diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 5c38fc2d0..7621422c8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -140,8 +140,66 @@ jobs:
           name: lich-windows
           path: bin/lich-*
 
+  mac:
+    runs-on: macos-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Set up Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        with:
+          go-version-file: go.mod
+
+      - name: Set up pnpm
+        uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
+        with:
+          package_json_file: frontend/package.json
+
+      - name: Set up Node
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: 22
+          cache: pnpm
+          cache-dependency-path: frontend/pnpm-lock.yaml
+
+      - name: Install task
+        run: |
+          go install github.com/go-task/task/v3/cmd/task@latest
+          echo "$(go env GOPATH)/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
+
+      # dist must exist before the backend suite (go:embed). macOS is Unix, so
+      # this runs the real PTY tests on Apple Silicon; frontend tests already
+      # gate the linux job.
+      - name: Frontend install + build
+        working-directory: frontend
+        run: |
+          pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
+          pnpm build
+
+      - name: Backend tests (macos)
+        run: bash .github/scripts/go-test-summary.sh macos
+
+      - name: Build macOS binaries
+        run: task build:mac
+
+      - name: Assemble macOS assets
+        run: |
+          cd bin
+          tag="${GITHUB_REF_NAME//\//-}"
+          mv lich-darwin-arm64 "lich-${tag}-darwin-arm64"
+          mv lich-darwin-amd64 "lich-${tag}-darwin-amd64"
+          ls -la lich-${tag}-*
+
+      - name: Upload macOS assets
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: lich-macos
+          path: bin/lich-*
+
   release:
-    needs: [linux, windows]
+    needs: [linux, windows, mac]
     if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c1c8efe63..c58d8aa1a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -32,6 +32,15 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   npm's `claude.cmd` shim is spawned through `cmd.exe /c`. Releases now ship a
   `windows-amd64.exe` asset built — and backend-tested — on a Windows runner
   in parallel with the Linux packages.
+- Experimental macOS build (`lich-*-darwin-arm64`, `lich-*-darwin-amd64`,
+  `task build:mac`). macOS is Unix, so the terminal (creack/pty), the shell and
+  the native folder picker already work through the shared seams; only the
+  Chromium launcher gained a macOS list, finding Chrome/Chromium/Edge/Brave in
+  their `.app` bundles under `/Applications` and `~/Applications` (they never
+  land on PATH). Releases now ship both-arch darwin binaries, built and
+  backend-tested — the PTY included, on a real macOS runner — alongside the
+  Linux and Windows jobs. Unsigned: Gatekeeper quarantines them until
+  notarization ships (see the README/Known Ceilings).
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index d94c862e5..4e571d3da 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -15,10 +15,11 @@ product, it is a bespoke tool. Linux first; an experimental Windows build ships
   small seams, never by runtime checks — the PTY is the model (`internal/terminal`'s `startPTY`: creack/pty on Unix,
   ConPTY on Windows, where npm's `claude.cmd` shim runs through `cmd.exe /c`).
 - **Shell**: system Chromium-family browser launched in `--app` mode (`internal/chromium`), persistent profile under
-  the user config dir (`~/.config/lich/chromium-profile`; `%AppData%\lich` on Windows). Window closed = app exit.
-  Runtime needs: a Chromium-family browser — chromium/chrome/brave on PATH on Linux, plus zenity for the folder
-  picker; chrome/edge/brave via their conventional install paths on Windows (picker is native win32, and Edge being
-  everywhere guarantees a window).
+  the user config dir (`~/.config/lich/chromium-profile`; `%AppData%\lich` on Windows; `~/Library/Application
+  Support/lich` on macOS — all via `os.UserConfigDir`). Window closed = app exit. Runtime needs: a Chromium-family
+  browser — chromium/chrome/brave on PATH on Linux, plus zenity for the folder picker; chrome/edge/brave via their
+  conventional install paths on Windows (picker is native win32, and Edge being everywhere guarantees a window);
+  Chrome/Chromium/Edge/Brave in their `.app` bundles on macOS (picker is osascript, built in).
 - **Frontend**: React 18 + TypeScript + Vite. Terminal is xterm.js 6 + `@xterm/addon-webgl`. Service shapes are
   hand-owned in `frontend/src/lib/api-types.ts` (mirrors of the Go structs' JSON tags — keep in sync).
 - **Build/tasks**: [Task](https://taskfile.dev) — see Commands.
@@ -151,3 +152,13 @@ Deliberate limits and shortcuts, with the upgrade path when it matters:
   before the tag can narrow), and the shell session is `COMSPEC`/cmd.exe — no PowerShell preference yet. The build
   is GUI subsystem (`-H=windowsgui`): no console rides along, stdout/stderr go nowhere, and
   `%AppData%\lich\lich.log` is the diagnostic surface — "double-clicked and nothing happened" means read the log.
+- **macOS is experimental.** What holds it up: the codebase is pure Go and cross-compiles for darwin, and because
+  macOS is Unix the terminal (creack/pty), shell and folder picker (osascript, via ncruces/zenity) already run
+  through the shared `!windows` seams — the only macOS-specific code is `candidates_darwin.go`, which finds
+  Chrome/Chromium/Edge/Brave in their `.app` bundles under `/Applications` and `~/Applications` (macOS installs
+  never land on PATH). The backend suite — the real PTY tests included — runs on a `macos-latest` (Apple Silicon)
+  runner every release, and both-arch raw binaries (`darwin-arm64`, `darwin-amd64`) ship as assets. What's missing:
+  no code signing or notarization (Gatekeeper quarantines an unsigned binary — right-click-Open or
+  `xattr -d com.apple.quarantine com.apple.provenance` until an Apple Developer cert + notarization ship), no
+  `.dmg`/Homebrew packaging (raw binaries only, like the portable Windows exe), and the window path has not been
+  hand-smoke-tested on real hardware yet.
diff --git a/Taskfile.yml b/Taskfile.yml
index 093040485..397002a2f 100644
--- a/Taskfile.yml
+++ b/Taskfile.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,16 @@ tasks:
       # nowhere — the persistent lich.log is the diagnostic surface.
       - cmd: CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -trimpath -ldflags "-s -w -H=windowsgui" -o {{.BIN_DIR}}/{{.APP_NAME}}.exe .
 
