Barnacles

Life as a developer doesn't need to be so hard

If you've developed for any amount of time you know how quickly barnacles (projects) attach to you. This app is there to help.

Barnacles is both a desktop application and command-line tool that helps developers manage all their coding projects and local development settings like terminal aliases and host file entries.

Download

Download for macOS

Available for macOS. Other platforms coming soon (get involved to speed it up).

Why Barnacles?

If you're juggling multiple projects across different directories, Barnacles keeps everything organized:

• Find any project instantly with fuzzy search across all your development directories
• See what's happening with automatic Git status tracking and project analytics
• Launch faster with quick access to terminals, IDEs, and favorite projects
• Stay organized with automatic technology detection and filtering
• Work from anywhere with both a GUI app and command-line interface

Features

🔍 Automatic Project Discovery

Scan your file system once and Barnacles catalogs all your projects. It recognizes:

• JavaScript/TypeScript (package.json)
• Python (requirements.txt, pyproject.toml)
• Rust (Cargo.toml)
• Go (go.mod)
• Java (pom.xml)
• And any Git repository

📊 Project Insights

See at a glance:

• Lines of code and file statistics
• Language breakdown and technologies used
• Git branch, commits, and repository status
• Last modified date and activity

⚡ Quick Actions

Launch what you need instantly:

• Open in your preferred IDE (VS Code, Cursor, WebStorm, etc.)
• Start integrated terminal in project directory
• Start and stop project processes with saved configurations
• Mark favorites for quick access

🎯 Powerful Search

• Fuzzy search finds projects by name instantly
• Filter by technology, language, or framework
• Sort by last modified, name, or creation date

💻 Command Line Interface

Prefer the terminal? Barnacles includes a full-featured CLI:

# Browse projects interactively
barnacles projects

# Check status
barnacles status

# Open the app
barnacles open

View CLI Documentation →

Getting Started

Installation

1. Download the app for your platform from the Releases page
2. Install by opening the downloaded file and following the prompts
3. Launch Barnacles from your Applications folder or Start menu

First-Time Setup

When you first open Barnacles:

1. Configure Settings

   • Choose your default terminal application
   • Select your preferred IDE
   • Set project scan depth (how deep to search for projects)

2. Scan for Projects

   • Navigate to the Projects page
   • Click "Scan" to discover all your development projects
   • Barnacles will automatically detect technologies and gather metadata

3. Start Managing

   • Browse, search, and organize your projects
   • Mark favorites for quick access
   • Launch terminals, IDEs, and processes with one click

How It Works

Barnacles runs locally on your machine and:

• Scans your chosen directories for development projects (non-intrusive, read-only)
• Stores project metadata in a local SQLite database
• Never uploads your code or data anywhere
• Updates project information when you rescan or refresh

All your data stays on your machine. Barnacles is a tool for organization, not cloud storage.

Support & Documentation

• CLI Guide: src/cli/README.md
• Developer Docs: docs/DEVELOPER.md
• Report Issues: GitHub Issues

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you'd like to help improve Barnacles:

1. Check out the Developer Documentation to get started
2. Look at open issues or suggest new features
3. Submit a pull request

Author

Created by Joe Czubiak