RunCat365: a Windows taskbar cat that runs at your CPU speed

What RunCat365 actually solves on a Windows taskbar

Task Manager answers the question "how loaded is this machine" with a window you have to open. RunCat365 answers it with a cat that changes pace. The repository describes itself as "a cute running cat animation on your Windows Taskbar," and the demo assets show the animation sitting in the taskbar area rather than in a floating window.

The audience is narrow and the README keeps it narrow. RunCat365 targets Windows users who want an ambient load indicator and are comfortable with a decorative one. The project states plainly that it is for Windows and that inquiries about a macOS version are not accepted. There is a separate RunCat lineage on macOS, and it is not this codebase.

Contributors are a second audience, and a more constrained one. The README asks for issues and pull requests in English only, and warns that issues which do not follow the Issue Template will be closed without question. That is an unusual amount of process for a tray toy, but it tells you the maintainers treat the tracker as a queue to be defended rather than a forum.

How the C# and Win32 pieces fit together

The stack is visible from the repository metadata: C# on .NET 9.0, Win32 interop, and a Visual Studio solution. The top level holds RunCat365.sln, a RunCat365/ project directory, and a second directory named WapForStore/, which is the packaging side that feeds the Microsoft Store listing. The README's own tag line names Win32 explicitly, which matters: a taskbar icon is not a normal WPF or WinForms surface, so the project has to talk to shell APIs directly.

The behavioural contract is the interesting part. The cat's animation speed is a function of CPU load, so the application samples the machine and maps that reading onto frame timing. The README does not document the sampling interval, the mapping curve, or whether the reading is system-wide or per-process. If you need to know whether a busy background process or a single saturated core drives the animation, the README is silent and you would have to read the source.

The custom runner feature is the extension point. The repository ships a screenshot named custom_runner.png, and there is a related search phrase for custom runners, so the concept is real. What the README does not provide is the runner format: no schema, no sample file, no directory path. Anyone planning to build a runner is working from the source tree, not from the documentation.

There is also an endless game referenced in the demo images. It is presented as a screenshot with no explanation of how it is launched or what it does, so treat it as an undocumented extra rather than a feature you can plan around.

Installing RunCat365 from the Microsoft Store

The README gives exactly one installation path: the Microsoft Store. There is no winget command, no MSI, no portable archive, and no build-from-source instructions in the README itself, even though the solution file is in the repository. The stated requirement is Windows 10 version 19041.0 or higher.

The README links to the Store product page for the app:

https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nw5lpnvwfwj

That is the product page the README points at, and the Store listing is where installation happens. After installation, the app places its animation in the taskbar; the README does not describe a first-run dialog, a settings window, or a tray menu, so expect to explore the UI rather than follow a setup wizard. The interface is localized in Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), English (default), French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.

If you would rather build it, the repository layout gives you the entry points: RunCat365.sln at the top level and the RunCat365/ project directory, targeting .NET 9.0. The README does not document the build, so the solution file and the project directory are your only guide. Note also that the Store package is produced from WapForStore/, which means a local build is not automatically the same artifact that ships to users.

Where RunCat365 is the wrong tool

Three cases stand out.

First, macOS. The README states the project is for Windows and that macOS inquiries are not accepted. If you found RunCat through the macOS app of the same family, you are looking at different software, and the related searches for RunCat dmg and RunCat macOS belong to that other product.

Second, older Windows. The minimum is Windows 10 version 19041.0. Windows 7 is not supported, and neither is an early Windows 10 build. Searches asking what RunCat365 is on Windows 7 have no supported answer here.

Third, precision. A cat whose leg speed changes is a qualitative signal. It will not tell you that one core is pinned at 100 percent while the rest idle, and it will not give you a number, a history, or an alert threshold. If the animation is driven by aggregate load, a single busy thread can look calm. For diagnosing a thermal problem or a runaway process, Task Manager, Resource Monitor, or a proper monitoring agent is the right instrument, and RunCat365 is decoration on top of the same machine.

There is a subtler cost too. The application is itself a process that samples the CPU and animates a taskbar element. The README does not publish an idle footprint, so if you are measuring a low-power machine, install it and check Task Manager before leaving it running.

RunCat365 against a plain performance overlay

The obvious alternative is not another cat. It is a taskbar or overlay tool that renders numeric CPU, memory, and network readouts, of which several exist for Windows. The difference in approach is the point: an overlay gives you values and leaves interpretation to you; RunCat365 gives you a rate of motion and leaves the values out.

That trade is deliberate and it has a real cost. A number is comparable across machines and across sessions, and it can be logged. An animation is not. You cannot paste a cat speed into a bug report, and you cannot set a threshold that turns the cat red. What you get instead is a signal you absorb without looking directly at it, which is the entire reason the project exists.

Within the RunCat family there is a second comparison worth naming: the macOS RunCat. Same idea, different platform and different codebase, and this repository will not help you there. If your team is mixed-platform, RunCat365 covers only the Windows half.

The custom runner feature is where RunCat365 diverges from a fixed overlay. An overlay shows the metrics its author chose. A runner system, in principle, lets the animation reflect something else. But the README documents no runner format, so that flexibility is a promise in the source tree rather than a documented capability.

Maintenance, licence, and what an upgrade costs you

The repository is not archived. The most recent push recorded is 2026-07-15, and the latest release listed is 3.5.0 from 2026-05-25, preceded by 3.4.0 on 2026-03-14 and 3.3.0 on 2026-03-07. That is a steady release cadence across the first half of 2026.

Upgrade cost is low in the ordinary case, because the distribution channel is the Microsoft Store and updates arrive through it. The complication is custom runners. If you have authored runners and the format is undocumented, a release that changes how runners are loaded can break your setup with no changelog entry you could have read in advance. The README does not document rollback, so there is no stated way to pin an older version once the Store has moved on.

Licensing is Apache-2.0 per the repository. That is a permissive licence with an explicit patent grant and a requirement to preserve notices, which matters if you fork the code or redistribute a modified build. It says nothing about the Microsoft Store listing, the project name, or the artwork, and it is not legal advice. If you intend to ship a derivative, read the LICENSE file and the Store terms yourself.

One process note for contributors: the README requires English and the Issue Template, and states that non-conforming issues are closed without question. Budget for that before filing.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt RunCat365 if you want a Windows 10 or 11 taskbar indicator whose animation speed tracks CPU load, and you are willing to take the Store build rather than compile the solution yourself. Skip it on macOS, on Windows 7, or if you dislike a moving element in the tray. Before installing, confirm your Windows build is 19041.0 or higher and read the custom runner documentation, because the README itself does not explain the runner format.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. License: Apache-2.0
2. Project website
3. README
4. Releases
5. runcat-dev/RunCat365 on GitHub