Free
Added on Nov 15,2026
NapCat is a free macOS app that turns the MacBook notch into a monitor for AI coding agents. It shows whether agents such as Claude Code and Codex are working, waiting for input or finished, without needing an account.
Each active session appears as a row in the notch island, and clicking a row takes you back to the exact session or window where that agent is running. Codex CLI and Codex Desktop threads keep stable identities so they are easy to follow.
For Claude Code, NapCat offers richer local context, permission previews and input forms through an opt-in local bridge, so you can allow or deny tool requests and answer questions straight from the notch.
Other recognised command-line agents, including Gemini CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, Aider, Goose, Qwen Code, Copilot CLI and many more, get process-level status. An integration manager in Settings shows what each connection can actually provide.
Key features include screen naps that keep long runs awake behind a private nap screen, a focus timer, media and shortcut modules, pinned and hidden sessions, Done retention rules, quiet hours, and sound or Notification Center alerts for Needs you, Done and focus events.
The island shape, layout, density and motion can be tuned in detail, and the nap screen has its own clock, colour, ambience and background, including a picture you choose.
Agent monitoring and activity stay on your Mac. Prompts, responses, project names and paths are not sent to NapCat, and product analytics only runs if you turn it on. The optional Claude usage meter contacts Anthropic.
Pricing: NapCat is completely free. There is no licence check, trial, account or paid tier. It is a 2.6 MB download that needs macOS 13 or later on Apple Silicon, with signed automatic updates.
It is suited to developers who run several AI coding agents at once and want to see their status at a glance without switching between terminals.
Popular alternatives to NapCat include Pollinations, NemoClaw and Agnes AI. Compare their pricing and what each is best for below.
| Tool | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Pollinations | Freemium | Developers and hobby builders who want a single API for adding AI images, audio and text to their websites, bots and app... |
| NemoClaw | Free | Developers and platform teams who want to run always-on AI agents on NVIDIA hardware under policy-based security control... |
| Agnes AI | Freemium | Developers building AI-powered apps who want access to several models through one API. |
| OrcaRouter | Freemium | Developers and teams who want to balance AI quality and cost across many models. |
| DiagramGPT | Free | Developers and students who need to sketch system designs and workflows quickly by describing them in words. |
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