Menu bar app

The menu bar app calls the same core as the command line rather than running pitboard. It uses the same accounts, parked logins and log of changes. The app has no Dock icon. The first time it runs, it opens the pitboard window by itself. pitboard’s item in the menu bar shows a speedometer symbol and text such as work 42%:

Part	Shows
The label, work	The label of the account in use, or unnamed when no account in use is enrolled. A label longer than 12 characters is cut to 11 characters and an ellipsis.
The percentage, 42%	How much of one limit the account has used. For Claude Code, it is the most used of the limits Anthropic marks as active, or of all its limits when none is marked. For OpenAI’s Codex CLI, it is the most used limit. A limit for one model counts only when the account has no other limit.

When both tools have accounts, the item shows one account in use: the enrolled one closest to running out. To show only the percentage or only the symbol, see Menu bar shows. Clicking pitboard’s item in the menu bar opens pitboard’s menu. It lists what needs attention, then the accounts, then the commands. What needs attention appears as these items:

Item	Appears when	Choosing it
Switch to personal	The account in use has used all of a limit, and `personal` has room in the same limit. The line under the item names the limit.	Switches to `personal`.
The title of a notice, such as Couldn’t read usage, or 2 things to look at when there are several	pitboard has a warning or a problem to show.	Opens the pitboard window on the Accounts pane, which shows each notice in full.
Install pitboard `<version>`	A copy from a release has found an update.	Opens the update window.
Claude Code isn’t installed	The app found neither `claude` nor `codex`, and no tool has a login or an account.	Opens Claude Code’s setup page in your browser.

The accounts are under a heading per tool once both tools have accounts. A check mark shows the account in use in each tool. The line under each account is one of these:

Line	Meaning
5-hour 42%, weekly 12%	How much of each limit the account has used.
5-hour used up until 22:12	The limit is used up until it resets at 22:12. A reset on a later day adds the weekday, as in Tue 09:00.
5-hour used up	The limit was used up when last read, and its reset time has passed since.
Switching	A switch to the account is running.
Not named yet	The tool is signed in to the account, and pitboard has not enrolled it. The item shows its email address in place of a label.
Needs signing in again	pitboard holds no parked login it can use for the account.
A reason that ends in `run pitboard doctor`	The item is Login pitboard can’t use: the tool holds a login that pitboard could not read or use.
The email address	pitboard has no usage for the account yet.

In place of the accounts, the menu can show one of these:

Text	Shown when
Reading accounts	The first read has not finished.
No accounts yet	No tool is signed in and no account is enrolled.
No accounts to show	Reading failed, and pitboard has nothing earlier to show.

Choosing an account does one of these:

Account	Choosing it
An account you can switch to	Switches to it, unless a switch is running.
An account marked Needs signing in again	Opens the Sign In to old Again dialog in the pitboard window, where `old` is the account’s label.
The account in use, marked Not named yet	Opens the Name This Account dialog in the pitboard window.
The account in use	Nothing. It stays checked.
An account listed as Login pitboard can’t use	Nothing. The line under it says why pitboard cannot read or switch this login.

The commands come last:

Item	Shortcut	What it does
Add Account	Command-N	Opens the Add Account dialog in the pitboard window.
Refresh	Command-R	Asks for every account’s usage again, even if pitboard asked moments ago. The line under it says when usage was last read, as in Updated 20:52, or Reading during a read. Not read yet and Showing the last numbers measured mean no read has succeeded since the app opened or since your last change in the app. The second means the last read failed.
Open pitboard	Command-0	Opens the pitboard window.
Settings	Command-Comma	Opens Settings.
Check for Updates	None	Opens the update window. Only in a copy from a release.
About pitboard	None	Shows the app’s version.
pitboard Help	None	Opens this site in your browser.
Quit pitboard	Command-Q	Quits the app.

Window

The pitboard window has three panes, listed in its sidebar: Accounts, Activity and This Mac.

Accounts pane

The Accounts pane lists notices about what needs attention, then at most one tip for setting up, then the accounts. Its toolbar has Refresh (a circular arrow, Command-R) and Add Account (a plus sign). When there is nothing to list, the pane shows one of these instead:

Title	Shown when	Button
Claude Code Isn’t Installed	The app found neither `claude` nor `codex`, and no tool has a login or an account.	How to Install Claude Code
Couldn’t Read Accounts	A read failed and there is no account to list. The reason is under the title.	Try Again
No Accounts	No tool is signed in and no account is enrolled.	Add Account

A tip suggests the next step in setting up pitboard:

Tip	Shown when	Buttons
Give this account a name	A tool is signed in to an account pitboard has not enrolled.	Name opens Name This Account.
Add a second account	A tool has one enrolled account, and it is the one in use. When both tools have accounts, the title names the tool, as in Add a second Codex account.	Add Account, or Not Now to stop showing the tip for that tool.

Each account’s row has these parts:

Part	Shows
Name	A symbol, the account’s label and its email address.
Right side	In Use, or a button: Use or Sign In Again.
A line per limit	The limit’s short name, such as 5h or week, then a bar and the percentage used. Last is the time to its reset, such as in 2h 10m. The bar is green under 70%, orange from 70% and red from 90%.
Notes	In this order: why the account cannot be used, why its numbers are old, how long it lasts at the rate it has been used and how long its parked login lasts. The last appears only for a Claude Code account not in use.

