macOS Productivity Integration (Yabai & Sketchybar)

This guide describes how to integrate yaze server and headless modes into a macOS productivity setup using yabai, skhd, and sketchybar.

1. Yabai Window Rules

If you are using the yaze GUI but want it to behave well in a tiling environment, add these rules to your .yabairow:

# Float small dialogs and floating cards
yabai -m rule --add app="^Yaze$" title="^Popup" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="^Yaze$" title="^Dashboard" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="^Yaze$" title="^Welcome" manage=off
 
# Keep the main editor tiled
yabai -m rule --add app="^Yaze$" title="^Yet Another Zelda3 Editor" manage=on
 
## 2. Sketchybar Status Indicator
 
You can create a `sketchybar` item to monitor if the `yaze` server is running.
 
### Create the script `~/.config/sketchybar/plugins/yaze_status.sh`:

bash #!/bin/bash

Check if yaze is running in server mode (port 8080)

HEALTH=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{{http_code}}" http://localhost:8080/api/v1/health)

if [ "$HEALTH" == "200" ]; then sketchybar –set $NAME icon=󰒄 label="YAZE" icon.color=0xffa6da95 else sketchybar –set $NAME icon=󰒅 label="" icon.color=0xffed8796 fi

### Add to `sketchybarrc`:

bash sketchybar –add item yaze_status right \ –set yaze_status update_obj=10 \ –set yaze_status script="~/.config/sketchybar/plugins/yaze_status.sh"

## 3. Skhd Hotkeys
 
Launch or restart the server with a keystroke in your `.skhdrc`:

bash

Start Yaze Server headlessly

ctrl + alt - y : ./build_ai/bin/yaze –server –rom_file ~/roms/zelda3.sfc &

Kill Yaze Server

ctrl + shift + alt - y : pkill -f "yaze --server"

## 4. Headless & Yabai Workflow
 
Since `--headless` and `--server` modes create **no windows**, they are completely invisible to `yabai`. This allows you to:
1.  Run the `yaze` server in the background.
2.  Work in your terminal or VS Code.
3.  Have Mesen 2 (which is visible to `yabai`) sync its labels from the background `yaze` process.