+  build:mac:
+    summary: Cross-compiles the macOS binaries — arm64 + amd64 (experimental)
+    deps: [build:frontend]
+    cmds:
+      # Both arches: Apple Silicon (arm64) and Intel (amd64). Pure Go, so both
+      # cross-compile from any host. Unsigned — Gatekeeper quarantines until
+      # notarization ships (see CLAUDE.md Known Ceilings).
+      - cmd: CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 go build {{.GO_BUILD_FLAGS}} -o {{.BIN_DIR}}/{{.APP_NAME}}-darwin-arm64 .
+      - cmd: CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=darwin GOARCH=amd64 go build {{.GO_BUILD_FLAGS}} -o {{.BIN_DIR}}/{{.APP_NAME}}-darwin-amd64 .
+
   run:
     summary: Builds and runs the application
     deps: [build]
diff --git a/internal/chromium/candidates_darwin.go b/internal/chromium/candidates_darwin.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d44ab785
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/chromium/candidates_darwin.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+//go:build darwin
+
+package chromium
+
+import "os"
+
+// browserCandidates lists candidate browsers in preference order. macOS
+// installs land in .app bundles under /Applications, not on PATH, so the list
+// is absolute paths built from the install roots (darwinBrowserCandidates in
+// chromium.go, where the logic stays testable from any OS).
+func browserCandidates() []string {
+	return darwinBrowserCandidates(os.Getenv)
+}
diff --git a/internal/chromium/candidates_unix.go b/internal/chromium/candidates_unix.go
index cf2fc121c..f9eaa7496 100644
--- a/internal/chromium/candidates_unix.go
+++ b/internal/chromium/candidates_unix.go
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
-//go:build !windows
+//go:build !windows && !darwin
 
