token-wallpaper

token-wallpaper is a small open-source macOS tool by the GitHub user lycfyi. The README sums it up as "your AI coding token usage, as a macOS wallpaper that updates itself." It reads the same local logs as ccusage, an open-source usage tool, covering Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI and the other coding agents ccusage knows, and redraws a dashboard on your desktop every 30 minutes. The dashboard shows estimated cost; total, input, output and cache tokens; active days and streaks; today's usage and your busiest day; daily tokens for the last 30 days; a 26-week activity heatmap; and token share by tool and by model. Dark or light follows your macOS appearance. Your usage history is stored on your Mac and a day's numbers never shrink, so the history stays on the wallpaper after an AI tool clears its old logs. Here AI is what gets measured: the tool itself needs no AI account or API key, and the author doesn't say whether it was written with AI. What sets it apart is that your usage sits on the desktop, where a glance between windows is enough, with no stats page to open.

Who it's for:Mac users who work with AI coding tools such as Claude Code or Codex every day and want to keep an eye on how much they use. Installing it takes the terminal, so readers who don't write code won't get much from it.

Before you start: macOS only (the author tested it on macOS 26). You need Python 3.9 or later, Node.js so npx can run ccusage, and Chrome or another Chromium browser (Chromium, Edge or Brave). The install command writes a LaunchAgent to ~/Library/LaunchAgents/, runs an update right away and then updates every 30 minutes. It opens a local page in a separate browser profile in the background, takes a screenshot and sets it as each screen's wallpaper, deleting old renders. After installing, turn on Show on all Spaces in the Wallpaper settings, or only the current Space changes. The README says everything stays on your Mac and the only network access is npx downloading the third-party ccusage package (pinned to version 20.0.26 by default); history, logs and images are stored in ~/Library/Application Support/token-wallpaper/. We haven't separately reviewed ccusage's code. The cost on the wallpaper is an estimate from usage, not an official bill, and doesn't show remaining quota. The screenshots in the README use made-up demo data (render --demo), not real usage. The wallpaper shows your usage, cost and which models you use, so keep that in mind when sharing your screen or when others can see your desktop. The uninstall command removes only the LaunchAgent and keeps your history. MIT license.

Based on the project's public documentation. Not tested by AI Inspiration World.