TraceAnime

Language: EN | RU | FR

macOS menu bar anime frame search

TraceAnime sits in the macOS menu bar and finds anime scenes from an image or video frame through the trace.moe API.

It accepts an image URL, the latest image from the clipboard, a dragged image, or a file selected from disk. Results include anime metadata, timestamps, previews, history, favorites, quota information, and multilingual UI.

Features

• Menu bar-only macOS interface.
• Search by image URL, clipboard image, drag and drop, local file, or screen-area capture with a configurable global hotkey.
• Inline preview playback for search results.
• Open matches on AniList or MyAnimeList, copy result details, drag the frame out, or share it.
• Favorites and search history (configurable size, per-entry delete and clear all) keeping the original searched image.
• trace.moe quota view and optional API token.
• Manual update check: a button in the Extra tab queries GitHub Releases and shows a dialog with a link to the release. There is no automatic notification.
• Launch at login.
• English, Russian, and French UI.
• BSD 3-Clause open-source license.

Requirements

• macOS 14 or later.
• Xcode Command Line Tools.
• Network access to api.trace.moe.
• Screen-area capture by the global hotkey needs permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen Recording. After you install a new build of the app, grant it again: remove the old TraceAnime entry from the list and add the new one.

Build

swift build

Run as an app bundle

./script/build_and_run.sh

The script builds the SwiftPM executable, generates the app icon, creates an ad-hoc signed dist/TraceAnime.app, and opens it.

Build a release DMG

The script needs create-dmg on PATH. Install it from npm, this is the npm package and not the Homebrew formula of the same name:

npm install -g create-dmg@8.1.0

./script/build_dmg.sh

The release script creates dist/TraceAnime.dmg with an ad-hoc signed app bundle and a drag-to-Applications layout.

Install from GitHub Releases

This build uses ad-hoc signing. Since Apple has not notarized it and no Apple Developer ID certificate signs it, macOS Gatekeeper may block the first launch after you download the DMG from GitHub.

To open the app:

1. Download TraceAnime.dmg from Releases.
2. Open the DMG and drag TraceAnime.app to Applications.
3. Launch TraceAnime.app; macOS blocks the first launch.
4. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security, find the message about the blocked app and click "Open Anyway", then confirm the launch.

As an alternative, drop the quarantine attribute in Terminal: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/TraceAnime.app.

You only need this on the first launch. Releases that open without this prompt require an Apple Developer ID certificate and Apple notarization.

Notes

• The trace.moe token is optional and is stored in the macOS Keychain.
• Generated build artifacts are ignored by Git.
• This project is not affiliated with trace.moe or AniList.

License

TraceAnime is released under the BSD 3-Clause License.