A tiny macOS menu-bar app that stops your Mac from sleeping — and keeps your builds, servers and agents running even when the lid is shut and unplugged.
Free & open source · macOS 11+ · Apple Silicon & Intel
Why CaffeinateCat
Everything you need to keep your Mac running, nothing you don't.
Keeps your screen on and prevents idle sleep with a single click. On the moment you launch.
Shut the lid, unplug, and walk away — your Mac keeps running on battery. Perfect for travel.
Run indefinitely or auto-off after 15m, 30m, 1h, or a custom time you set to the minute.
Lid-closed mode asks for admin permission just once — no manual config, no dev account needed.
A few hundred lines of Swift, no dependencies. Lives quietly in your menu bar — no Dock icon, no background bloat.
Always restores normal sleep when you turn it off or quit. It can never leave your Mac stuck awake.
Two modes
| Mode | Screen stays on | Blocks idle sleep | Lid closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep Screen Awake | Yes | Yes | Mac sleeps |
| Keep Awake on Lid Close | Yes | Yes | Stays awake ✦ |
Lid-close mode is a superset of the other — lid open, it behaves exactly the same; lid shut, it keeps going, even on battery.
Click the cup and the panel drops down. A switch for each mode, a timer if you want one — that's the whole app.
29:59Under the hood
Caffeinate uses macOS's own beginActivity API to hold off idle and display sleep. No permissions required.
For lid-closed mode it sets the SleepDisabled flag via pmset — the only reliable way to stay awake with the lid shut on battery.
A tiny, tightly-scoped permission rule is installed with one native admin prompt. After that, it just works — forever.
Download CaffeinateCat 1.1.0 and keep your Mac running exactly as long as you need.
Unsigned build — right-click → Open the first time to get past Gatekeeper.