Codesh: Local Codex Usage in Your Menu Bar
21/02/2026
macos codex swift tooling
A tiny local-only macOS menu bar app to keep Codex session and weekly usage visible at a glance.
I wanted a tiny utility that shows Codex usage without opening the CLI or digging through logs. Codesh is that app: local-only, simple, and focused on one job in the macOS menu bar.
Codesh also lets you customize status bar colors directly in the app: session (left) and weekly (right), each with separate light and dark mode colors, plus a quick reset-to-defaults action.
Why I built it
Yes, CodexBar already exists and is a much more thorough option. I wanted to build something myself that stayed intentionally simple: local-only, lightweight, and easy to understand end-to-end. This implementation was actually heavily based off of CodexMonitor which is an amazing app (although I've recently been using the offical Codex app which lacks thsi feature!).
Design constraints
1. Read local logs only.
2. Stay fast enough to feel instant from the menu bar.
3. Keep the interface minimal so the signal is obvious.
What I like about this shape
This kind of focused utility avoids feature sprawl. It does one thing well, stays understandable, and is easy to trust because the data path is fully local.
Conclusion
It was interesting to learn a bit about the signing and distribution process for macOS apps. It's currently signed and available on Github Releases. I'm happy with the result and will continue to use it myself. I think we are in a new age of mini self-built utilities like this. Thanks for reading!