Installation

Requirements#

• macOS 15 or later
• A Mac with Codex, Claude Code, or both installed and signed in

UsageNow reads data from the AI coding tools you already use, so install and sign in to at least one of them first. You can add or remove providers at any time.

Download#

The current release is 0.8.0 (11) for Apple silicon and Intel. See the 0.8.0 release notes.

Download UsageNow from usagenow.com — the button gives you usagenow.dmg, always the current release — or pick a specific version from the releases page. Open the image and drag UsageNow to Applications. The app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a Gatekeeper warning.

UsageNow lives in the menu bar and has no Dock icon. Click its symbol to open the popover, and continue with Getting Started.

These are the channels it ships through:

• Download from usagenow.comAvailable
• GitHub ReleasesAvailable
• Homebrew CaskPlanned

Updates#

From 0.4.0, UsageNow updates itself. It checks for a new version, shows you what changed, and installs it when you agree. Settings › General › Updates has the switch and a Check Now button.

An update is installed only when it carries UsageNow's own signature, made with a key that exists in one place: its maintainer's keychain. Nothing in the public repository can produce an update UsageNow accepts, and a build that didn't come from the release process can't update itself at all.

A check is a plain request for the update feed at usagenow.com. Sparkle's system profiling is switched off, so nothing about your Mac, your version, or you is sent with it.

Build from source#

You can also build UsageNow yourself — to contribute, or to run an unreleased change. You need Xcode 26 or later.

git clone https://github.com/usagenow/usagenow.git
cd usagenow

open UsageNow.xcodeproj

To build from Terminal instead:

xcodebuild -project UsageNow.xcodeproj -scheme UsageNow build

Continue with Getting Started once the app is running.

Enable the widget in a local build#

The desktop widget reads data through an App Group, and App Groups require a signing team. Builds without one work normally, but the widget only shows Open UsageNow to load usage data. To enable it, build with your own team ID:

xcodebuild -project UsageNow.xcodeproj -scheme UsageNow \
    DEVELOPMENT_TEAM=YOURTEAMID \
    USAGENOW_APP_GROUP=YOURTEAMID.group.com.usagenow.UsageNow \
    USAGENOW_APP_ENTITLEMENTS=Config/UsageNow.entitlements \
    USAGENOW_WIDGET_ENTITLEMENTS=Config/UsageNowWidget.entitlements \
    build

From 0.8.0, Debug builds append a development suffix to the app, widget, and App Group identifiers. They do not replace the installed release's widget or snapshot. Keep this separation when signing your local build.

You can set the same four build settings once in Xcode instead. See the repository README for more.

Update a source build#

Pull the latest changes and build again:

git pull

Uninstall#

UsageNow doesn’t change any Codex or Claude Code files, so removing it leaves your tools exactly as they were.

1. If you added the UsageNow widget, remove it from your desktop.
2. If Launch at Login is on, turn it off in Settings › General so macOS removes the login item.
3. Click Quit in the popover, or press ⌘Q while it’s open.
4. Delete UsageNow.app.

To also remove UsageNow’s preferences, run:

defaults delete com.usagenow.UsageNow