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what is nameplate fr?

steipete/nameplate — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

59SwiftAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · easy

tl;dr

A cross-platform utility that visually labels each computer in a remote-desktop fleet with a colored frame, name tag, and watermark, so you always know which machine you're on.

vibe map

mindmap
  root((Nameplate))
    What it does
      Colored frame overlay
      Name tag and watermark
      Menu bar dashboard
      Attention alerts for agents
    Tech stack
      Swift
      macOS Windows Linux
      CLI tool
    Use cases
      Managing a fleet of remote Macs
      Identifying machines during remote sessions
      Alerting a human during AI agent workflows
    Audience
      IT admins
      Developers with multiple machines

Code map

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what do people make with this?

VIBE 1

Visually distinguish which remote Mac, Windows, or Linux machine you are currently connected to

VIBE 2

Centrally manage names, colors, and locations for a whole fleet of machines from one file

VIBE 3

Let an AI agent or script summon an on-screen alert when it needs human input

what's the stack?

SwiftGTK4Homebrew

how it stacks up fr

steipete/nameplatethanhng8/supertonic-toolabgcto/hey-claude
Stars596162
LanguageSwiftSwiftSwift
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity2/53/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

how do i run it?

Difficulty · easy time til it works · 5min

Building from source on macOS requires Xcode 26 and Swift 6.2 or newer, Linux needs the GTK4 runtime.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

in plain english

Nameplate is a small utility app for macOS, Windows, and Linux that solves a specific annoyance for anyone who remotely controls several computers: the screens all look identical once you connect, so it is easy to lose track of which machine you are actually on. Nameplate labels each computer visually, drawing a colored frame around the edge of the screen, a small name tag pinned to a corner, and an optional large translucent watermark across the display, all rendered as overlays that sit on top of everything else without changing the wallpaper underneath or taking up any usable screen space. When a remote session appears to have just started, the machine's identity briefly animates into focus with a traced border and nameplate before fading away. A version of the label also lives in the menu bar, and clicking it opens a small dashboard showing uptime, IP address, CPU load, memory, and free disk space, alongside toggles for each visual layer. Every machine gets a default color automatically derived from its hostname, so even a fleet with no manual configuration is still visually distinguishable. A separate feature, called attention alerts, lets scripts or AI agents pop up a prominent, hard-to-miss message card with pulsing screen borders when they need a human to step in, for example right before a password manager prompt appears. This is delivered through a bundled command-line tool, and the project even ships a ready-made skill file so AI coding agents can use it directly. Configuration for an entire fleet of machines can be centralized in one shared JSON file, keyed by hostname, so settings like name, color, and location sync automatically wherever that file is placed. Installation differs by platform: a downloadable disk image or Homebrew cask on macOS, a single self-contained executable on Windows, and a Homebrew formula or tarball on Linux (which needs the GTK4 runtime and works best on X11-based remote setups). Building the macOS app from source requires Xcode and Swift. The project is written in Swift for its core, released under the MIT license, and made by a solo developer.

prompts (copy fr)

prompt 1
Explain how Nameplate's fleet.json file lets me configure multiple machines from one dotfile
prompt 2
Walk me through installing Nameplate on macOS with Homebrew and setting a custom color
prompt 3
How does the nameplate attention CLI command work for alerting a human during an AI agent task
prompt 4
Describe how Nameplate decides when to show the connect splash animation

Frequently asked questions

what is nameplate fr?

A cross-platform utility that visually labels each computer in a remote-desktop fleet with a colored frame, name tag, and watermark, so you always know which machine you're on.

What language is nameplate written in?

Mainly Swift. The stack also includes Swift, GTK4, Homebrew.

What license does nameplate use?

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is nameplate to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is nameplate for?

Mainly developer.

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