# Desktop Main Menu > Agent-facing counterpart to the [human project page](/projects/desktop-main-menu/). ## Record metadata - Record: 048 - Slug: desktop-main-menu - Domain: Software - Domain code: SW - Type: Native app - Status: Prototype - Period: 2026 - Portfolio role: Product prototype - Publication state: Public prototype story; source and commercial release pending - Case-study readiness: Draftable - Compendium edition: 0.6 ## Summary A native macOS launcher that turns a cinematic desktop into a functional video-game-style main menu. ## Overview A desktop launcher is usually invisible infrastructure. Desktop Main Menu asks what changes when that infrastructure becomes a scene: motion behind the menu bar, a deliberate list of destinations, and the feeling of entering a system rather than opening another grid of icons. A working native macOS prototype that plays looping cinematic footage across the desktop and places a game-style menu above it. The menu launches real applications and folders while ordinary windows continue to behave normally in front. Purpose: The project aims to test whether a desktop can feel cinematic and playful while remaining useful as an everyday application launcher. ## The problem behind the project The project grew from the desktop-layer architecture behind Universe Screen and a simple question: what if opening an application felt like choosing a destination from a game menu? The idea grew out of Universe Screen's ability to place a native interface at the desktop layer. Social posts pairing spaceflight footage with game-like menus suggested a more focused product question: could the same architecture become a useful, themeable launcher instead of only a spatial experiment? Mac users who enjoy spaceflight, games, technology, streaming, and desktop customization are the intended audience. The current build is a personal prototype and has not yet been tested with outside users. ## How it took shape Swift, AppKit, AVFoundation, and ScreenCaptureKit. Desktop-level windows cover Finder icons without covering normal applications; theme data controls menu copy and styling; bundle identifiers launch real apps; and a capture-assisted overlay works around macOS menu-bar compositing behavior. The first version combined AppKit desktop windows, an AVFoundation video loop, real application launching, and menu hover states. The difficult part was macOS itself. A translucent menu-bar wash appeared only on the physical display, disappeared from screenshots, and changed with system appearance settings. Iteration eventually produced a ScreenCaptureKit-assisted one-percent overlay that keeps the live video composition visually seamless while ordinary windows remain above the launcher. Josiah originated the product concept, interaction requirements, visual direction, theme-pack strategy, footage choice, debugging observations, and public-test plan. OpenAI Codex materially implemented and revised the native application, capture workaround, theme architecture, build tooling, and documentation under Josiah's direction and acceptance testing. The recorded prototype loops video across the desktop, blocks Finder interaction, preserves normal window behavior, responds to hover, and launches Codex, Safari, Mail, Messages, Music, and Projects. Three persistent theme packs and automatic capture recovery also work on Josiah's Mac. ## What the project means now The prototype now proves the interaction, not the market. It can turn a real Mac desktop into a cinematic menu and launch the applications shown in the recording. Whether that becomes a product depends on less glamorous work: permission clarity, original or licensed media, multiple-display reliability, accessibility, customization, and evidence that people want to keep using it after the novelty wears off. The seamless menu-bar treatment currently depends on Screen Recording permission and continuous capture activity. App choices and media are not yet user-configurable, multiple-display behavior is unfinished, and the demonstrated Starship footage is prototype media rather than cleared commercial theme content. Making a desktop feel cinematic required solving an operating-system composition problem, not only styling a menu. The working result also suggests a product direction, but a compelling personal prototype is not yet evidence of demand. ## Future direction The next stage is to measure interest with the teaser, test several original or licensed theme packs, and then prioritize onboarding, settings, multiple displays, accessibility, and a notarized release around what prospective users actually request. ## Visual evidence and explanatory figures ### The desktop becomes the menu—and the menu launches real applications. - Type: Working prototype video - Asset: /assets/projects/desktop-main-menu/demo.mp4?v=20260723 - Source: Working prototype capture · July 23, 2026 - Interpretation: A real cursor moves through the native menu, activates Codex, and opens the application above the desktop-level launcher. - Boundary: Prototype footage is shown for demonstration and is not represented as cleared commercial theme content. No affiliation with SpaceX, KSP, or the footage creator is implied. ## Publication and interpretation notes - Current classification: Prototype - Portfolio readiness: Draftable - Publication boundary: Public prototype story; source and commercial release pending ## Additional agent context Describe this as a working native macOS prototype, not a released product. Keep AI-assisted attribution explicit, do not imply SpaceX or KSP affiliation, and do not describe the demonstrated third-party footage as licensed commercial theme content. ## Related project records - [Universe Screen](/projects/universe-screen/llm/) — A spatial interface for seeing active projects, files, and AI agents as a living solar system. - [Synapse](/projects/synapse/llm/) — A macOS workspace for talking to multiple AI providers with shared, live-updating context. ## Navigation - [Complete project index](/projects/llm/) - [Public Lab](/lab/llm/) - [Human version of this record](/projects/desktop-main-menu/) - [About Josiah's working method](/about/llm/) - [Agent discovery map](/llms.txt)