2 min read
ColorDrop
A macOS menu bar color utility. Your first real app.
Platform note: This project requires macOS and Xcode. Windows users: check out the web projects (LinkPreview, Weather, Portfolio, Playground) for cross-platform alternatives.
What You’ll Build
ColorDrop — a menu bar app that:
- Lives in your Mac’s menu bar
- Shows the color under your cursor when clicked
- Displays hex, RGB, and HSL values
- Copies colors to clipboard with one click
It’s small, visual, useful, and entirely yours.
Why This Project
This project teaches the full loop:
- Starting — How to begin a project from nothing
- Building — Adding features incrementally
- Iterating — Refining based on what you see
- Polishing — Making it feel finished
- Shipping — Running it as a real app
The skills transfer to everything else you’ll build.
Before You Start
Make sure you’ve completed:
- Claude Code installed and working (Guide: The Setup)
- Xcode installed
- The “Just Ask” test from the setup guide
The Steps
Work through these in order:
- Starting the Project — Create the project and basic structure
- Getting the Foundation — Menu bar presence, basic window
- Color Detection — Pick colors from the screen
- Clipboard — Copy colors in different formats
- Polish — Make it look and feel right
- Building — Create the actual app
- What’s Next — Ideas for extending
If You Get Stuck
Getting stuck is normal. Here’s what to do:
- Describe the problem to Claude — “I tried X and expected Y but got Z”
- Share error messages — Copy and paste the full error
- Ask for explanation — “I don’t understand what’s happening here”
Claude can help you debug. That’s part of the workflow.
Let’s Start
Ready? Open Terminal and go to where you want to create the project:
cd ~/DesktopThen begin: Step 1: Starting the Project →