoot's Usage tab with session and weekly limit bars, today's tokens, estimated cost and a 7-day chart — Usage: limits, tokens and cost

Hoot's Usage tab in dark mode — Usage: limits, tokens and cost

Install

About two minutes. You'll need:

macOS 14 Sonoma or later
A Mac with Apple Silicon
Claude Code installed

Download Hoot

Get the latest Hoot-vX.Y.Z.zip from the Releases page, unzip it, and drag Hoot.app into your Applications folder.
Open it the first time

Hoot is free and isn't notarized by Apple, so macOS blocks it the first time. To open it:
- Double-click Hoot, then click Done on the warning.
- Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to Hoot. Confirm with your password.
Prefer the terminal? This does the same:
```
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Hoot.app
```
Only do this for apps you trust. You can read every line of Hoot's code on GitHub, or build it yourself to skip this step entirely.
Allow notifications

Hoot explains what it does, then macOS asks to allow notifications. For Allow/Deny buttons that stay on screen, set Hoot's style to Persistent in System Settings › Notifications › Hoot.
Connect Claude Code

Click the owl in the menu bar, open Hoot Settings… › Claude Code, and click Install Hook…. You'll see the exact change to ~/.claude/settings.json before anything is written, and your file is backed up first. Running Claude Code sessions pick it up automatically.
Optional: see your plan limits

In the same tab, turn on Plan Limits. This adds a small statusline that passes your 5-hour and weekly usage to Hoot (Pro and Max plans). If you already have a statusline, Hoot wraps it so its output doesn't change.
Optional: open at login

In Settings › General, turn on Open Hoot at login.

Build from source instead

No warnings, and you can read every line first. You only need Apple's Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install); full Xcode isn't required.

git clone https://github.com/sarthak090/hoot.git
cd hoot
./scripts/build-app.sh
cp -R build/Hoot.app /Applications/ && open /Applications/Hoot.app

Try it

Switch to another app, then simulate a request from a terminal. The card appears in Hoot's menu, and the decision you choose is printed back:

printf '%s' '{"cwd":"/tmp/demo","hook_event_name":"PermissionRequest","tool_name":"Bash","tool_input":{"command":"echo hello"}}' \
  | ~/.claude/hooks/hoot.sh permission

Works with

Hoot works wherever Claude Code runs its hooks.

Where you use Claude Code	Supported
Terminal apps: Terminal, iTerm2, Warp, Ghostty and others	Yes
Editor terminals and extensions: VS Code, Cursor	Yes
Claude desktop app, Code tab	Yes, it uses the same settings and hooks. Add Claude under Terminal & Editor Apps so Hoot stays quiet while you're in it.
Claude desktop app, Chat and Cowork tabs	No, their approvals don't go through hooks.

How it works

Claude Code's official hooks call a small script, which talks to Hoot on your Mac. Claude Code's own dialog keeps working the whole time: whichever you answer first wins.

1. Claude Codeneeds a decision and runs its PermissionRequest hook.

2. hoot.shpasses the request to Hoot over a private local socket.

3. Hootshows a card and, if you're away, a notification.

4. You answerin Hoot or in the terminal. If you don't, the terminal decides after 5 minutes (adjustable).

Privacy & security

An app that can approve commands has to be careful. Here's how Hoot is built.

No network at all

Hoot makes no network connections and listens on no network port. There are no accounts, analytics or update checks.

Only you can reach it

Claude Code reaches Hoot through a Unix socket in a folder only your account can open, with a token that changes on every launch. Requests that look like they come from a browser are refused.

No accidental approvals

Allow has no keyboard shortcut, buttons wait a moment before they work, and Allow from a notification needs an unlocked Mac.

Previews you can trust

Hidden and direction-changing characters in commands are made visible and flagged, and shortened previews say so.

Careful with your settings

Every change to settings.json is shown as a diff first, backed up, written safely, and fully reversible.

Open source

Every line is on GitHub under the MIT license. Found a problem? See reporting security issues.

Questions

The short answers. More detail is in the README.

Is Hoot made by Anthropic?

No. Hoot is an independent open-source project that uses Claude Code's documented hooks. It isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic.

Does it cost anything?

No. Hoot is free and open source under the MIT license.

Why does macOS say it can't check Hoot for malware?

Apple only stops showing that warning for apps signed with a paid Apple Developer account and checked by Apple (notarized). Hoot is a free project and isn't notarized. Follow step 2 to open it, or build it from source.

What happens if I answer in the terminal instead?

That works as usual. Hoot notices within about a second and removes its card.

What if I don't answer at all?

After 5 minutes (you can change this) Hoot steps aside and Claude Code's normal terminal dialog decides. If Hoot isn't running, Claude Code behaves exactly as if it weren't installed.

Why don't I get notifications while I'm in my terminal?

That's on purpose: the dialog is right in front of you. Requests still appear in Hoot's menu. To change which apps count as "the terminal", see Settings › General › Terminal & Editor Apps.

Is the cost what I'm actually charged?

No. It's an estimate of what the same tokens would cost at Anthropic's API list prices. Pro and Max plans aren't billed per token. You can edit the price table in Settings › Usage.

Why do plan limits need a statusline?

Your 5-hour and weekly usage isn't stored on your Mac. Claude Code only shares it with statusline commands, so Hoot adds a small one (or wraps yours) to receive it. Without it, Hoot doesn't guess.

Does it work with Claude in the browser or the Chat tab?

No. Only Claude Code (terminal, editors, and the desktop app's Code tab) offers the hooks Hoot needs.

Intel Mac?

Releases are built for Apple Silicon. On an Intel Mac you can try building from source; it isn't tested there.

Troubleshooting

If something isn't working, check these first.

No notifications

Check System Settings › Notifications › Hoot is allowed.
Turn off Focus / Do Not Disturb.
Remember Hoot stays quiet while your terminal is in front.
Use Settings › General › Send Test Notification.

Claude never asks for permission

Claude is probably in auto or accept-edits mode, which approves many actions itself. Start claude --permission-mode default, or press Shift+Tab in Claude Code until the mode badge disappears.

Nothing reaches Hoot

Settings › Claude Code should say Installed; click Update Hook… if it says Needs update.
Make sure "disableAllHooks" isn't true in ~/.claude/settings.json.
Run /hooks inside Claude Code to see the active hooks.

Plan limits say "Waiting…"

Limits come from Pro and Max sessions, after Claude's first reply in that session. Send a message and check again.

Logs for a bug report

Hoot logs event types and outcomes only, never commands, file contents or what you type:

log stream --predicate 'subsystem == "io.github.sarthak090.hoot"' --level debug

Update & uninstall

Update

Quit Hoot, replace Hoot.app in Applications with the new one, and open it. If Settings › Claude Code says Needs update, click Update Hook…. Watch releases on GitHub to hear about new versions.

Uninstall

In Settings › Claude Code, click Uninstall… and turn off Plan Limits; both restore your settings.json. Then turn off open at login, quit Hoot, and delete Hoot.app, ~/Library/Application Support/Hoot and ~/.claude/hoot-backups.

Support

Hoot is maintained in spare time. The best way to get help is on GitHub.

Report a bug

Something broken? Open a bug report with your macOS version, Hoot version and Claude Code version.

Suggest a feature

Have an idea? Suggest it, or browse existing issues first.

Security issue

Please don't post it publicly. Report it privately; see the security policy.

Contribute

Pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md, and if Hoot helps you, a star on GitHub helps others find it.