4 ms·

Show HN: Modafinil - Let agents continue running while MacBook lid is closed

15 points by hamza_q_ 5mo ago

LucianoMGuido 5mo ago
[flagged]
david3289 5mo ago
Great! I always used sudo pmset disablesleep 1 Is a great app
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  Thanks! Yeah this is basically just a convenient wrapper around that command, with some extra machinery to turn off the display when the lid closes.
- JSR_FDED 5mo ago
  Will this turn off the display if the lid is closed?
  - hamza_q_ 5mo ago
    Modafinil will prevent sleep and turn off the display when you close the lid. But just the `sudo pmset disablesleep 1` command alone will only prevent sleep when you close the lid, it won't turn off the display.
curiousObject 5mo ago
I was about ready to warn you that was a trademark, but it isn’t I think, only the generic name. Nice work.
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  Thanks! hahah I actually didn't know that. If it was a violation, would've been cool to get a cease and desist for Modafinil of all things :P
ybouane 5mo ago
I was thinking of building this yesterday...
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  Series of viral Twitter posts making fun of people carrying half open MacBooks motivated me to build it haha
gisanokharu 5mo ago
[dead]
Mechse 5mo ago
The name is crazy! Was searching for something like that
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  Love me some Modafinil. Yes, the macOS utility, of course :P
fragmede 5mo ago
was was wrong with amphetamine? https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amphetamine/id937984704 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amphetamine/id937984704
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  Yeah this is the first app I tried when I was evaluating my options before making something myself. With the following settings: Allow display sleep: on Allow system sleep when display is closed: off It did prevent sleep when you close the lid, but it didn't turn off the display off. I really wanted the display to turn off like normal (while still preventing sleep), which is what Modafinil does. Now I made a couple posts on Reddit and I've gotten reports that this may be a bug because apparently it _is_ supposed to turn off the display when you close the lid with those settings. I've also had someone say Amphetamine indeed doesn't support this out of the box because it violates App Store policies, and so you need Amphetamine Enhancer. Not sure what the actual truth is.
swah 5mo ago
"Is modafinil better than caffeinate"
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  "100% bro"
jnakano89 5mo ago
The macOS sleep-prevention naming canon: caffeinate (built-in), Amphetamine (App Store), and now modafinil. At this rate the next one's going to require a prescription.
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  <laughing w/ tears emoji>
partomniscient 5mo ago
Not that I'm against the idea behind the software, but the amount of name-stealing because it sounds cool (sometimes kind of relevant, sometimes not) that software has done, has totally polluted the original words to the point they sometimes don't show up in search results. Even the two Steve's and their Apple company had this issue (as did record companies etc. etc.). Try searching for python now and 'nary a snake to be mentioned. To be fair I'm equally pissed off that a bunch of different pharmaceutical companies re-brand identical molecules with different names for each company and sometimes for different countries even within a single company. Sometimes all this naming cleverness or arbitrariness just makes the world more confusing for everyone.
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  Fair. I guess it's just hard to come up with nice sounding names that are truly original like Skype and Häagen-Dazs, so you use an existing one. Hopefully this niche macOS utility doesn't start ranking above search results for the actual drug Modafinil :)
hereme888 5mo ago
Perfect name.
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  <smirk emoji>
bradhe 5mo ago
God the name was very triggering as someone who worked in the valley 2011-2018 time frame…
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  hahaha
noashavit 5mo ago
People in SF need this. Too many cracked open Macs running agents have been spotted outside public bathrooms haha ;-)
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  https://x.com/chr1sa/status/2052423749778239678 https://x.com/chr1sa/status/2052423749778239678 Exactly what motivated me hahah
PEGHIN 5mo ago
Agent infrastructure requires runtime policy enforcement, not just model-level guardrails. Deterministic controls at the system boundary prevent policy violations regardless of model behavior Check the post: https://www.supra-wall.com/blog/llm-as-judge-fails-agent-security https://www.supra-wall.com/blog/llm-as-judge-fails-agent-sec...

