Totem Bar

1Overview

Totem Bar is a macOS accessory app that keeps a piece of text pinned to your menu bar at all times. Named after the totem from Inception — the small object you check to confirm which reality you're in — Totem Bar is built for people who juggle multiple Macs.

Work and personal, client A and client B, production and staging — set any text you want on each machine so you always know which one you're looking at.

Key features:

• Always-on menu bar label — any text you like (machine name, environment, emoji, warning, etc.)
• Width mode: Auto (fit to content) or Fixed (40–300 pt)
• Overflow behavior: Truncate (tail ellipsis) or Scroll (marquee)
• Color presets and custom colors (In-App Purchase)
• URL scheme totem://set?text=... to update the label from the command line or scripts
• Launch at login, no Dock icon (.accessory policy)

2Getting Started

From install to your first label in five steps.

1. Launch Totem Bar. A placeholder reading Enter your Totem appears on the right-hand side of the menu bar. Nothing shows up in the Dock.
2. Click the Totem label in the menu bar to open its menu, then choose Settings… (⌘,).
3. Type the string you want in the Display Text field (e.g. MacBook-Work, PROD, 🏠 Home).
4. Optionally adjust Width Mode, Colors, and Launch at Login.
5. Close the Settings window. Changes are applied to the menu bar immediately.

3Menu Bar Display

Totem Bar lives as a status item on the right-hand side of the menu bar. Clicking it opens a small menu with access to Settings and Quit.

Rendering

• If the display text is empty or whitespace only, Totem Bar falls back to Enter your Totem to keep the status item visible.
• Font size is 13 pt, laid out to match the standard menu bar height.
• When no custom background color is set, the native menu bar shows through (adapts to light/dark mode automatically).

Menu Items

Clicking the Totem label opens a compact menu.

• Settings… (⌘,) — open the Settings window
• About Totem Bar — version info
• Quit (⌘Q) — quit the app

4Settings Window

Open from the Totem label in the menu bar → Settings… (⌘,). Every change applies to the menu bar immediately and is persisted in UserDefaults.

Sections

5Display Text

Sets the string rendered in the menu bar.

What you can enter

• ASCII text: MacBook-Work, PROD, staging-2
• Non-Latin scripts: 仕事用, 本番
• Emoji and symbols: 🏠 Home, 🔥 PROD, ⚠️ DO NOT DEPLOY
• Empty string: falls back to Enter your Totem

Specs

6Width Mode

Controls how much menu bar space Totem Bar reserves for its label.

Fixed Width settings

• Range: 40 pt – 300 pt
• Default: 120 pt
• Ignored when Width Mode is Auto

Fixed-width examples

Fixed 120 pt — text fits within the width

Fixed 60 pt — overflow is truncated with a tail ellipsis

7Overflow Behavior

Controls how text that doesn't fit a Fixed width is shown.

Truncate (tail ellipsis)

Anything past the fixed width is replaced with a trailing …. This is the default.

Scroll (marquee)

The full text loops smoothly across the fixed width. Use this when you want the entire label readable.

8Color Customization

Pair a text color with a background color to get an instantly recognizable look.

Color presets

Built-in presets, free to use. One click applies both text and background.

PRO Custom Colors (In-App Purchase)

The one-time Totem Bar Pro unlock opens up full color customization.

• Text Color: pick any color (color picker)
• Background Color: pick any color, with alpha / transparency
• Stored as #RRGGBB or #RRGGBBAA hex
• Tied to your Apple ID — use Restore Purchases on other Macs

9URL Scheme

Update the display text from the command line or a script via a URL. Great for shell integration and automation.

Syntax

totem://set?text=<your text here>

The text parameter accepts a URL-encoded string.

Usage

Open the URL from the terminal with open:

# Plain text
open "totem://set?text=Hello"

# Show the local hostname
open "totem://set?text=$(scutil --get LocalHostName)"

# Show the current Git branch
open "totem://set?text=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)"

# IP address
open "totem://set?text=$(ipconfig getifaddr en0)"

# With an emoji (URL-encoded)
open "totem://set?text=%F0%9F%94%A5%20PROD"

Example: update on directory change

A zsh chpwd hook that updates the label whenever you cd into a Git repository:

chpwd() {
  if git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree &>/dev/null; then
    local branch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
    open "totem://set?text=$branch"
  fi
}

Behavior

10Login Item & More

Launch at Login

Toggle on Launch at Login under the System section of the Settings window to start Totem Bar automatically when you log in.

• Uses macOS's SMAppService (the recommended API on macOS 13+)
• The state is mirrored under System Settings → General → Login Items
• macOS may prompt for permission the first time you enable it

No Dock icon (Accessory App)

Totem Bar uses the .accessory activation policy.

• It does not appear in the Dock
• It does not appear in the ⌘+Tab switcher
• It never becomes the active app, so it won't replace the main menu bar

Resource usage

• Native Swift implementation
• Near-zero CPU at idle (except when marquee scroll is active)
• No network traffic — the app works fully offline

Data storage

• All settings are stored in UserDefaults (via @AppStorage)
• Writes are confined to the app's sandbox container
• No personal data is collected (App Privacy: Data Not Collected)

11FAQ

12About This App