macOS as a host platform #11

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opened 2026-03-22 18:20:48 +00:00 by albert · 0 comments
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It may be useful to support running on macOS as a host platform (instead of Linux).

This will enable supervision of activities that specifically require macOS, such as:

  • GarageBand and Logic
  • iMovie and Final Cut
  • The Microsoft Office Microsoft 365 desktop applications (Word, Excel, etc.)
  • The Adobe suite

This is a major undertaking, and will require:

  • A shepherd-host-macos crate that implements platform-specific operations like process management
  • New implementations of each of the activity kinds. This is best done after the media (#9), Web (#10), and similar activity kinds are implemented and is the main reason why it is important to move away from the process activity type wherever possible.
  • A new launcher UI

On macOS, it may be impossible to fully implement kiosk semantics while supporting arbitrary apps due to Apple restrictions around WindowServer and SIP. This implementation will likely be best-effort and should borrow from macOS window management projects like https://github.com/asmvik/yabai.

It may be useful to support running on macOS as a host platform (instead of Linux). This will enable supervision of activities that specifically require macOS, such as: * GarageBand and Logic * iMovie and Final Cut * The ~~Microsoft Office~~ Microsoft 365 *desktop* applications (Word, Excel, etc.) * The Adobe suite This is a *major* undertaking, and will require: * A `shepherd-host-macos` crate that implements platform-specific operations like process management * New implementations of each of the activity kinds. This is best done after the media (#9), Web (#10), and similar activity kinds are implemented and is the main reason why it is important to move away from the process activity type wherever possible. * A new launcher UI On macOS, it may be impossible to fully implement kiosk semantics while supporting arbitrary apps due to Apple restrictions around WindowServer and SIP. This implementation will likely be best-effort and should borrow from macOS window management projects like https://github.com/asmvik/yabai.
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albert/shepherd-launcher#11
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