Foldwake

Native macOS menu bar app that disables system sleep through a privileged helper while still allowing the display to sleep.

Features

• Menu bar only: no Dock icon, no main window.
• Block Mac Sleep: prevents idle/system sleep and asks the privileged helper to set pmset -a disablesleep 1.
• SleepDisabled diagnostics: shows the actual pmset -g state instead of relying on saved preferences.
• Battery Guard: restores normal sleep when the Mac is on battery and reaches the low-battery threshold.
• Open at Login: installs a user LaunchAgent for the built app.
• Privileged helper is bundled and managed through SMAppService, so toggling lid sleep does not require repeated password prompts after approval.

Menu Shortcuts

• Command-B: toggle Block Mac Sleep.
• Command-G: toggle Battery Guard.
• Command-L: toggle Open at Login.
• Command-R: restore normal sleep.
• Command-I: install or repair the helper.
• Command-,: open Login Items settings.
• Command-Q: quit Foldwake.

Requirements

• macOS 14 or newer.
• Swift 6.3.x. This repository includes .swift-version set to 6.3.2.
• For local development, install Swift through Swiftly:

swiftly install 6.3.2 --use
source "$HOME/.swiftly/env.sh"

Build

git clone https://github.com/thavguard/foldwake.git
cd foldwake
./scripts/build-app.sh
open dist/Foldwake.app

The build script prefers ~/.swiftly/bin when Swiftly is installed, so it uses Swift 6.3.x instead of the older /usr/bin/swift from Xcode.

Test

./scripts/test.sh

Helper Approval

The app bundles FoldwakeHelper as:

Foldwake.app/Contents/Library/LaunchDaemons/io.github.thavguard.foldwake.helper.plist

Use Install or Repair Helper... from the menu after building the app. macOS may require approval in System Settings > Login Items. After approval, Block Mac Sleep talks to the helper over XPC.

Lid-Close Limits

Foldwake does not require an external display. When Block Mac Sleep is enabled, it uses the helper to set the system pmset disablesleep flag and then verifies that macOS reports SleepDisabled = 1.

macOS can still enforce hardware, firmware, thermal, battery, security, or OS-version-specific sleep behavior. Foldwake treats SleepDisabled as the source of truth it can verify through public system tools; if macOS refuses to apply that state, Foldwake reports the failure instead of showing a fake enabled state.

Architecture

See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.

Development

Validate app icon generation after changing the icon source:

./scripts/check-icon.sh

License

MIT