UX and safety ideas from a working macOS menu bar prototype

[Lemmy8495]

Hello BrewUI team,

I designed the product concept, interaction model and safety requirements for a small native macOS menu bar application, and created a working prototype through AI-assisted development. I am not suggesting that BrewUI should adopt the entire application or replace its existing architecture. I would instead like to share several UX and safety patterns that proved useful in everyday use.

The prototype currently provides:

• A movable menu bar icon that opens a native management window
• Automatic read-only loading of installed formulae and casks
• Separate searches for formulae and graphical casks
• Manual update checks with no automatic package modifications
• Explicit confirmation before installing, upgrading, removing or cleaning
• Re-querying Homebrew after every package-changing operation and cleanup instead of updating the interface optimistically
• A cleanup dry run showing removable items and estimated size, followed by verification
• Safe handoff to Terminal when a cask operation requires macOS administrator approval
• Cancellation and timeout handling that also terminates child processes
• Single-instance protection and clear success or error messages
• The app itself collects no telemetry, and Homebrew analytics are disabled for commands launched by the app

The application is currently a personal local prototype, but these behaviours have been tested with a real Homebrew installation on Apple Silicon. A short presentation showing the concept and the English interface is attached to this proposal.

The prototype is still evolving. Further updates and carefully scoped features may follow where they provide clear practical value, respond to feedback or support BrewUI's needs. I would be happy to coordinate these next steps with the maintainers.

Would any of these ideas fit BrewUI's current roadmap? If so, would you prefer separate feature issues, screenshots and workflow descriptions, or another focused form of contribution aligned with BrewUI's architecture and licensing requirements?

I would be happy to contribute user stories, workflow documentation, screenshots, real-device testing on Apple Silicon and focused feature discussions.

AI assistance disclosure: I designed the product concept, workflows and requirements. ChatGPT/Codex assisted with implementation, testing and drafting this proposal. I reviewed this proposal and personally tested the prototype's behaviour on my Mac.

Thank you for your work on an official native Homebrew interface.

Presentation

Homebrew Manager Collaboration Proposal.pptx

[MikeMcQuaid]

Hey @Lemmy8495. Best bet is just to submit PRs when we've have a public working release of BrewUI. We're expecting this in the next month.