One eye in your menu bar.
It keeps your laptop awake until a time you pick.
Nightwatch keeps your laptop awake with the lid closed (demo)
Stay awake for the agentic era.
01 the menu bar
Click the eye.
Days, hours and minutes slide out.
Type 8, press Enter.
Awake until the countdown reaches zero.
Click the countdown.
Type more time and it adds on.
Hold × to end.
A 0.6 second hold, so a stray click can't end it.
Right-click the eye.
Status first, then Settings and Quit.
scroll to play it, or use the pill yourself
02
Lid closed.
Still running.
Your agents keep working with the lid closed. Opening it tries to undo everything in this log.
Built-in mics cut out with the lid closed. Use AirPods or an external mic.
- lid closed
- display, keyboard lightoffbrightness saved
- slack, whatsapp, discordfrozenSIGSTOP
- audiomuted
- low power modeon
- docker desktopfrozenopt-in, no containers
- your agent CLIsrunning
- timer7:59:56still counting
- lid opened
- display, keyboard lightrestored
- frozen appsresumedSIGCONT
- audiounmuted
- low power modeoffunless a rule needs it
03
Battery and heat.
These are the defaults. Change them in Settings.
The rules only run while the app is open.
- 100%awake
- 40%Low Power Mode on
- 10%session ends
- heatserious: Low Power Mode on · critical: session ends
04
Recovery.
Every change goes into a journal on disk before it happens, so it can be undone even after a crash.
If the menu shows a recovery warning, fix it before you leave the machine alone.
- 1write the change to the journal
- 2make the change
- 3session endsundo what the journal lists
- ?app crashed or quitthe launchd agent undoes it after the end time
- !an undo failedthe entry stays on disk and the menu warns you
05
Optional extras.
Joins your phone hotspot if the Wi-Fi drops.
Keeps terminal sessions alive while the lid is closed.
Suspends background tabs to save power and heat.
06
Install.
macOS 26 or later, Apple silicon. Paste this into your coding agent:
Install the latest Nightwatch demo by following the project README. If a step needs your password, give you the command to run in Terminal. (Demo only; not a real installer.)
Or read the project README for local run and deploy steps.
Nightwatch is an experimental concept demo. Recovery can fail, and a timer is not a safety guarantee. Keep the device on a stable, ventilated surface, never in a closed bag.