LidAwake

Close your MacBook lid and keep working. A tiny macOS menu bar app that stops your Mac from sleeping on lid close — so Claude Code, Codex, builds, downloads, and other long-running terminal jobs keep running with the laptop shut. No external display needed.

A focused, closed-lid alternative to Amphetamine / Caffeine.

Why

• macOS sleeps the instant you close the lid → your task dies mid-run.
• Clamshell mode needs an external monitor + keyboard you don't always have.
• LidAwake keeps the Mac awake lid-closed and switches the internal screen off, so nothing's wasted.

Features

• ☕ / 🌙 menu bar toggle — stay awake vs. sleep on lid close, at a glance.
• Per power source — independent AC and battery policies; auto-applied on plug/unplug.
• Screen off when closed — blanks the internal panel on lid close, and the external monitor too (uncheck the toggle to keep clamshell mode and leave the external on).
• Launch at Login (⌘L) — starts hidden in the menu bar.
• Live status line, e.g. “On battery · sleeps on lid close”.

How it works

Toggles pmset disablesleep (0 = sleep, 1 = stay awake) — one live, system-wide value, so LidAwake watches power changes and applies your per-source policy itself. On lid close it runs pmset displaysleepnow to blank the internal screen — and the external one too, unless you keep clamshell mode on. Requires macOS 12+.

Note

Keeping a Mac awake lid-closed in a bag can get warm and drain the battery. Keep it ventilated; prefer AC-only if unsure.

Install

1. Download LidAwake.dmg from Releases, open it, drag LidAwake → Applications.
2. It's unsigned, so the first launch is Gatekeeper-blocked. Either:
   • Open it → click Done (not Move to Trash) → System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway, or
   • run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/LidAwake.app

First run installs a scoped passwordless rule at /etc/sudoers.d/lidawake (limited to pmset … disablesleep, validated with visudo) so it can switch silently. Click Not Now to skip and it'll ask for your password each time instead. Remove later with sudo rm /etc/sudoers.d/lidawake.

Build

./build.sh     # compile + bundle + install to /Applications
./release.sh   # universal (arm64 + Intel) LidAwake.dmg for distribution