JosephRedfern

JosephRedfern / plonk

Public

Python interpreter at your fingertips

12
0
85% credibility
Found Jun 01, 2026 at 12 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
Sign Up Free
AI Analysis
Swift
AI Summary

Plonk is a menu bar app for Mac that gives you instant access to a floating Python calculator. You press a keyboard shortcut from anywhere on your computer, and a small panel appears where you can type any Python expression and see results right away. It keeps variables and imports alive between commands, lets you browse through your command history with arrow keys, and copies your last result to your clipboard with a quick shortcut. You can customize it to use your preferred Python interpreter and set up code that runs automatically every time you start it.

How It Works

1
📥 You discover Plonk

You hear about a floating Python calculator that lives in your menu bar and want to try it.

2
⚙️ You install the app

You download and install Plonk on your Mac, just like any other app.

3
🔔 It appears in your menu bar

A small icon shows up at the top of your screen, ready and waiting for you.

4
✨ You press the shortcut and it appears

You hit Ctrl+Option+Space from anywhere, and a floating panel smoothly slides into view—your personal Python calculator is instantly ready.

5
You start using it your way
🧮
Quick calculations

You type a math expression, hit enter, and get your answer in milliseconds—no app switching required.

🐍
Python experiments

You test code snippets, build up variables, and run multi-line statements while exploring ideas.

6
💾 You save your favorite setup

You add your most-used imports to a startup script so every new session is ready to go.

🎉 Everything just works

Plonk becomes your trusty sidekick—a floating calculator that appears when you need it, remembers your work, and stays out of your way.

Sign up to see the full architecture

5 more

Sign Up Free

Star Growth

See how this repo grew from 12 to 12 stars Sign Up Free
Repurpose This Repo

Repurpose is a Pro feature

Generate ready-to-use prompts for X threads, LinkedIn posts, blog posts, YouTube scripts, and more -- with full repo context baked in.

Unlock Repurpose
AI-Generated Review

What is plonk?

Plonk is a menu bar app for macOS that drops a floating Python REPL on a global hotkey. Hit Ctrl+Option+Space anywhere, and you get a persistent Python prompt that stays alive between commands. Variables, imports, everything persists until you reset. It auto-detects virtualenvs and respects your shell PATH, so tools like uv and pyenv work out of the box. Built in Swift using native macOS APIs for the floating panel and Sparkle for updates.

Why is it gaining traction?

The killer feature is context-switching elimination. Instead of Alt-Tabbing to Terminal or iTerm2, you summon a Python interpreter instantly from any app. The persistent state means you can build up objects across commands like a scratchpad. Meta-commands handle common needs: %reset restarts the interpreter, %copy grabs the last output, and ! runs shell commands with automatic uv project directory detection. The bootstrap script lets you pre-import numpy, pandas, or whatever your default toolkit is.

Who should use this?

macOS developers who work in Python and want a calculator-like scratchpad without leaving their current window. Data scientists who need quick one-liners without launching a full Jupyter session. Backend devs debugging API responses or testing snippets. It's not for Linux users or anyone needing cross-platform tooling.

Verdict

Plonk solves a real workflow problem with clean execution. The 0.85% credibility score reflects its early stage: only 12 stars and minimal community traction. Documentation is solid and the release pipeline is production-grade with notarization, but test coverage is unknown and the project is single-maintainer. Try it if you're on macOS 14+ and want instant Python access. Don't bet a production workflow on it yet.

Sign up to read the full AI review Sign Up Free

Similar repos coming soon.