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Fixes #68 findings 1 and 5.
Finding 1 -- the review gate signed without reviewing anything:
- ReviewWindow._on_sign hardcoded "main" as the TOCTOU comparison ref, so
any PR review (where _on_load pins the PR head's blob SHA) could never
sign; the only working path was main-vs-itself, whose empty diff made
can_sign() vacuously True (set() <= set()). Commit b08cf21 signed 19
entries through exactly that path with zero of them reviewed.
- can_sign() now refuses an empty changeset outright, and itself checks
has_blocking_risk() across every changed entry rather than trusting the
GUI to have disabled a checkbox.
- ReviewSession now carries loaded_ref (the exact ref reviewed); a new pure
sign_precondition(session, resolve_blob_sha) resolves the TOCTOU SHA from
that ref, never a hardcoded "main". _on_load's retry path re-diffs
instead of re-pinning the same stale SHA, so a blob-mismatch refusal
can't loop forever.
- source="main" now diffs against the last catalog a maintainer actually
SIGNED (walking catalog.json's git history until a version verifies
against the current .sig), not against itself.
- Replaced the theatre-only test_no_acknowledge_all_function_exists (only
asserted no function was *named* acknowledge_all) with a test that also
exercises the real gate. Added can_sign/sign_precondition coverage for
the empty-diff, blocking-risk, and ref-resolution seams -- each verified
to fail when its guard is removed.
Finding 5 -- the catalog key and release key were the same CI-resident key:
- scripts/sign_checksums.py gets its own RELEASE_PUBKEYS (separate from
bcc_core.CATALOG_PUBKEYS) and a verify_checksums_against_any() helper.
- release.yml's signing-smoke-test now verifies RELEASE_SIGNING_KEY against
RELEASE_PUBKEYS only -- it no longer imports bcc_core/CATALOG_PUBKEYS at
all, so this workflow can never compare a CI secret against the
catalog's root of trust.
- catalog_console.py: keygen/show-seed-b64 gain --release, with separate
keychain/file storage per key kind. show-seed-b64 refuses to run without
--release, so the catalog seed can't be exported to a CI secret by habit.
- README documents both keys' trust properties and the asymmetry: a CI
compromise burns the release key, never the catalog key.
The maintainer must rotate the catalog key (it was CI-resident, so treat it
as burned for catalog use) and generate a fresh release key -- see the PR
description for the exact steps. No key is generated or committed here.
219 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
219 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
# Better Claude Config (BCC)
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A small, cross-platform GUI for editing the `mcpServers` block of Claude Desktop
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and Claude Code installs — without ever hand-writing JSON.
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BCC only ever touches `mcpServers` (and its own `_disabledMcpServers` parking
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key). Every other key in your config is preserved verbatim, in its original
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order. Each write is atomic and makes a timestamped backup first.
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## Download (no Python required)
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Pre-built self-contained binaries are attached to every [GitHub Release](../../releases):
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| Platform | Download | Run |
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|----------|----------|-----|
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| macOS | `BetterClaudeConfig-macOS.zip` | Unzip → drag **BetterClaudeConfig.app** to Applications |
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| Windows | `BetterClaudeConfig-Windows.zip` | Unzip → double-click **BetterClaudeConfig.exe** |
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| Linux | `BetterClaudeConfig-Linux.tar.gz` | Extract → run **BetterClaudeConfig** |
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> **macOS Gatekeeper note:** the app is not notarized. On first launch, right-click → **Open**, or run `xattr -cr /Applications/BetterClaudeConfig.app` in a terminal.
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## Verifying your download
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BCC isn't code-signed — there's no budget for a paid certificate (macOS
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Developer ID, Windows Authenticode). Instead, every release publishes a
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`SHA256SUMS` file listing the checksum of each archive, detached-signed with
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Ed25519 as `SHA256SUMS.sig`. Both are attached to the release alongside the
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binaries.
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**What this proves:** the file you downloaded is byte-for-byte what we
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published, and the manifest itself was signed by our release key.
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**What this does NOT do:** it does not make the binary "safe," and it does
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**not** remove the macOS Gatekeeper or Windows SmartScreen warning — those
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are only suppressed by a paid OS-vendor certificate, which this project
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doesn't have. Verifying checksums is about detecting tampering in transit or
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on a mirror, not about vouching for the software.
