Honu
An experiment in having Claude Code create microapps on the fly, right
on your macOS desktop. See openhonu.ai.
Status: experimental prototype. Expect breaking changes.
Safety: there is no protection against prompt injection.
What it does
Microapp bubbles float right on your desktop. A little turtle spits
them out; drag a bubble to the octopus to remove it.
Describe a new microapp to the turtle, and Claude makes it in moments.
To change a microapp, type what you want into the bar at its bottom.
TODO: drag bubbles onto the turtle to give Claude their contents as context.
Quick start in 30 seconds
If you already have Claude Code installed, start claude in this folder
and ask it to run Honu. Claude will make sure everything works.
Getting started (longer version)
Install Claude Code (for making microapps)
Honu asks Claude through Claude Code, running it
headless (claude -p) for each request, so it needs no API key: install Claude Code and
run claude once in Terminal to sign in with your Claude account. Honu finds claude in
your PATH or where it is usually installed, and leaves out any ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in its
environment, so answers always come through your account.
Build and run
Honu needs macOS 26 or newer and a Swift 6.2 toolchain. Xcode is not required: the
Command Line Tools are enough.
xcode-select --install # if you have neither Xcode nor the Command Line Tools
swift run # build and launch
Using Honu
- Click the turtle for its launcher, and click a microapp: the turtle spits out a
new bubble of it, such as a Note, one Claude made, or + to describe a new
one for Claude to write.
- To change a microapp, say what you want in the bar below it.
- Drag bubbles around, or throw them; crowded ones push each other aside.
- To delete a bubble, drag it to the octopus. To uninstall a microapp, drag it from the
launcher there. Changed your mind? Click the octopus, or press ⌘Z.
- Right-click the turtle to keep Honu on just one desktop, or to quit. Clicks
elsewhere pass through to your other apps.
- Everything is saved as you go.
The ideas behind this UI are in docs/UI.md.
Development
Work happens on the dev branch; main is kept stable. Please open pull requests
against dev, not main.
swift test # run the tests
swift format lint --strict -r Sources Tests Package.swift # lint
swift format -i -r Sources Tests Package.swift # format
git config core.hooksPath .githooks # lint and test before each push
The pre-push hook in .githooks/ runs the lint and the tests when a push changes
Swift code (git push --no-verify skips it). Claude Code also lints each Swift file
it edits, through the hook in .claude/settings.json.
swift build -c release # optimized build
License
MIT
