SleepGuard

SleepGuard is a native Swift macOS bedtime reminder and sleep schedule app that helps you wake at 5:45 AM by getting you off the Mac early enough to wind down.

A battery-first macOS sleep schedule app that uses launchd instead of an always-on daemon.

SleepGuard is built for people who want a simple, local-first Mac bedtime utility without Electron, analytics, a menu bar process, or a polling loop.

Highlights

• Native macOS app written in Swift, SwiftUI, and AppKit.
• Per-user launchd scheduling with StartCalendarInterval.
• Zero idle SleepGuard process when the app and overlay are closed.
• Calm non-blocking countdown overlay with one snooze.
• Graceful logout request that lets macOS show normal unsaved-work prompts.
• Light Mode, Dark Mode, keyboard navigation, and VoiceOver-friendly labels.

Keywords

macos bedtime app, macos sleep schedule, macos sleep reminder, launchd app, native swift macos, battery friendly mac app, logout reminder, bedtime reminder, swiftui macos app, no background daemon

What It Does

• Starts a calm warning overlay at 8:45 PM.
• Targets graceful logout at 9:15 PM.
• Keeps the 9:45 PM in-bed goal visible.
• Keeps the 5:45 AM wake-up goal explicit.
• Uses a per-user LaunchAgent with StartCalendarInterval.
• Runs no permanent menu bar app, polling loop, Electron shell, or KeepAlive process.

Why It Exists

Most focus apps trade battery life for constant presence. SleepGuard takes the opposite approach: macOS already has a scheduler, so the app writes a LaunchAgent and exits. The helper is launched only when it is time to wrap up.

User Experience

The overlay is intentionally non-blocking. You can keep typing, clicking, switching apps, and saving work. It can collapse into a small countdown pill, but it cannot fully disappear while active. SleepGuard allows one short snooze and then shows a final save check before requesting the normal macOS logout flow.

The logout request is graceful: macOS and your apps can still show normal unsaved-work prompts.

Build

swift build -c release
make package

The packaged app is written to dist/SleepGuard.app.

Install Locally

make package
cp -R dist/SleepGuard.app /Applications/
open /Applications/SleepGuard.app

Click Save Schedule in the app to install the per-user LaunchAgent. Closing SleepGuard after that is expected; launchd starts the overlay at the warning time.

Run From Source

swift run SleepGuard

Preview the overlay without allowing it to log out:

swift run SleepGuardOverlay -- --preview --no-logout

Architecture

SleepGuard has three Swift targets:

• SleepGuardCore: shared schedule model, persistence, and LaunchAgent management.
• SleepGuard: visible native settings app.
• SleepGuardOverlay: hidden helper launched only at warning time.

The app follows a small clean architecture:

• domain and infrastructure in SleepGuardCore
• settings presentation in Sources/SleepGuard
• scheduled overlay presentation in Sources/SleepGuardOverlay
• no business logic hidden in generated project files

See docs/architecture.md.

Safety Model

SleepGuard is a self-discipline tool, not parental control or device management software. It does not try to trap the user, block input, bypass macOS prompts, or hide from system tools.

Defaults

Event	Time
Warning starts	8:45 PM
Graceful logout target	9:15 PM
In-bed target	9:45 PM
Wake-up target	5:45 AM

License

MIT