Headroom: a macOS menu bar meter for AI plan pacing

Headroom is a macOS menu bar app that shows whether a Claude or Codex subscription allowance will last the week, and warns before the 5-hour session runs out.

@george

github.com/0xgeorgemathew/headroomvisit ↗

Headroom: a macOS menu bar meter for AI plan pacing

process.log7 fields

toolsClaude Code

iterationsMany attempts

four beta releases and several rounds of design feedback

time10

%_ai100

me 0

ai 100

self-reported · generously rounded

# how_it_was_made

Headroom is for people who pay for a Claude or ChatGPT (Codex) plan and want to know if they can keep their current pace. I wrote the product plan and the design brief, and set the rules: commit only code, skip visual checks until the end, and keep the optional MCP server off the critical path. Claude Code wrote the Swift app, the command-line tool, the installer, and the README screenshots, and split the build into phases run by parallel worktree agents. I rejected the first logo directions and asked for every element to be redesigned, not copied from earlier drafts.

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# prompting_approach

A full written plan first, then one execution brief that ran the build in phases with a single checkpoint after phase six. Design feedback came as short, specific critiques, and standing repo rules lived in notes the AI loaded at the start of each session.