Useful built-in macOS command-line utilities

TIL: caffeinate

Very useful.

Indeed, many applications I would expect to prevent sleeping (some audio playback ones, games, etc.) don't implement this. I assume it's a case of Apple's APIs changing over the years and not everyone catching up/caring. At one point I had downloaded Amphetamine[^1] but it is much nicer to just use the terminal here.

[^1]: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amphetamine/id937984704

Also https://github.com/newmarcel/KeepingYouAwake

I was able to install a `caffeine` package with Apt on Linux. In that one the `caffeinate` command is supposed to be run with another command. While the `caffeine` command does what macOs `caffeinate` does.

The "newest" and still supported low level API is almost 14 years old: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/iokit/kiopmasserti... https://developer.apple.com/documentation/iokit/kiopmasserti...

For a GUI version, Amphetamine is quite nice (and free). https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amphetamine/id937984704?mt=12

yes amphetamine I use regularly when I want to charge my android phone during travel with lid closed.

That's interesting, I have never needed to do that. My Pixels have always just charged even if the lid is closed, on Intel and Apple Silicon machines. I like to travel light so I often use my laptop as a battery bank instead of carrying a seperate one.

It would be cool to have this activate when a Jupyter notebook is currently running a cell, and deactivate automatically when its finished.

While it may avoid sleep, it doesn’t prevent inactivity, in my experience. For instance, my chat app at work will still show me inactive while running caffeinate. I have to do non-interactive training semi-regularly and need to interact to keep from looking like I’m away from my desk.

Have you used the `-u` flag? From the manual:

  -u      Create an assertion to declare that user is active.

This can be done by passing a PID. I believe there are other options, as well. (Not at my computer to look it up right now.) I haven't used those features "manually", but I have in scripts that I expect to generate long-running processes.

Doesn’t work with Slack at least. I’ve had an iTerm window running `caffeinate -disu` for years. I think it used to work and stopped working in the last few months.