macOS

June 4, 2026 · View on GitHub

Status: macOS is not a validated runtime target. The notes below describe what the Lua-side code path expects once a build is available.

What works

  • The Lua API surface — every namespace documented in Reference is platform-neutral.
  • Config files using the same syntax as Windows; the personal config location is $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/hollow/init.lua or $HOME/.config/hollow/init.lua (the XDG path is honoured on macOS).
  • The shipped base config falls back to a unix domain that uses hollow.platform.default_shell (typically /bin/zsh).

What does not work

  • The renderer. There is no macOS build target.
  • There is no packaged macOS release.

If you want to add macOS support

The host bridge is Windows-shaped; making it build on macOS would require:

  • A Sokol backend that targets Metal
  • A PTY path that does not depend on ConPTY (see src/pty/pty_posix.zig for the closest existing attempt)
  • A clipboard and pasteboard bridge
  • Hyperlink and font discovery paths adjusted for the macOS toolkits

These are large pieces of work; the project has chosen to focus on Windows and WSL first.

See also