Something In The Background

A native menu bar utility for managing background processes, SSH tunnels, and scheduled tasks.

Features

• Tiny native macOS app with a Rust core (less than 1MB)
• Run any script or CLI task without keeping a terminal open
• Fire-and-forget one-time commands (silent, with notification, or in a terminal)
• Auto-discover scripts from a directory
• Run scripts on a schedule without cron, or launchd
• Controlled from the menu bar
• Cross-platform support (macOS, Linux, Windows)
• Everything is configured with one simple config file

Installation

macOS

Install from GitHub Releases

Download the latest macOS zip from the GitHub Releases page, unzip it, then move Something in the Background.app to /Applications.

Important

Because the GitHub-built app is currently not signed or notarized, macOS may show a warning that the app is "corrupted" or say it should be moved to the Trash. If that happens, run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Something in the Background.app"

Build from source

Step 1: Install Rust (skip if already installed)

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source $HOME/.cargo/env

Step 2: Install build tools

xcode-select --install
cargo install cargo-bundle

Step 3: Build and install

git clone https://github.com/vim-zz/something_bg.git
cd something_bg
./scripts/bundle-macos.sh
cp -r "target/release/bundle/osx/Something in the Background.app" /Applications/

Launch from Applications or run: open "/Applications/Something in the Background.app"

Linux

Install from GitHub Releases

Download the latest Linux tarball from the GitHub Releases page, then extract and run the binary:

tar -xzf something_bg-linux-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz
chmod +x something_bg_linux
./something_bg_linux

Move something_bg_linux somewhere on your PATH if you want to launch it more easily later.

Build from source

Prerequisites (Ubuntu/Debian):

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source $HOME/.cargo/env
sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config libayatana-appindicator3-dev libgtk-3-dev libxdo-dev

Build and run:

git clone https://github.com/vim-zz/something_bg.git
cd something_bg
cargo run -p something_bg_linux --release

Windows

Build on Windows:

# Install Rust from https://rustup.rs/
git clone https://github.com/vim-zz/something_bg.git
cd something_bg
cargo build -p something_bg_windows --release
.\target\release\something_bg_windows.exe

Configuration

Configuration is stored in ~/.config/something_bg/config.toml (created on first run).

Example

path = "/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin:/opt/homebrew/bin"

# Optional: auto-discover .sh scripts from this directory
scripts_dir = "~/.config/something_bg/scripts"

[tunnels]

# SSH tunnel with port forwarding
[tunnels.database-prod]
name = "PROD"
command = "ssh"
args = ["-N", "-L", "5432:localhost:5432", "[email protected]"]
kill_command = "pkill"
kill_args = ["-f", "[email protected]"]
group_header = "DATABASE"
group_icon = "sf:cylinder.fill"

# Port forwarding
[tunnels.k8s-service]
name = "API Service"
command = "kubectl"
args = ["port-forward", "svc/api", "8080:8080"]
kill_command = "pkill"
kill_args = ["-f", "svc/api"]
group_header = "KUBERNETES"
separator_after = true

# One-time commands (fire-and-forget)
[commands.fix-quarantine]
name = "Fix Whisperer Quarantine"
command = "xattr"
args = ["-dr", "com.apple.quarantine", "/Applications/whisperer.app"]
group_header = "PERSONAL"
group_icon = "sf:person.fill"

[commands.deploy]
name = "Deploy"
command = "bash"
args = ["/Users/me/scripts/deploy.sh"]
output = "terminal"                 # Opens in Terminal.app
separator_after = true

# Scheduled tasks
[schedules.daily-backup]
name = "Daily Backup"
command = "/usr/local/bin/backup.sh"
args = []
cron_schedule = "0 6 * * *"
group_header = "SCHEDULED"
group_icon = "sf:clock.fill"

Fields

Tunnels (toggleable services):

• name — Display name
• command, args — Start command
• kill_command, kill_args — Stop command
• group_header (optional) — Section title
• group_icon (optional) — SF Symbol (e.g., sf:cylinder.fill)
• separator_after (optional) — Add separator

For Commands:

• name: Display name in the menu
• command + args: Command to execute
• output: Output mode — "silent" (default), "notify", or "terminal" (see below)

For Scheduled Tasks:

• name: Display name in the menu
• command + args: Command to execute
• cron_schedule: Cron expression for scheduling (e.g., "0 6 * * *")

Optional fields (all types):

• group_header: Section title (e.g., "DATABASE", "SCHEDULED TASKS")
• group_icon: SF Symbol name for the header (e.g., "sf:cylinder.fill", "sf:clock.fill")
• separator_after: Add a visual separator line after this item

One-Time Commands

Run any command with a single click from the menu bar. Each command has a configurable output mode:

Mode	Behavior	Best for
silent (default)	Fire and forget, no output	Instant commands (xattr, pkill)
notify	Run in background, show notification on completion with last 5 lines of output	Scripts that take seconds to minutes
terminal	Open a terminal window with live output	Long/interactive scripts, debugging

[commands.fix-quarantine]
name = "Fix Quarantine"
command = "xattr"
args = ["-dr", "com.apple.quarantine", "/Applications/myapp.app"]
# output defaults to "silent"

[commands.backup]
name = "Run Backup"
command = "bash"
args = ["/usr/local/bin/backup.sh"]
output = "notify"                    # Shows notification when done

[commands.deploy]
name = "Deploy"
command = "bash"
args = ["/usr/local/bin/deploy.sh"]
output = "terminal"                  # Opens in Terminal.app

Scripts Directory

Auto-discover shell scripts from a directory. All *.sh files appear in the menu under a "Scripts" header, sorted alphabetically. Default output mode is notify.

scripts_dir = "~/.config/something_bg/scripts"

Filenames are title-cased for display: delete-logs.sh → "Delete Logs".

Scheduled Tasks

Common cron patterns:

• 0 * * * * — Every hour
• */15 * * * * — Every 15 minutes
• 0 6 * * * — Daily at 6am
• 0 9 * * 1 — Mondays at 9am

SF Symbols (macOS icons)

Common symbols for group_icon:

• sf:cylinder.fill — Database
• sf:shippingbox.fill — Cache/Redis
• sf:cloud.fill — Cloud/Kubernetes
• sf:server.rack — Server
• sf:network — Network
• sf:clock.fill — Scheduled tasks
• sf:hammer.fill — Development

Browse all symbols at developer.apple.com/sf-symbols or use the SF Symbols app.

Restart the app after editing the config.

License

MIT