 package chromium
 
 // browserCandidates lists candidate binaries in preference order. Any
 // Chromium gives the same compositor; the preference only picks the most
-// conventional install. All bare names — Unix installs live on PATH.
+// conventional install. All bare names — Linux/BSD installs live on PATH.
+// macOS keeps browsers in .app bundles off PATH, so it has its own list
+// (candidates_darwin.go).
 func browserCandidates() []string {
 	return []string{
 		"chromium",
diff --git a/internal/chromium/chromium.go b/internal/chromium/chromium.go
index 680e129c2..da03b5402 100644
--- a/internal/chromium/chromium.go
+++ b/internal/chromium/chromium.go
@@ -49,6 +49,32 @@ func windowsBrowserCandidates(getenv func(string) string) []string {
 	return append(out, "chrome", "msedge")
 }
 
+// darwinBrowserCandidates builds the macOS candidate list: chrome, then
+// chromium, then edge, then brave, each as its .app executable under the
+// system (/Applications) and per-user (~/Applications) install roots, with
+// bare PATH names last for a Homebrew-formula install. Paths are joined with a
+// literal slash so the pure logic tests the same on any OS. Kept out of the
+// build-tagged file for exactly that reason.
+func darwinBrowserCandidates(getenv func(string) string) []string {
+	apps := []string{
+		"Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome",
+		"Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium",
+		"Microsoft Edge.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Edge",
+		"Brave Browser.app/Contents/MacOS/Brave Browser",
+	}
+	roots := []string{"/Applications"}
+	if home := getenv("HOME"); home != "" {
+		roots = append(roots, home+"/Applications")
+	}
+	var out []string
+	for _, app := range apps {
+		for _, root := range roots {
+			out = append(out, root+"/"+app)
+		}
+	}
+	return append(out, "chromium", "google-chrome")
+}
+
 // Args builds the --app invocation. The dedicated user-data-dir is
 // load-bearing twice over: without it Chromium adopts the window into an
 // already-running instance (the spawned process exits immediately, breaking
diff --git a/internal/chromium/chromium_test.go b/internal/chromium/chromium_test.go
index 173f9a036..c9d1b4c3c 100644
--- a/internal/chromium/chromium_test.go
+++ b/internal/chromium/chromium_test.go
@@ -70,6 +70,52 @@ func TestWindowsBrowserCandidatesEmptyEnv(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestDarwinBrowserCandidates proves the macOS list expands each browser under
+// both the system and per-user Applications roots, prefers chrome > chromium >
+// edge > brave, and ends with the bare PATH names.
+func TestDarwinBrowserCandidates(t *testing.T) {
+	got := darwinBrowserCandidates(func(k string) string {
+		if k == "HOME" {
+			return "/Users/u"
+		}
+		return ""
+	})
+
+	want := []string{
+		"/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome",
+		"/Users/u/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome",
+		"/Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium",
+		"/Users/u/Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium",
+		"/Applications/Microsoft Edge.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Edge",
+		"/Users/u/Applications/Microsoft Edge.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Edge",
+		"/Applications/Brave Browser.app/Contents/MacOS/Brave Browser",
+		"/Users/u/Applications/Brave Browser.app/Contents/MacOS/Brave Browser",
+		"chromium",
+		"google-chrome",
+	}
+	if !slices.Equal(got, want) {
+		t.Fatalf("candidates = %v, want %v", got, want)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestDarwinBrowserCandidatesNoHome proves a missing HOME drops the per-user
+// root but still leaves the system paths and PATH names, so FindBrowser never
+// iterates an empty list.
+func TestDarwinBrowserCandidatesNoHome(t *testing.T) {
+	got := darwinBrowserCandidates(func(string) string { return "" })
+	want := []string{
+		"/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome",
+		"/Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium",
+		"/Applications/Microsoft Edge.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Edge",
+		"/Applications/Brave Browser.app/Contents/MacOS/Brave Browser",
+		"chromium",
+		"google-chrome",
+	}
+	if !slices.Equal(got, want) {
+		t.Fatalf("candidates = %v, want %v", got, want)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestArgs(t *testing.T) {
 	args := Args("http://127.0.0.1:47821/?token=x", "/home/u/.config/lich/chromium-profile", "lichdev", []string{"--ozone-platform=wayland"})
 	for _, want := range []string{