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hiyoyo
hiyoyo

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Building a Floating AI Assistant That Lives in the Corner of Your Screen

#ai #gemini #tauri #programming

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All tests run on an 8-year-old MacBook Air.

HiyokoHelper is a 360×440px floating window. Always accessible, never in the way. Cmd+Shift+H brings it to the front from any app.

Window configuration 

{
  "app": {
    "windows": [{
      "label": "main",
      "width": 360,
      "height": 440,
      "resizable": false,
      "decorations": false,
      "alwaysOnTop": true,
      "transparent": true,
      "visible": false
    }],
    "macOS": {
      "activationPolicy": "accessory"
    }
  }
}
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  • decorations: false — custom title bar
  • alwaysOnTop: true — floats above everything
  • activationPolicy: accessory — no Dock, no Cmd+Tab
  • visible: false — hidden on launch

Global shortcut from anywhere 

let shortcut: Shortcut = "CmdOrCtrl+Shift+H".parse()?;

app.global_shortcut().on_shortcut(shortcut, |app, _, _| {
    if let Some(window) = app.get_webview_window("main") {
        if window.is_visible().unwrap_or(false) {
            window.hide().unwrap();
        } else {
            window.show().unwrap();
            window.set_focus().unwrap();
        }
    }
})?;
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Works from any app — VS Code, Terminal, Finder, anywhere.

Draggable without native title bar 

.title-bar { -webkit-app-region: drag; }
.title-bar button { -webkit-app-region: no-drag; }
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The title bar area drags. Buttons inside are clickable.

Close hides, not quits 

#[tauri::command]
pub fn hide_window(window: tauri::Window) {
    window.hide().unwrap();
    // Process stays alive
    // Clipboard monitor keeps running
    // Shortcut still works
}
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Launch at login 

tauri::Builder::default()
    .plugin(tauri_plugin_autostart::init(
        MacosLauncher::LaunchAgent,
        Some(vec!["--minimized"]),
    ))
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Starts hidden at login. Ready for Cmd+Shift+H without ever appearing on screen.

TL;DR: Floating assistant window in Tauri: decorations: false + alwaysOnTop: true + activationPolicy: accessory (no Dock/Cmd+Tab). Global shortcut toggles visibility from any app. -webkit-app-region: drag for dragging without a native title bar. Close hides the window, not the process.

HiyokoHelper (OSS) | X → @hiyoyok

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