instantspaces

Disable macOS Desktop Spaces switching animation by patching Dock in-process with a tiny scripting addition payload.

macOS	14 (Sonoma), 15 (Sequoia)
Arch	Apple Silicon (arm64e)
Modes	zero, min0125
Requires	SIP disabled, Xcode Command Line Tools

The whole patching mechanism is based on yabai's scripting addition. I just wanted to have it stand-alone to fix an issue with redrawing of floating windows.

⁉️ How did I fix it?

The Spaces switching animation duration is being set to zero and probably fucks around with the compositor rendering phases, so that floating windows or popups are not being redrawn. Only way to fix this is triggering a redraw which is cumbersome

So I set a very small animation duration frame of 0.125 seconds that still allows for redraws but is faster than stock.

Inject and patch

Tip

Restart Dock first, then inject and patch twice — the script already does two patch passes followed by verify. Patching twice works around rare attach or timing hiccups.

# Restart Dock so we patch early
killall Dock

# Inject and patch with a mode:
#   zero    -> 0.0s animation (instant)
#   min0125 -> 0.125s animation (near-instant; helps floating windows)
sudo ./scripts/inject.sh min0125
# or
sudo ./scripts/inject.sh zero

What the injector does

• Sets INSTANTSPACES_MODE inside the Dock process
• dlopen()s the payload
• Calls instantspaces_patch() twice in a row
• Calls instantspaces_verify() to list/confirm patched sites

Check logs

• Console.app: filter "Dock" and "[instantspaces]"
• File log: /private/var/tmp/instantspaces.<DockPID>.log

You'll see messages like:

[instantspaces] constructor: payload loaded into Dock pid=...
[instantspaces] instantspaces_patch: entered (mode=min0125)
[instantspaces] Dock __TEXT=[0x... .. 0x... )
[instantspaces] Patched site @0x...: before=0x..., after=0x1e681000
[instantspaces] Total sites patched: 2
[instantspaces] Verify: patched_count=2
[instantspaces] Verify patched @0x... => 0x1e681000

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Modes

Mode	Opcode	Effect
zero	0x2f00e400	Forces duration to 0.0s — instant, but can cause floating windows to momentarily disappear
min0125	0x1e681000 (fmov d0, #0.125)	Forces 0.125s — near-instant while giving the compositor a frame to redraw

Switching modes

Modes are set per injection. To change, restart Dock and re-run with the desired mode:

killall Dock; sudo ./scripts/inject.sh min0125

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Auto-run at login (LaunchAgent)

To inject automatically on login (and after Dock relaunches), install a per-user LaunchAgent that runs a small retrying injector wrapper.

1. Edit scripts/auto-inject.sh to choose your default mode (zero or min0125). It already retries multiple times.
2. Copy and adjust the LaunchAgent — in eu.flawn.instantspaces.inject.plist, set the ProgramArguments path to your auto-inject.sh.
3. Install and load:

# Create ~/Library/LaunchAgents if needed
mkdir -p ~/Library/LaunchAgents

# Copy the plist
cp eu.flawn.instantspaces.inject.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

# Load (for the current user session)
launchctl bootstrap gui/$UID ~/Library/LaunchAgents/eu.flawn.instantspaces.inject.plist
launchctl enable gui/$UID/eu.flawn.instantspaces.inject
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$UID/eu.flawn.instantspaces.inject

To unload/disable:

launchctl bootout gui/$UID ~/Library/LaunchAgents/eu.flawn.instantspaces.inject.plist
launchctl disable gui/$UID/eu.flawn.instantspaces.inject

Note

The agent runs in your user session (Dock is per-user). It will attempt injection repeatedly for a short window after login and also if Dock restarts. On first use, macOS may prompt to allow Terminal/LLDB under Privacy & Security → Developer Tools. Run the injector once manually if prompts do not appear in background.

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Uninstall

# Optional: unload agent if installed
launchctl bootout gui/$UID ~/Library/LaunchAgents/eu.flawn.instantspaces.inject.plist 2>/dev/null || true
rm -f ~/Library/LaunchAgents/eu.flawn.instantspaces.inject.plist

# Remove the osax payload
./scripts/uninstall.sh

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Troubleshooting

dlopen returns NULL

• Ensure the payload is arm64e (the Makefile builds arm64e)
• Clear quarantine and ad-hoc sign (install.sh and make install do this)
• Run once manually to grant Developer Tools permission (Terminal/LLDB)

EXC_BREAKPOINT during LLDB expr

• Retry inject — the script patches twice by default to withstand occasional attach hiccups
• Ensure SIP is relaxed consistently, and "Displays have separate Spaces" is enabled in System Settings → Desktop & Dock

Animation still present

• Use min0125 mode for stability if floaters disappear on zero
• Confirm Console shows "Total sites patched: 2" (or more) and Verify entries
• Kill Dock and inject again to patch earlier in its lifecycle