For what each line means, see Check what each account has left. Notices say what needs attention, most pressing first:

Notice	Shown when	Buttons
An interrupted switch is waiting	A switch stopped partway, and pitboard cannot yet tell whether it finished.	Give Up
Couldn’t read usage	The last read failed. The reason is under the title.	None
work has no 5-hour limit left	The account in use has used all of a limit, and another account has room.	Switch to personal
Switched to work	A switch you made in the app finished. The lines under it say what happens to open sessions.	Dismiss (an x)
work has a new login	A sign-in in the app gave the account in use a new login.	Dismiss (an x)
The title of another warning, such as A parked login was refused	A read or a change gave a warning. For each title, see Warning codes.	None
Gave up on the interrupted switch	You clicked Give Up and confirmed.	Dismiss (an x)

Activity pane

The Activity pane lists the last 500 changes pitboard made, newest first, from the app and the command line. Refresh (Command-R) reads the log again.

Column	Shows
Date	When the change was made.
Change	What was done, such as Use for a switch, Enrol, Rename, Forget or Renew.
Account	What the change was about, as `pitboard log` records it. For most changes it is a label, such as `work` or `codex/work`.
Result	Done, or the outcome’s code written out in words, such as Renewed or Parked login refused.
Asked By	pitboard app, Command line, or Unknown for a change logged before pitboard recorded who asked.

This Mac pane

The This Mac pane runs the same checks as pitboard doctor each time you open it. Each check shows a green, orange or red symbol, what it found and, if it did not pass, what to do. Check Again (Command-R) runs them again.

Account actions

Control-click an account in the Accounts pane to open its shortcut menu. For an account labelled work, it shows these items, in this order, where they apply:

Item	Shown for	What it does
Use work	An account you can switch to	Switches to it.
Name	The account in use, when it has no label	Opens Name This Account.
Sign In Again	Any enrolled account, including the one in use	Opens Sign In to work Again.
Rename	Any enrolled account	Opens Rename “work”.
Copy Email Address	Any account with an email address	Copies the address.
Forget	An enrolled account that is not in use	Asks, then forgets the account.

Double-clicking a row, or selecting it and pressing Return, does what its button does. On the account in use that has no label, it opens Name This Account. Pressing Delete asks to forget the selected account.

Dialogs and alerts

Dialog	Opened by	Contents
Add Account	Add Account in the menu, the toolbar or a tip; Command-N	A Tool pop-up menu when there is more than one tool to choose, a Name field and Sign In
Sign In to work Again	Sign In Again in a row or a shortcut menu, or an account in the menu marked Needs signing in again	The account’s label and Sign In
Signing In to Claude Code, Signing In to Codex	Sign In in Add Account or Sign In to work Again. The same dialog takes this title.	Waiting for your browser while you sign in there. Browser didn’t open? with Open Sign-In Page, when the tool gives its sign-in address. For Claude Code, a Code field and Submit Code, if your browser could not reach Claude Code. The dialog closes when the sign-in finishes. Cancel stops the sign-in and adds nothing.
Name This Account	Name in a tip or a shortcut menu, a double-click or Return on the account’s row, or an account in the menu marked Not named yet	A Name field and Save
Rename “work”	Rename in a shortcut menu	A Name field holding the label, and Rename

If an action fails, the dialog stays open with what you entered. It shows the reason under a title such as Couldn’t sign in to work.

Alert	Opened by	Says	Buttons
Forget “work”?	Forget in a shortcut menu, or pressing Delete on a selected row	pitboard deletes the login it parked for this account. Using it again needs a sign-in in your browser.	Forget, Cancel
Give up on the interrupted switch?	Give Up in the notice An interrupted switch is waiting	Every login is kept, and nothing is deleted. pitboard stops trying to finish it.	Give Up, Cancel
Couldn’t switch to work, Couldn’t forget work, Couldn’t give up on the interrupted switch	A switch, forget or give-up that failed, including one started from the menu or a notification	The reason, then any warnings	OK

For when to give up on an interrupted switch, see Recover after a crash, a restore or a move.

Notifications

For when the app sends a notification, see When an account runs out.

Part	Text
Title	work has no 5-hour limit left
Subtitle	Claude Code or Codex, once both tools have accounts
Body	personal has 58% of its own left.
Button	Switch, which switches to `personal`. If the switch fails, the pitboard window opens with an alert.

Clicking the notification itself does nothing. Notifications play no sound and set no badge.

Keyboard shortcuts

Keys	Where	What it does
Command-N	pitboard’s menu while it is open, or the pitboard window in any pane	Add Account
Command-R	pitboard’s menu while it is open, or the Accounts pane	Refresh
Command-R	Activity pane	Refresh, which reads the log again
Command-R	This Mac pane	Check Again
Command-0	pitboard’s menu, while it is open	Open pitboard
Command-Comma	pitboard’s menu, while it is open	Settings
Command-Q	pitboard’s menu, while it is open	Quit pitboard
Return, or double-click	A row in the Accounts pane	Use or Sign In Again, as the row’s button does. On the account in use that has no label, Name This Account.
Delete	A row in the Accounts pane	Forget, after asking
Return	A dialog	The default button: Sign In, Save, Rename or Submit Code
Esc (Escape)	A dialog	Cancel

Get started

Install and remove

Use pitboard

Troubleshooting

How it works

Reference

Menu bar item

Menu

Window

Accounts pane

Activity pane

This Mac pane

Account actions

Dialogs and alerts

Notifications

Keyboard shortcuts

​Menu bar item

​Menu

​Window

​Accounts pane

​Activity pane

​This Mac pane

​Account actions

​Dialogs and alerts

​Notifications

​Keyboard shortcuts

Menu bar item

Menu

Window

Accounts pane

Activity pane

This Mac pane

Account actions

Dialogs and alerts

Notifications

Keyboard shortcuts