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This manifest is signed with BCC's **release key**, which is a different
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key from the one that signs the MCP server catalog — see
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[Signing keys](#signing-keys) below for why, and for the public key value
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to use with `--pubkey-b64` below.
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### macOS / Linux
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```bash
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# From inside the folder you downloaded the release files into:
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sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS
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```
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If your `sha256sum` complains about missing files, download `SHA256SUMS`
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into the same directory as the archive you downloaded — it lists every
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platform's archive, and only the one(s) present will be checked.
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To also verify the manifest's signature (optional, requires Python +
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`pip install cryptography` and a checkout of this repo):
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```bash
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python3 scripts/sign_checksums.py verify \
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--sums SHA256SUMS --sig SHA256SUMS.sig \
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--pubkey-b64 "<the release public key from Signing keys, below>"
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```
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### Windows (PowerShell)
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```powershell
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Get-FileHash .\BetterClaudeConfig-Windows.zip -Algorithm SHA256
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```
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Compare the printed hash (case-insensitively) against the matching line in
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`SHA256SUMS`.
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### If a release has no `SHA256SUMS.sig`
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The signing key is a repo secret that has to be configured manually; if a
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release is missing the `.sig` file, the checksums themselves are still
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valid and safe to check against — the release workflow only skips signing,
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never checksum generation.
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## Signing keys
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BCC uses **two separate Ed25519 keypairs**, deliberately never the same
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key, because they protect different things and live in different places:
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| | Catalog key | Release key |
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|---|---|---|
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| Signs | `data/catalog.json` (the MCP server catalog every user's app trusts) | `SHA256SUMS` (the checksum manifest for release binaries) |
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| Verified by | `bcc_core.CATALOG_PUBKEYS` | `scripts/sign_checksums.RELEASE_PUBKEYS` |
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| Lives | Offline, passphrase-encrypted, maintainer's machine only (OS keychain or an encrypted file outside the repo — see the [Catalog Console](#files), issue #62) | A Gitea Actions repo secret, `RELEASE_SIGNING_KEY` — **intentionally CI-resident** |
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| Generated with | `python catalog_console.py keygen` | `python catalog_console.py keygen --release` |
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| Exported for CI with | *(never — there is no supported way to export this key)* | `python catalog_console.py show-seed-b64 --release` |
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**Why two keys:** the catalog key is the root of trust for what BCC
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actually *executes* on a user's machine — every `command`/`args` pair in
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the shipped catalog is only there because this key signed it. If that key
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and the release-checksum key were the same (as they briefly were — see
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[issue #68](../../issues/68)), then anything that can exfiltrate a Gitea
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Actions secret (a malicious workflow-file PR, a compromised runner, a leaky
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log) could sign a catalog every user's copy of BCC would trust, not just a
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checksum manifest. Splitting them means **a CI/secret compromise burns the
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release key, never the catalog key** — checksums for a future release could
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be forged, which is bad, but no attacker gains the ability to make BCC run
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arbitrary commands on installs that trust the catalog. That asymmetry is
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the entire point of having two keys instead of one.
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The catalog key is **never** meant to leave the maintainer's machine: it's
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generated, stored, unlocked, and used to sign entirely inside the Catalog
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Console (`catalog_console.py`), and `catalog_console.py show-seed-b64`
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refuses to run without `--release` specifically so the catalog seed can't
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be exported by habit or muscle memory.
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**Release signing public key** (Ed25519, base64, raw 32 bytes) — this is
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the RELEASE key, not the catalog key:
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```
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<PLACEHOLDER — AJ: paste the release public key from `catalog_console.py keygen --release` here>
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```
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## Run from source
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```bash
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pip install -r requirements.txt
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python bcc.py
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```
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(Python 3.10+, PySide6 6.6+.)
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## What it does
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- **Auto-discovers installs** — scans the platform's app-support folder for any
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`Claude*` directory (so `Claude` and `Claude-Work` both show up) **and** finds
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Claude Code's user-scope config at `~/.claude.json` (the file `claude mcp add`
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writes). Use **Add config…** to point at any other file manually — e.g. a
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project's `.mcp.json`.
