A local-first macOS productivity tracker. Automatically tracks your active apps and websites, detects distraction, measures flow state, and generates AI-powered coaching reports — all running privately on your Mac.
No accounts. No cloud. No subscription. Free and open source.
macOS 12 (Monterey) or later · Apple Silicon
- Open
Focus.dmg→ drag Focus into Applications - First launch: right-click → Open → click Open again (one-time Gatekeeper bypass for unsigned apps)
- Grant Accessibility permission when prompted → System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
During a session:
- Polls active app, window title, and browser URL every 3 seconds
- Classifies activity as productive / neutral / distracting / idle
- Detects flow state (25+ consecutive minutes of focused work)
- Shows a live timer and status in the macOS menu bar
- Sends a desktop notification if you've been distracted for ~1 minute
After each session:
- Generates a focus score (0–100) and activity timeline
- Lists top apps, distracting sites, and flow periods
- Uses AI (Ollama, Claude, or OpenAI) to write a personalised coaching summary
- Vision analysis: periodic screenshots are described by an AI vision model to understand what you were working on, not just where
Planning:
- Set daily goals and a focus target each morning
- Plan tomorrow the night before (suggested after 6pm)
- Incomplete goals carry forward as session starters
Start a session in one click. See exactly what you're doing as it happens.
| What Focus does | What Focus never does |
|---|---|
| Stores data in a local SQLite DB | Send data to any server |
| Reads active app name and window title | Log keystrokes or passwords |
| Reads browser URL (if permitted) | Store screenshots |
| Takes screen snapshots for AI analysis then discards them | Require an account |
Data lives at: ~/Library/Application Support/focus-session/focus-session.db
| Permission | Required | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | ✅ Yes | Read active app and window title |
| Automation → Browser | Optional | Read current browser URL |
| Screen Recording | Optional | Powers Vision AI analysis |
Grant in System Settings → Privacy & Security or accept when prompted.
Three options — all optional:
brew install ollama
ollama serve
ollama pull phi4-mini # text summaries (~2.5 GB)
ollama pull minicpm-v:2.6 # vision analysis — reads screen text accurately (~5.5 GB)Configure in Settings → AI. No API key needed.
Lighter alternative:
ollama pull llava-phi3(~2.9 GB) if disk space is tight. Less accurate at reading on-screen text but usable.
Add your API key in Settings → AI → Claude. Uses claude-sonnet-4-6 by default.
Add your API key in Settings → AI → OpenAI. Uses gpt-4o-mini by default.
git clone https://github.com/tanavc1/focus-session.git
cd focus-session
npm install # also rebuilds native SQLite module for Electron
npm start # dev mode with hot reload
npm run make # produces Focus.dmg in out/make/Requirements: Node.js 20+, macOS
App doesn't detect what I'm working on → Grant Accessibility permission in System Settings → restart the app.
Browser domain not showing → Grant Automation permission for your browser (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation → Focus → enable your browser).
"Apple cannot verify that Focus is safe" / "cannot be opened" → macOS blocks unsigned apps by default. Two ways to fix it (one-time only):
Option A — System Settings:
- Try to open Focus (it will be blocked)
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security
- Scroll down — you'll see "Focus was blocked" → click Open Anyway
- Enter your Mac password → Open
Option B — Terminal (fastest):
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Focus.appThen double-click Focus normally. You'll never see the warning again.
Vision analysis not working
→ Make sure Ollama is running (ollama serve) and the vision model is pulled (ollama pull minicpm-v:2.6). Check Settings → AI → Test Connection. If you see the model listed there, click it to set it as your vision model.
AI report not generating
→ For Ollama: ensure it's running. For Claude/OpenAI: verify your API key format (Claude: sk-ant-..., OpenAI: sk-...).
- Electron 31 + React 18 + TypeScript
- SQLite (better-sqlite3) — all data local
- Tailwind CSS — UI styling
- Ollama / Anthropic SDK / OpenAI SDK — AI providers
- AppleScript — active app and browser URL detection
- macOS powerMonitor — idle detection (zero subprocess overhead)
Every push to main builds a new DMG automatically via GitHub Actions and updates the latest release. The download URL never changes.