Window management that feels native

Shaka is a lightweight macOS window manager that lives in your menu bar. No rigid tiling grids, no complicated layouts — just smooth, intuitive window nudging with spring-based animations. Move, resize, snap, and focus windows with simple keyboard shortcuts that stay out of your way.

Built with Claude

Shaka was built entirely with Claude. The whole thing — from the Swift accessibility APIs to the spring animation physics to the install script — came together through conversation. It's a good example of what's possible when you pair AI with a clear idea of what you want to build. No boilerplate marathon, no digging through Apple documentation for hours. Just describe the behavior, iterate, and ship.

One-Line Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wes/shaka/main/install.sh | bash

That's it. The script pulls the repo, builds from source with Swift Package Manager, and drops the app in /Applications. No Homebrew tap, no DMG, no drag-and-drop. Requires macOS 13+ and Xcode Command Line Tools.

How It Works

Shaka runs as a menu bar app (look for the 🤙) and listens for global keyboard shortcuts. Everything uses Ctrl as the leader key:

• Focus — Ctrl + Arrow Keys to switch focus to the nearest window in any direction
• Move — Ctrl + Opt + Arrow Keys to nudge windows with spring animations
• Resize — Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Keys to grow or shrink from center
• Snap — Ctrl + Cmd + Left/Right to snap to screen halves
• Center — Ctrl + Return to center a window on screen
• Maximize — Ctrl + Shift + Return to maximize with padding

Windows snap to screen edges automatically at 20px, so everything stays clean without manual alignment.

Spring Animations

The animations aren't just cosmetic. Shaka uses spring-based physics (stiffness and damping) so windows feel like they have weight. When you nudge a window it accelerates, decelerates, and settles naturally. It makes the whole experience feel like part of macOS rather than a third-party bolt-on.

Configuration

Everything is configurable through a TOML file at ~/.config/shaka/config.toml:

move_step = 80        # pixels per nudge
resize_step = 80      # pixels per resize
animation_stiffness = 300
animation_damping = 28

Edit it from the menu bar icon — changes apply without restarting.

Why Shaka

Most window managers either do too much or feel foreign on macOS. Shaka does one thing well: let you arrange windows quickly with keyboard shortcuts and smooth animations. It supports multiple displays, respects screen edges, and never touches your dock. The whole project is open source under MIT.