What it does

app-it is a plugin and skill for Claude Code and Codex. From inside a local web project, or pointed at a hosted web app's URL, you ask your assistant to run it. It inspects the project, picks a launcher strategy, and builds an ad-hoc-signed macOS app with its own icon and a native window, without Electron, Tauri or a rewrite. The default launcher is a native Swift WKWebView shell, with Chrome app mode used only when a project needs Chromium-only APIs. Closing the window keeps the dev server warm for a quick relaunch, while Cmd-Q quits the app and frees the port. It writes a report of every change it makes and how to undo it. A companion plugin, app-it-static, serves finished build output so a completed app does not need a dev server. The site says it runs locally, uploads nothing and collects no telemetry. It needs macOS, Claude Code or Codex, and the Xcode Command Line Tools. Windows support is an early beta in a separate plugin. It is not a signed distribution system, with no notarization, App Store or auto-update, and it is an unofficial community project not affiliated with Anthropic or OpenAI.

Capabilities

Wraps a local web project or hosted web app URL as a Dock-launchable macOS app
Native WebKit window by default, with Chrome app mode as a fallback
Clean start and stop, freeing the dev-server port on quit
Writes a report of each change and how to undo it
Companion plugin serves finished builds without a dev server
Runs locally with no telemetry

When to use it

Giving an AI-built local web project a Dock icon and its own window
Wrapping a hosted web app, such as a published Claude Artifact, in a native window
Keeping several local projects as separate Dock apps that start and stop cleanly