Release Notes

Fixed & Improved

• Improved Space detection: Moodesk now detects regular Desktops more reliably when macOS reports incomplete Space details, including the first Desktop on a display.
• Better multi-display handling: Spaces on external and built-in displays are reconciled more consistently after refreshing the Spaces list.
• More reliable switching: Automatic and manual rules are less likely to be skipped after moving between Desktops in multi-display setups.
• First-run onboarding fix: The onboarding demo no longer shows a Live Space switching warning just because a fresh Mac has not created every related macOS preference yet.
• Diagnostics cleanup: Space detection warnings now map more directly to cases where Moodesk cannot identify the active regular Desktop.

Notes

This update is recommended for users running Moodesk with separate Spaces on multiple displays, especially if one Desktop did not appear in the Spaces configuration list.

Initial Release

Moodesk is a macOS menu bar utility for giving each Desktop its own working context. Configure a Space once, then Moodesk applies its rules automatically when you switch to it.

Per-Desktop Spaces

• Desktop-specific rules: Set each Desktop to either do nothing or apply its configured automations.
• Automatic switching: Moodesk detects the active regular Desktop and applies that Desktop's rules after a configurable delay.
• Manual apply: Run the current Desktop's rules on demand from the menu bar or settings window.
• Pause and resume: Pause automatic Desktop-switch automations from the menu bar without changing your saved settings.
• Custom names: Rename Desktops with labels like Writing, Coding, Calls, or Presentation.
• Copy settings: Copy one Desktop's full configuration to another Desktop after confirming the overwrite.
• Unavailable Desktop handling: Preserve configurations for Desktops that are not currently detected, including Desktops on disconnected displays.

Built-In Automations

• Dock visibility: Show or hide the Dock per Desktop.
• Menu bar visibility: Show or hide the menu bar per Desktop.
• Appearance: Switch between Light Mode and Dark Mode per Desktop.
• Stage Manager: Turn Stage Manager on or off per Desktop.
• Do nothing state: Leave any built-in automation unchanged when a Desktop should not manage that setting.

Focus mode automation is not included in this release. Moodesk can run the other Desktop automations, but changing macOS Focus modes is deferred until the write path and permission model are reliable enough to ship.

Advanced Automations

• Shell commands: Run command-line automations when a Desktop becomes active.
• AppleScript: Run AppleScript automations after built-in rules.
• Shortcuts: Run macOS Shortcuts by name as part of a Desktop setup.
• Action controls: Enable, disable, reorder, preview, and delete custom actions per Desktop.
• Execution options: Set a working directory, environment variables, optional timeouts, and whether a custom action runs always or only after an earlier failure.
• Sequential execution: Built-in automations run first, followed by custom actions in order.

Settings And Diagnostics

• General settings: Configure automation delay and choose how Moodesk appears in the menu bar: icon only, icon plus Desktop number, icon plus Desktop name, or all three.
• Permissions view: Check Accessibility and Automation access from inside the app and jump directly to the relevant macOS settings panes.
• Import and export: Move Moodesk settings between Macs with local configuration import and export.
• Local diagnostics: Review recent warnings, failures, skipped runs, permission issues, timeouts, and verification results without sending logs anywhere.
• Crash report preference: Direct-download Release builds include a setting for privacy-scrubbed crash reports.

Privacy

• Local-first configuration: Moodesk stores settings locally on your Mac.
• No accounts or sync: There is no account system and no cloud sync.
• No analytics or tracking: Moodesk is designed to run quietly from the menu bar without collecting product analytics.