Outcrop

Outcrop is a native macOS client for the Claude Code CLI, written in Swift and SwiftUI. It runs the real claude command line tool underneath and shows its output in a project-based window with chat, sessions, a file tree, Git status and a terminal. Your CLAUDE.md files, skills, MCP servers and slash commands work the same way they do in the terminal.

Outcrop is a fork of Clarc by ttnear.

Differences from Clarc

1. The approval hook honors the permission rules from Claude Code settings (~/.claude/settings.json, .claude/settings.json and .claude/settings.local.json in the project). A tool call that an allow rule clearly covers, and no deny or ask rule matches, runs without a prompt. Everything else still shows the approval dialog.
2. Plan usage (the 5-hour and 7-day limits) in the status line is off by default. Showing it reads Claude Code's sign-in token from the Keychain and calls Anthropic's usage API. You can turn it on in Settings → General → Plan usage.
3. Its own name, bundle identifier (io.github.killreal1234.outcrop) and icon.
4. Its own data folder: ~/Library/Application Support/Outcrop.
5. Its own update feed (see Updates).

Features

Chat

• Streaming responses with Markdown rendering, tool call results, file diffs and expandable thinking blocks. A stop button is shown while a response is streaming.
• Fork a conversation from any assistant message into a new session; the original session is left as it was.
• Per-session model, permission mode and effort level, chosen from the chat toolbar. Defaults are set in Settings.
• Permission modes Ask, Accept Edits, Plan, Auto and Bypass, matching Claude Code's --permission-mode values.
• Effort levels Low, Medium, High, XHigh and Max, plus Auto (the model's default level) and a session-only Ultracode option.
• Model aliases Opus, Sonnet and Haiku, including the 1M context and Opus Plan variants.
• Message queue: messages typed while Claude is responding are queued and can be removed before they are sent.
• Attachments by drag and drop. Paste detects images, file paths, URLs and long text; automatic preview can be turned off for each of these in Settings.
• Built-in and custom slash commands. Built-in commands can be edited or turned off; custom commands can be imported and exported as JSON. Commands that need an interactive terminal, such as /config and /model, open in a terminal sheet.
• Shortcut buttons for prompts or terminal commands you run often.
• Status line with the project path, model, context usage and total response time. Plan usage limits appear only when the Plan usage setting is on.

Projects and sessions

• Several local folders or cloned GitHub repositories, each with its own session history.
• Project tabs; double-click a tab to open the project in its own window. A response keeps streaming in the background when you switch projects.
• Sessions can be pinned, renamed, marked as completed and deleted. Completed sessions can be hidden, and several sessions can be selected for one action.

Inspector and sidebar

• File tree with search, a hidden-files toggle, syntax-highlighted preview, editing, and insertion of @path references into the message.
• Git status with changed-file counts and the current branch; switch to a local or remote branch from the sidebar.
• Embedded terminal based on SwiftTerm.
• A rich-text memo per project, with headings, lists, checkboxes and links.

Other

• GitHub sign-in with the OAuth device flow, token storage in the Keychain, SSH key setup, repository list and cloning. Sign-in uses the OAuth app registered by the Clarc author.
• Plugin marketplace that lists plugins from Anthropic's GitHub repositories, cached for five minutes.
• Six accent themes and separate font size controls for the interface and the messages.
• A focus mode for the chat layout, turned on in Settings.
• System notifications with a preview of the response when a response finishes while the app is in the background. They can be turned off in Settings.
• Interface in English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Spanish.
• A user guide, opened from Settings → General.
• Updates with Sparkle.

Requirements

• macOS 15.0 or later (the minimum deployment target).
• The Claude Code CLI, installed and signed in.
• To build from source: Xcode with a Swift 6.2 or later toolchain.

Installation

1. Download Outcrop-<version>.zip for the latest version from Releases.
2. Unzip it and move Outcrop.app to the Applications folder.
3. Open Outcrop.app.

Releases are signed with an Apple Development certificate and are not notarized, so macOS blocks the first launch:

1. Close the dialog that says the app cannot be verified.
2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
3. In the Security section, click Open Anyway next to Outcrop, then confirm with your password or Touch ID.

After that, Outcrop opens normally.

Updates

Outcrop checks for updates with Sparkle. The feed is appcast.xml on the fork branch of this repository, and each update archive is signed with Outcrop's EdDSA key. Sparkle asks whether to check for updates automatically; you can also choose Check for Updates in the app menu.

Building from source

The Xcode project, scheme and Swift module are still named Clarc, and so are the Swift packages ClarcCore and ClarcChatKit and the source folders. Only the built product is named Outcrop.

The project file carries the signing team of the Clarc author, so a local build needs ad-hoc signing overrides. Run the commands from the repository root.

Build:

xcodebuild -project Clarc.xcodeproj -scheme Clarc -configuration Debug build \
  CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY=- CODE_SIGN_STYLE=Manual DEVELOPMENT_TEAM=

App tests (they launch the app for a moment):

xcodebuild test -project Clarc.xcodeproj -scheme Clarc -destination 'platform=macOS' \
  CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY=- CODE_SIGN_STYLE=Manual DEVELOPMENT_TEAM=

Package tests:

swift test --package-path Packages

Releases are made with scripts/release_outcrop.sh:

OUTCROP_TEAM_ID=<team id> scripts/release_outcrop.sh <version> [--dry-run] [--build N]

The script builds and signs the app, signs the archive for Sparkle, adds an entry to appcast.xml and commits the version change. It does not publish anything. It needs the Sparkle tools resolved in ../.derived (build once with -derivedDataPath ../.derived) and Outcrop's update signing key in the login keychain. See the comment at the top of the script for details.

Project structure

Path	Purpose
Clarc/	macOS app target: app entry point, views, services, resources.
Packages/Sources/ClarcCore/	Shared models, theme, utilities, Git helpers and Claude Code session storage.
Packages/Sources/ClarcChatKit/	Chat interface: messages, input bar, slash commands, shortcuts, diffs, status line.
ClarcTests/	App tests (XCTest).
Packages/Tests/	Package tests (Swift Testing).
appcast.xml	Outcrop's Sparkle update feed.
scripts/release_outcrop.sh	Outcrop's release script. The other scripts in scripts/ are Clarc's own release tooling.
release_notes/	Release notes of Clarc versions.

License and credits

Outcrop is based on Clarc by ttnear and keeps its license, Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE.

It uses SwiftTerm for the terminal and Sparkle for updates.