Installation

Launching remaps CapsLock→F18 (via hidutil) and starts rearranging windows, regardless of how you installed ancre. If the app crashes without cleaning up, revert the remap manually:

hidutil property --set '{"UserKeyMapping":[]}'

Homebrew (recommended)

brew tap wraithyy/tap
brew trust wraithyy/tap          # third-party taps need a one-time trust
brew install --cask ancre        # installs ancre.app + puts ancrectl on PATH
open /Applications/ancre.app

The app is ad-hoc signed (no paid developer certificate); the cask clears the quarantine flag for you, so Gatekeeper won’t complain.

From source (contributors)

Most users should install via Homebrew above. Building from source is for development — plain Swift Package Manager, no .xcodeproj.

xcode-select --install    # once: compiler toolchain + git
git clone https://github.com/wraithyy/ancre && cd ancre
swift build -c release    # whole package
swift test                # unit tests
Scripts/bundle.sh         # builds .build/ancre.app (ad-hoc signed)
open .build/ancre.app

Permissions

On first launch the app requests the Accessibility permission (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility) and waits until it is granted. The event tap for the hyper key additionally requires Input Monitoring.

First launch

An onboarding window lists the permissions still missing, deep-links to the right System Settings pane, and starts the window manager only once everything is granted and you click Start. It’s skipped entirely if permissions are already in place.
The config ~/.config/ancre/ancre.toml is created from defaults.
Windows on visible workspaces get tiled; hidden workspaces are “parked” off-screen.
A ◱ icon appears in the menu bar — pause tiling, retile, monitor list, open/reload config.

If a permission stops working after a rebuild (a new ad-hoc signature reads as a different app to macOS), see Troubleshooting.