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- **Form-based editing** — name, command, args (one per line), env vars, or for
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remote servers: URL, transport, and headers. No raw JSON.
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- **Paste JSON — even broken JSON** — drop in any snippet from an MCP doc (full
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`mcpServers` block, inner map, or a single bare server object); it's parsed
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and merged. The paste box parses as you type and auto-repairs the stuff docs
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and chat windows love to break: markdown fences, surrounding prose, comments,
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trailing or missing commas, smart quotes, single quotes, unquoted keys, and
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unclosed braces — and tells you exactly what it fixed before you commit.
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- **Drag & drop** a `.json` file onto the window to import servers from it.
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- **Copy to ▸** — copy the selected server straight into your *other* install.
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- **Active / Disabled sections** — servers are shown in two labelled lists with
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live counts, so a server that's switched off in the config is obvious at a
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glance. Toggle a server's checkbox to move it between sections (disabled
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servers are parked under `_disabledMcpServers`, which Claude ignores).
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- **Dependency check + diagnostics** — each server shows whether its `command`
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is actually found on PATH:
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- ● green — found on the normal PATH; will work anywhere.
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- ▲ amber (**PATH-risk**) — found, but *only* in a location BCC added on top of
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the inherited PATH. It'll work when you launch Claude from a terminal, but a
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double-clicked `.app` may not see it. This is the usual cause of "the tool
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says it's fine but Claude won't start the server." One click on **Use full
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path ↳** rewrites the bare command (`npx`) to its absolute path so any launch
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finds it.
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- ● red (**broken**) — not found anywhere.
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- ◆ blue — remote (url) server. **Test connection** does a live reachability
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check on a background thread (any HTTP response = reachable).
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Each section header shows a **broken / PATH-risk count badge**, and selecting a
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flagged server auto-opens a **Details** panel with a full, copy-pasteable
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report: which command resolved to what, tailored install hints, and the exact
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PATH that was searched (with `+` marking the dirs BCC added). **Re-check**
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re-scans PATH after you install something; **Copy diagnostics** grabs the whole
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report for a bug report.
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After saving, **restart that Claude install** for changes to take effect.
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## Config locations it scans
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**Claude Desktop**
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| OS | Base it scans for `Claude*` |
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|---------|----------------------------------|
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| macOS | `~/Library/Application Support` |
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| Windows | `%APPDATA%` |
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| Linux | `~/.config` |
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**Claude Code** (all platforms): `~/.claude.json` (user scope). If servers are
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found parked in `~/.claude/settings.json` — where Claude Code ignores them — that
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file is also listed, marked *legacy*, so you can copy them over.
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## Files
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- `bcc.py` — the GUI.
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- `bcc_core.py` — all the file/JSON/validation/dependency logic (no GUI deps).
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- `test_core.py` — unit suite for the core (`python test_core.py`).
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- `bcc.spec` — PyInstaller build spec (cross-platform).
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- `scripts/build_icons.py` — regenerates `icons/app.icns` and `icons/app.ico` from source PNGs.
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- `scripts/sign_checksums.py` — generates and Ed25519-signs the release `SHA256SUMS` manifest (see [Verifying your download](#verifying-your-download)).
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- `catalog_console.py` / `catalog_review.py` — **maintainer-only**, never shipped to users (excluded from `bcc.spec`; see `tests/test_catalog_console_packaging.py`). The Catalog Console: review + sign `data/catalog.json`, and generate/manage both signing keys (`keygen`, `keygen --release`) — see [Signing keys](#signing-keys).
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## Building from source
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```bash
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pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
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python scripts/build_icons.py # regenerate icons if needed
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pyinstaller bcc.spec
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# macOS → dist/BetterClaudeConfig.app
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# Windows → dist/BetterClaudeConfig.exe
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# Linux → dist/BetterClaudeConfig
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```
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Releases are built automatically by GitHub Actions (`.github/workflows/release.yml`) when a version tag is pushed:
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```bash
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git tag v1.0.0 && git push --tags
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```
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## Rebrand
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The accent color is one constant (`ACCENT`) at the top of `bcc.py`.
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## License
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MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).
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