Install anydrag with Homebrew Cask

Project links

• Homepage
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

No executable aliases were found in the local package database.

Project history

Xueshi Qiao developed AnyDrag as a native macOS utility for moving a window by dragging anywhere on it while holding a modifier key. The implementation uses a Core Graphics event tap and redirects the drag into the window's title-bar region so the window server performs the movement.

The application evolved from focused modifier dragging into a compact window-management tool with double-click maximize, a tiling panel, optional corner-based resizing, multi-monitor controls, per-application tuning, and localized settings.

Adoption history

AnyDrag is distributed as a signed and notarized macOS application through GitHub releases and Homebrew Cask. It requires Accessibility permission to intercept the configured modifier gesture and initiate window movement.

The project broadened its focused drag gesture with maximizing, resizing, tiling, multi-display movement, application exclusions, and configurable modifier combinations while retaining a native menu-bar interface.

How it is used

By default, users hold Option and drag anywhere in a window to move it. Modifier-double-click maximizes or restores a window, while modifier-right-click opens the tiling panel.

Settings are managed through the native graphical interface; the official documentation explicitly says there are no configuration files to edit manually.

Why package nerds care

AnyDrag occupies the small but enduring macOS power-user niche of modifier-driven window movement. Its distinguishing technical choice is to rewrite pointer coordinates so macOS performs a native title-bar drag, avoiding per-frame Accessibility API window movement.

It is also a reproducibly installable, open-source alternative to broader proprietary automation suites when the desired workflow is specifically fast window dragging, resizing, and tiling.

Timeline

• AnyDrag began as a focused modifier-drag utility for native-feeling macOS window movement.
• The project later added resizing, a tiling panel, multi-display controls, modifier combinations, and application-specific tuning.

Related projects

• The official README contrasts AnyDrag with BetterTouchTool's modifier-drag behavior, explaining that AnyDrag uses a window-server-level native drag path. It also documents optional cooperation with the developer's HyperCapslock app.

Sources

• https://github.com/XueshiQiao/AnyDrag
• https://xueshi.dev/anydrag