July 23, 2026
Tunnel vision, but make it cute
Show HN: macOS menu-bar manager for SSH port forwards
This tiny Mac shortcut app has tunnel fans cheering and old-school users feeling nostalgic
TLDR: RelayBar is a tiny Mac app that turns a fiddly background computer task into a one-click menu-bar shortcut. The community reaction was warm but lightly competitive, with some praising the simplicity while others waved the flag for older, tougher tools they already trust.
A tiny Mac menu-bar app called RelayBar just strolled onto Hacker News with a very specific promise: make those annoying background computer connections easier to start, stop, and babysit with a click. In plain English, it helps people keep private links open between their own computer and another machine, without living in a black terminal window all day. It’s small, built to use Apple’s own built-in tools, and clearly trying to win over the minimalist crowd who love anything that says “no extra dependencies.”
But the real action was in the reactions. One of the strongest vibes was practical approval with a side of ‘I already have my own way’. User andy_ppp basically gave it the workplace stress test, saying they rely on another tool because their internet is chaotic, which turns the comments into a classic tech showdown: shiny menu-bar convenience vs. battle-tested survival gear. Not exactly a flame war, but definitely a subtle “cute app, but can it handle real life?” energy.
Then came the emotional twist: pure nostalgia. incanus77 said the project “warms my heart” because they used to build a Mac app for the exact same thing years ago, instantly giving the whole thread a reunion-special mood. So while there wasn’t huge drama, there was plenty of charming geek sentiment: one camp cheering the clean simplicity, another gently reminding everyone that this problem has had loyal fans for ages. The joke, if there is one, is that even the nerdiest utility app can trigger a surprisingly sentimental comment section.
Key Points
- •RelayBar is a native macOS menu-bar app for managing local SSH port forwards using the system `/usr/bin/ssh` with no external dependencies.
- •The app can import common `ssh -N -L ...` commands, add tunnels manually, start and stop tunnels with one click, and open the local URL in a browser when starting a tunnel.
- •RelayBar supports one local `-L` forward per item, preserves selected safe SSH options, rejects riskier options, and never invokes a shell.
- •It retries unexpected disconnects up to 10 times with exponential backoff, shows startup failures inline, stores definitions in UserDefaults, and terminates child SSH processes on quit.
- •The project requires macOS 13+ and Xcode command-line tools, supports signed app and ZIP builds, and documents notarization steps to avoid Gatekeeper warnings.