CursorFlare

A native macOS cursor highlighter for presentations, live demos, and screen sharing.

English · 中文

English

CursorFlare turns an ordinary mouse pointer into a clear presentation signal. It is a lightweight menu-bar app for macOS with a continuous cursor trail, distinct click effects, and persistent drag-to-arrow annotations.

Highlights

• Three trail styles: Line, Comet, and Sparkles
• Independent left-click, right-click, middle-click, and drag effects
• Persistent arrows with ⌘⇧ + drag; clear them with ⌘⇧Esc
• Menu-bar controls: left-click to toggle; right-click or Control-click to open the menu
• Native dark settings window with a live preview
• Built-in profiles: Presentation Yellow, Neon Comet, and Minimal
• Optional launch at login
• Accessibility onboarding and status display
• Multi-display transparent overlays that work across Spaces and full-screen apps
• Experimental system-cursor hiding using public macOS APIs only

Download

Download the latest universal build from GitHub Releases:

CursorFlare-1.0.1-macos-universal.zip

The package runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. The current Alpha build is ad-hoc signed and not notarized yet:

1. Unzip the downloaded file and move CursorFlare.app to Applications.
2. On the first launch, use Control-click → Open if macOS asks for confirmation.
3. Grant Accessibility permission when prompted. This is required to observe global mouse events.

Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Toggle CursorFlare	⌃⌥⌘H
Draw an arrow	⌘⇧ + drag
Clear arrows	⌘⇧Esc

The arrow gesture intentionally passes through to the frontmost app, so modifier-drag behavior in that app can still occur.

Privacy and permissions

CursorFlare needs Accessibility permission to observe global mouse events. It uses a listen-only event tap; it does not block or modify input.

The app does not request screen-recording or input-monitoring permission, makes no network requests, and stores only preferences and local profiles in UserDefaults. The experimental cursor-hiding switch is disabled by default.

Build from source

Requirements: macOS 13+ and Swift 5.9+.

swift build
./Scripts/build-app.sh release
open dist/CursorFlare.app

The release script builds a universal app bundle for arm64 and x86_64, then applies a stable ad-hoc designated requirement for local Accessibility testing. A public signed and notarized distribution will need a real Apple Developer ID identity.

Attribution and license

CursorFlare is an independent implementation informed by the interaction models of MouseTrail and ClickLight. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for attribution and license text.

This project is released under the MIT License.

中文

CursorFlare 是一款原生 macOS 菜单栏应用，用于演示、直播、培训和屏幕共享场景。它通过鼠标轨迹、点击反馈和拖拽箭头，让观众更容易看清讲解者的操作位置。

功能

• 三种鼠标轨迹：Line、Comet、Sparkles
• 左键、右键、中键和拖拽效果可独立配置
• 使用 ⌘⇧ + 拖拽绘制持久箭头，使用 ⌘⇧Esc 清除箭头
• 菜单栏控制：左键点击切换效果，右键或 Control-click 打开菜单
• 原生深色设置窗口和实时预览
• 内置配置：Presentation Yellow、Neon Comet、Minimal
• 可选开机启动
• 辅助功能权限引导和状态显示
• 支持多显示器、多个 Space 以及全屏应用的透明覆盖层
• 实验性系统光标隐藏功能，仅使用公开的 macOS API

下载和运行

从 GitHub Releases 下载最新的 universal 版本：

CursorFlare-1.0.1-macos-universal.zip

该安装包同时支持 Apple Silicon 和 Intel Mac。当前 Alpha 版本使用 ad-hoc 签名，暂未进行 Apple notarization：

1. 解压下载的文件，并将 CursorFlare.app 移动到“应用程序”。
2. 第一次启动时，如果 macOS 提示确认，请对应用执行 Control-click → 打开。
3. 按提示授予“辅助功能”权限；应用需要该权限监听全局鼠标事件。

快捷键

操作	快捷键
开关 CursorFlare	⌃⌥⌘H
绘制箭头	⌘⇧ + 拖拽
清除箭头	⌘⇧Esc

箭头手势会有意穿透到当前前台应用，因此前台应用仍可能处理自己的修饰键拖拽行为。

隐私和权限

CursorFlare 需要“辅助功能”权限来监听全局鼠标事件。应用使用只读的事件监听，不会拦截或修改输入。

应用不会请求屏幕录制或输入监控权限，不会发起网络请求，只会把偏好设置和本地配置保存在 UserDefaults 中。实验性的系统光标隐藏功能默认关闭。

从源码构建

环境要求：macOS 13+、Swift 5.9+。

swift build
./Scripts/build-app.sh release
open dist/CursorFlare.app

发布脚本会分别构建 arm64 和 x86_64，合并为 universal 应用，并使用稳定的 ad-hoc designated requirement，方便本地测试辅助功能权限。正式签名和 notarization 需要 Apple Developer ID。

归因和许可证

CursorFlare 是独立实现，交互模型参考了 MouseTrail 和 ClickLight。归因和许可证文本见 THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md。

本项目采用 MIT License 发布。