alt.hn

3/23/2026 at 1:04:07 PM

Show HN: Lockpaw One hotkey to cover your Mac screen without putting it to sleep

https://github.com/sorkila/lockpaw

by eriknielsen

3/23/2026 at 2:53:59 PM

I currently use the built-in caffeinate command in the terminal for this exact use case (keeping AI agents or large downloads running while away).

However, caffeinate fails when I physically close the MacBook lid (unless connected to an external display/power). Looking at your architecture, it seems Lockpaw uses IOPMAssertion from IOKit, which is the same API caffeinate uses.

Does Lockpaw have any workarounds for the lid-closed sleep behavior, or is the primary advantage here combining standard sleep assertions with visual shielding/input blocking? (Either way, solving the 'screen is on and fully accessible' problem of caffeinate is a huge win! Great app.)

by aiboost

3/23/2026 at 1:04:14 PM

[dead]

by eriknielsen