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LiquidBar

简体中文

LiquidBar is a small native macOS menu-bar monitor and controller for a tested Hackintosh + NZXT cooling setup. It prioritizes low overhead, predictable hardware access, and a single-level interface inspired by the clarity of iStat Menus.

Version 0.1.4 is tested only on the hardware listed below. The architecture is extensible, but other Macs and liquidctl devices are not currently supported.

Tested setup

Features

  • Compact CPU 52° menu-bar status with optional liquid temperature
  • CPU temperature from VirtualSMC and coolant/fan/pump data from liquidctl
  • Independent Fan 1/2/3 and pump sliders with safe minimums
  • Linked-fan mode and Quiet, Daily, Performance, and Full presets
  • Optional fan identification and naming
  • 15-minute, 1-hour, 6-hour, and 24-hour temperature charts
  • Rolling 24-hour local history
  • Optional macOS notifications and full-speed thermal protection
  • Silent launch at login, wake recovery, and device reconnect handling
  • Chinese and English UI following the macOS language
  • No telemetry, analytics, automatic network access, or auto-update service

Requirements

  • macOS 13 or later
  • Swift 5.10 or later (Apple Command Line Tools are sufficient)
  • Homebrew liquidctl 1.16 or later:
brew install liquidctl
liquidctl list

The app locates liquidctl under /usr/local/opt/liquidctl and /opt/homebrew/opt/liquidctl. It does not download or install dependencies.

Build locally

git clone https://github.com/hermanzhaozzzz/LiquidBar.git
cd LiquidBar
swift test
./scripts/build_app.sh

The app bundle is written to dist/LiquidBar.app and ad-hoc signed for local use. No public binary is shipped in version 0.1.4 because the project does not yet use a Developer ID certificate.

Install and launch it:

./scripts/install_app.sh

The install script targets /Applications/LiquidBar.app. macOS may ask you to approve the login item or notification permission in System Settings.

Development

swift build
swift test
python3 -m py_compile Resources/device_helper.py

With the computer attended, contributors working on the exact tested hardware can run the reversible hardware test. It raises duties by 5 percentage points for four seconds and verifies restoration:

/usr/local/opt/liquidctl/libexec/bin/python scripts/hardware_smoke_test.py

The native AppKit/SwiftUI process owns the menu bar and reads the CPU sensor. A single persistent Python helper imports the user's Homebrew liquidctl package and serializes all HID access over a JSON-lines pipe. Slider writes occur only when dragging ends. Device polling is 5 seconds in the background and 2 seconds while the popover is open.

Configuration, logs, and the rolling history live under ~/Library/Application Support/LiquidBar/.

License

Copyright © 2026 Huanan Zhao <hermanzhaozzzz@gmail.com>.

LiquidBar is free software licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later. See NOTICE.md for third-party notices.