Menu bar item can become hidden while CodeBar process keeps running

[wayyoungboy]

Summary

CodeBar can keep running in the background while its menu bar item is no longer visible. In this state, the app process stays alive and continues periodic network refreshes, but there is no visible status bar entry to open or interact with the app.

Environment

• CodeBar: 2.2.2
• macOS: 26.5.2
• Architecture: arm64

What I observed

• The CodeBar process was still running.
• CPU was low/idle, so this was not the high-CPU redraw case.
• Logs showed periodic successful refresh requests, suggesting the app was alive and doing work.
• No new macOS crash report was generated.
• The menu bar item was absent from the status bar.
• macOS Control Center preferences had the app's status item visibility set to hidden:

NSStatusItem Visible Item-0 = 0

Changing that value back to visible and restarting CodeBar / refreshing Control Center made the menu bar item appear again:

NSStatusItem Visible Item-0 = 1

Expected behavior

If CodeBar is running, its menu bar item should remain visible, or the app should detect the hidden status-item state and offer a way to restore it.

Possible cause

This may be caused by CodeBar using a generic NSStatusItem identifier such as Item-0, which macOS can persist as hidden in Control Center / menu bar preferences. If the item is hidden by the system, CodeBar continues running but becomes inaccessible from the menu bar.

A stable/custom status item identity, or a startup check that recreates/restores the item when hidden, may help.

Diagnostic steps

1. Launch CodeBar.
2. Confirm the process is running.
3. Observe that no CodeBar item appears in the macOS menu bar.
4. Inspect macOS Control Center preferences for the corresponding status item visibility state.
5. Set the status item visibility back to visible and restart CodeBar / refresh Control Center.