Git Persona Bar

Catchy SwiftBar plugin to switch Git + SSH identity from your macOS menu bar.

• ✅ Up to 5 profiles
• ✅ One-click switching in SwiftBar
• ✅ Updates global Git identity (user.name, user.email)
• ✅ Updates SSH identity per host in a managed block in ~/.ssh/config
• ✅ Optional CLI wizard to add profiles quickly

Table of contents

• What it changes
• Requirements
• Install
• How it looks
• Menu actions explained
• Configure profiles
  • Remove a profile
• Profile format
  • Limits
• Notes & safety
• Development
• License

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What it changes

When you switch profile, the plugin updates:

1. git config --global user.name
2. git config --global user.email
3. A managed block in ~/.ssh/config for the configured host (placed at the top for priority):

# >>> git-persona-bar:github.com >>>
Host github.com
  AddKeysToAgent yes
  UseKeychain yes
  IdentitiesOnly yes
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/your_key
# <<< git-persona-bar:github.com <<<

It also runs:

• ssh-add -D (clear current loaded keys)
• ssh-add <selected-key>

Requirements

• macOS
• SwiftBar
• bash, python3, git, ssh-add

Install

git clone https://github.com/IryArkhy/git-persona-bar.git
cd git-persona-bar
./scripts/install.sh

install.sh also sets plugin visibility in SwiftBar preferences and restarts SwiftBar (if running) so the icon appears immediately.

Then in SwiftBar (if needed):

• Refresh plugins, or restart SwiftBar.

How it looks

Menu actions explained

These are the plugin actions you see in the dropdown:

• Switch to

  • Applies the selected profile (git config --global user.name/email)
  • Updates managed Host block in ~/.ssh/config
  • Reloads SSH key in agent (ssh-add -D + ssh-add <key>)

• Open Config File

  • Opens ~/.config/git-persona-bar/profiles.json in your default editor

• Add Profile (wizard)

  • Opens a Terminal window/session intentionally
  • Asks a short interactive set of questions:
    • profile id
    • label
    • icon
    • git user.name
    • git user.email
    • SSH host (default: github.com)
    • SSH key path (e.g. ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work)
  • Writes the profile into ~/.config/git-persona-bar/profiles.json
  • Optionally asks if you want to open the config file
  • Safety: no sudo, no key contents read/uploaded, no network calls

• Install / Relink Plugin

  • Opens Terminal and creates/refreshes a symlink from SwiftBar plugin directory to this repo script
  • Ensures script is executable
  • Useful after moving repo folders

• Validate Config

  • Opens Terminal and validates JSON structure and limits (max 5 profiles)
  • Prints clear errors if config is invalid

• Refresh

  • Tells SwiftBar to rerun the plugin immediately

Note: menu items like Run in Terminal…, Disable Plugin, About are SwiftBar built-in actions, not provided by this plugin.

Configure profiles

Config file:

~/.config/git-persona-bar/profiles.json

Run the following commands from the cloned git-persona-bar repository root.

Create/edit it manually from template:

mkdir -p ~/.config/git-persona-bar
cp ./config/profiles.example.json ~/.config/git-persona-bar/profiles.json
open ~/.config/git-persona-bar/profiles.json

Or use the wizard:

./scripts/add-profile.sh

Remove a profile

1. Open config:

open ~/.config/git-persona-bar/profiles.json

2. Remove the profile object from the profiles array.
3. Save the file.
4. Refresh SwiftBar.

If the removed profile was active, reset plugin state:

rm -f ~/.config/git-persona-bar/state.json

Validate config after changes:

./git-persona-bar.5s.sh validate

Profile format

{
  "profiles": [
    {
      "id": "work",
      "label": "Work",
      "icon": "💼",
      "git": {
        "name": "Your Name",
        "email": "you@company.com"
      },
      "ssh": {
        "host": "github.com",
        "identity_file": "~/.ssh/id_rsa_work"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Limits

• Max profiles: 5
• Profile IDs must be unique and use: a-z A-Z 0-9 _ -

Notes & safety

• Do not commit private SSH keys.
• Use key paths only (e.g. ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work).
• Plugin creates timestamped backup copies of ~/.ssh/config before updates.
• Existing Host github.com blocks can remain; the managed block is written at top so selected identity wins.
• You may see a one-time macOS notification permission prompt when profile switch notifications are shown.
• If config becomes invalid, plugin shows a warning icon and gives quick actions.

Development

Run locally:

bash ./git-persona-bar.5s.sh

Validate config:

bash ./git-persona-bar.5s.sh validate

License

MIT