DevToys on Mac: install steps and a browser route

DevToys runs on a Mac: the project ships a macOS app for both Intel and Apple silicon, and you can install it with Homebrew in one command. If you would rather not install a desktop app, AyeTab gives you the same everyday developer tools in Chrome on macOS, free and processed locally in the browser.

This guide covers both routes, and how they fit a workflow where you work alongside AI coding assistants.

Option 1: install DevToys on macOS

DevToys is a free, open-source desktop toolbox for developers. Its download page offers two ways to get it on a Mac.

With Homebrew:

brew install --cask devtoys

As an app bundle: download the macOS build that matches your chip, Intel (x64) or Apple silicon (ARM64), and move the app into Applications.

Once it is running, DevToys gives you converters, encoders and decoders, formatters, generators and testers. Its Smart Detection reads what is on the clipboard and points to the tool that fits. The DevToys CLI is a separate download, offered for macOS as a zip for each chip.

Option 2: use AyeTab in Chrome on your Mac

AyeTab is a Chrome extension that replaces the new tab page with developer tools, and it also opens in Chrome's side panel. The same tools run as a web app at app.ayetab.com, which works in any browser on macOS with no install at all.

1. Add AyeTab from the Chrome Web Store.
2. Open a new tab. The tool list is on the left.
3. Press Cmd+K to jump to a tool by name, or press ? for the shortcut list.
4. Star the tools you use most so they stay at the top.

Every transform happens in the browser. Nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and the tools work offline once the extension is installed.

Smart paste saves another step: paste a JWT, a JSON blob, a Base64 string or a URL, and AyeTab suggests the tool that fits. The extension asks only for side panel and storage access, and if you remove it, Chrome's default new tab comes back.

Mapping the tools

Where this meets AI coding work

AI coding assistants produce and consume a lot of structured text: JSON tool calls, config files, API responses, generated regular expressions. A few habits keep you in control:

• Read the JSON yourself. Paste a model's tool call or an API reply into a formatter before trusting it. A formatter that validates will flag a trailing comma or a broken string at once.
• Test generated regex on real input. Drop the pattern and some sample lines into AyeTab's RegExp Tester before it lands in code.
• Diff before you accept. Text Diff shows what changed between the original and the suggested version of a config.
• Keep secrets off third-party servers. If you would not paste a production token into a chat, do not paste it into a website that processes input on its server. AyeTab and DevToys both keep that data on your Mac.

Which route to choose

Choose AyeTab if you spend the day in Chrome and want the tools a keystroke away, or if you cannot install apps on a work Mac. Choose DevToys if you prefer a native app or want its community extensions. Both are free, so you can run them side by side.