15 points by hamza_q_ 5mo ago

LucianoMGuido 5mo ago

[flagged]

david3289 5mo ago

Great! I always used sudo pmset disablesleep 1 Is a great app

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
Thanks! Yeah this is basically just a convenient wrapper around that command, with some extra machinery to turn off the display when the lid closes.
JSR_FDED 5mo ago
Will this turn off the display if the lid is closed?
- hamza_q_ 5mo ago
  Modafinil will prevent sleep and turn off the display when you close the lid. But just the `sudo pmset disablesleep 1` command alone will only prevent sleep when you close the lid, it won't turn off the display.

curiousObject 5mo ago

I was about ready to warn you that was a trademark, but it isn’t I think, only the generic name. Nice work.

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
Thanks! hahah I actually didn't know that. If it was a violation, would've been cool to get a cease and desist for Modafinil of all things :P

ybouane 5mo ago

I was thinking of building this yesterday...

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
Series of viral Twitter posts making fun of people carrying half open MacBooks motivated me to build it haha

gisanokharu 5mo ago

[dead]

Mechse 5mo ago

The name is crazy! Was searching for something like that

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
Love me some Modafinil. Yes, the macOS utility, of course :P

fragmede 5mo ago

was was wrong with amphetamine? https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amphetamine/id937984704 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amphetamine/id937984704

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
Yeah this is the first app I tried when I was evaluating my options before making something myself. With the following settings: Allow display sleep: on Allow system sleep when display is closed: off It did prevent sleep when you close the lid, but it didn't turn off the display off. I really wanted the display to turn off like normal (while still preventing sleep), which is what Modafinil does. Now I made a couple posts on Reddit and I've gotten reports that this may be a bug because apparently it _is_ supposed to turn off the display when you close the lid with those settings. I've also had someone say Amphetamine indeed doesn't support this out of the box because it violates App Store policies, and so you need Amphetamine Enhancer. Not sure what the actual truth is.

swah 5mo ago

"Is modafinil better than caffeinate"

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
"100% bro"

jnakano89 5mo ago

The macOS sleep-prevention naming canon: caffeinate (built-in), Amphetamine (App Store), and now modafinil. At this rate the next one's going to require a prescription.

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
<laughing w/ tears emoji>

partomniscient 5mo ago

Not that I'm against the idea behind the software, but the amount of name-stealing because it sounds cool (sometimes kind of relevant, sometimes not) that software has done, has totally polluted the original words to the point they sometimes don't show up in search results. Even the two Steve's and their Apple company had this issue (as did record companies etc. etc.). Try searching for python now and 'nary a snake to be mentioned. To be fair I'm equally pissed off that a bunch of different pharmaceutical companies re-brand identical molecules with different names for each company and sometimes for different countries even within a single company. Sometimes all this naming cleverness or arbitrariness just makes the world more confusing for everyone.

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
Fair. I guess it's just hard to come up with nice sounding names that are truly original like Skype and Häagen-Dazs, so you use an existing one. Hopefully this niche macOS utility doesn't start ranking above search results for the actual drug Modafinil :)

hereme888 5mo ago

Perfect name.

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
<smirk emoji>

bradhe 5mo ago

God the name was very triggering as someone who worked in the valley 2011-2018 time frame…

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
hahaha

noashavit 5mo ago

People in SF need this. Too many cracked open Macs running agents have been spotted outside public bathrooms haha ;-)

hamza_q_ 5mo ago
https://x.com/chr1sa/status/2052423749778239678 https://x.com/chr1sa/status/2052423749778239678 Exactly what motivated me hahah

PEGHIN 5mo ago

Agent infrastructure requires runtime policy enforcement, not just model-level guardrails. Deterministic controls at the system boundary prevent policy violations regardless of model behavior Check the post: https://www.supra-wall.com/blog/llm-as-judge-fails-agent-security https://www.supra-wall.com/blog/llm-as-judge-fails-agent-sec...