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Mast

Mast is for the menu bar. It hides the icons you don't need all the time, lets you search the ones you do, puts Moor's widgets up there, and can restyle the bar itself. It stands in for apps like Bartender and Ice.

Turn it on in Settings → Parts. Everything below is in Settings → Mast, which appears while Mast is on. See Turn parts on and off.

Hide icons

Mast adds a small icon (‹) and a divider (⟨) to the menu bar. Everything to the left of the divider is hidden. Click the Mast icon, scroll on the menu bar, or click an empty part of it, and the hidden icons appear. A few seconds later they hide again. Moor's own icon still opens Moor's menu.

To use one icon instead of two, turn on Show hidden items by clicking Moor's icon in Settings → Mast. Mast then adds no icon of its own, and Moor's menu opens with a right-click or ⌥-click on Moor's icon.

Choose what hides

Hold ⌘ and drag menu bar icons to the left of Mast's divider. Drag them back to the right to keep them in view. This is macOS's own gesture, so nothing else is needed.

Mast hides nothing until its items are in the right order: the divider must be left of the icon you click. If it isn't, Settings → Mast says so. Hold ⌘ and drag the divider to the left of the icon.

Show and hide

You doIt does
Click the Mast icon (or Moor's icon, if you chose that)Shows the hidden icons, or hides them again
Click Moor's iconMoor's menu, as usual (right-click or ⌥-click if Moor's icon shows hidden items)
⌥-click the Mast iconShows the always hidden icons too
Right-click the Mast iconA menu: show or hide, search, Mast Settings
Your Show or hide items shortcutShows or hides the hidden icons
Scroll or swipe down on the menu barShows the hidden icons (up hides them)
Click an empty part of the menu barShows the hidden icons
Rest the pointer on the menu bar (if you turn it on)Shows the hidden icons after a moment

There is no shortcut to begin with. Pick one in Settings → Mast → Show or hide items.

Settings

SettingDefault
Show hidden items by clicking Moor's iconOff
Hide again automaticallyOn
Hide again after (5, 10, 15, 30 seconds or 1 minute)10 seconds
Always Hidden sectionOff
Show when scrolling on the menu barOn
Show when clicking an empty part of the menu barOn
Show when the pointer rests on the menu barOff

Hiding again waits while the pointer is in the menu bar or just below it, and while a menu is open, so an icon's menu doesn't vanish while you use it.

The Always Hidden section adds a second divider (⟪). Icons to the left of it stay hidden until you ⌥-click the Mast icon (when Mast has its own), or choose Show All Menu Bar Items in Moor's menu → Mast. Hold ⌘ and drag that divider to the left of the first one.

Widgets in the menu bar

Choose Add Widget to the Menu Bar and pick any Moor widget. Each one gets its own menu bar item. Click it to open the widget. A new widget appears at the left of the menu bar icons; to move it, hold ⌘ and drag it in the menu bar, like any other icon. Settings lists the widgets left to right as they sit in the menu bar. Use Remove to take one away, and open a widget's row for its own settings.

A widget's item only grows as its value changes, so the icons beside it don't shift each time it updates. It gets narrower again when you change its settings, or after its value has stayed shorter for about ten minutes.

Most widgets show a one-line value in the menu bar instead of a shrunk tile, and keep it up to date:

Money is hidden while revenue figures are. Issue, task and message lists show counts only, never titles. VoiceOver reads each one's name and value. Other widgets, such as AirDrop, Shortcuts, Dock Pulse, Agent Dock and Project, are shown as their tile, shrunk to the height of the bar.

Search menu bar items

Turn on Search menu bar items and pick a Search shortcut. Press it and every app's menu bar items are listed, with each app's icon. Type to narrow the list, use ↑ ↓ to choose and Return to open one. Esc closes the search. If the item is hidden, Mast shows the hidden icons first. It's also in the Mast menu.

Search needs Accessibility. Moor asks when you turn it on. Until you allow it, the search panel says so. It reads the list of menu bar items when the panel opens, and reuses it for 30 seconds unless an app opens or quits.

Items out of sight

Choose Items Out of Sight… in the Mast menu, or Show List in Settings → Mast. A list opens under the icon with every menu bar item you can't see right now: those behind the notch, and those Mast or macOS has pushed off the bar. Each one says which. Choose one and press Return, or click it, to open it. Like search, it needs Accessibility.

Mast can draw a colour behind the menu bar. Apple's menus and icons stay on top and work as usual. It's off until you choose a look in Settings → Mast → Menu Bar Appearance:

Things to know:

Things to know

From agents

With Mast on, agents (the moor_mast MCP tool), scripts and the moor command can change every Mast setting, Menu Bar Appearance included, show or hide the hidden items, and add, set up or remove menu bar widgets. Moor must be running with Settings → Automation → Let apps and agents control Moor on. Shortcuts can only be set in Settings.

moor mast show                    # show the hidden items (--all for the always-hidden ones too)
moor mast hide
moor mast settings                # every setting, as JSON
moor api PATCH /v1/mast/settings '{"appearance": {"mode": "custom", "fill": "gradient", "lightColor": "#1E2A44"}}'
moor api POST /v1/mast/widgets '{"kind": "time.clock"}'

Colours are #RRGGBB. Turning on search or split islands may make macOS ask you for Accessibility, as it does from Settings. See MCP server and local API for every route.

What Mast doesn't do

This page as Markdown: /docs/mast.md