⚠️ Warning: This method of making Cha into a quote unquote "MacOS App" is quite janky and not ideal though it kind of works. If you have a better approach or method please contribute I would greatly appreciate it!

Cha Launcher for MacOS

This project provides a simple MacOS .app that launches Cha inside a Kitty terminal, preloaded with your environment. Please note that this method only works on MacOS, no other operating system.

Features

• Runs cha in a fast Kitty terminal session
• Automatically sources your environment from ~/.custom/.env
• Keeps the terminal open after execution
• Includes a custom icon.png to use for the app

Requirements

• MacOS
• Kitty terminal installed
• Cha installed (recommended: use the install.sh script)
• An OpenAI API key or run Ollama locally.

Setup Instructions

1. Install Kitty

Download and install Kitty from its website. Make sure it's in your /Applications folder.

2. Install Cha

Install Cha using the recommended one-command installer:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MehmetMHY/cha/main/install.sh | bash

This creates a clean, self-contained installation that won't interfere with other Python projects. The script handles dependencies and makes the cha command accessible system-wide. For more installation options, see the Cha GitHub repo.

3. Configure Environment and API Keys

Cha requires API keys to function. You need to provide either an OpenAI API key or have a local Ollama instance running.

1. Create a file at ~/.custom/.env.

2. Add your API keys and any other environment variables to this file. For example:

   export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key-here"
   # or configure for a local Ollama instance
   

For more detailed setup instructions regarding environment variables, please check out the main Cha README. This script will automatically source ~/.custom/.env before running cha.

4. Create the MacOS App

• Open Script Editor on MacOS.
• Load the included cha.applescript file.
• Save it as a MacOS Application (File → Save → Format: Application).
• Optional: Assign the included icon.png as the app icon by right-clicking the saved app, selecting "Get Info," and dragging icon.png onto the small icon in the top-left corner.

5. Launch

Double-click your saved .app to open Kitty, load your environment, and run Cha.