What does Ajar do?
Ajar maps your MacBook’s lid angle to display brightness, keyboard backlight, and system volume, and keeps the Mac awake while AI agents, builds, or exports are running in the background. See the Ajar page for a full overview.
Which Macs and macOS versions does Ajar support?
Every Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later. We develop and test on a MacBook Pro with M4 Pro. The Awake rules run on every Apple Silicon model, from MacBook Air to Mac Studio. Sync reads the MacBook hinge sensor, so the lid-driven curve is MacBook only. On a desktop Mac, the rest of Ajar still works.
Does Ajar support Intel Macs?
No. Ajar is Apple Silicon only. The lid-angle sensor stack and the Sync hot path rely on Apple Silicon APIs.
Does Sync work on external displays?
Studio Display follows the same lid-angle curve as the built-in screen today. Other external displays connected to a MacBook are on our roadmap.
Does Awake work on a Mac mini, Mac Studio, or iMac?
Yes. Every rule type except Lid Angle runs the same on desktop Macs: AI Tool, App, Process, Wi-Fi, Disk, and Power. Lid Angle rules are inert on a hinge-less Mac. Battery-based Power rules never fire on a Mac without a battery, so there is no point adding one.
What does the Sync curve map?
A single curve from closed lid to fully open. At each angle, the curve yields a fraction between 0 and 1. Ajar applies that fraction to three outputs: display brightness, keyboard backlight, and system volume. Display brightness is always on. Keyboard backlight and volume are opt-in toggles in Settings > Sync. The default curve crosses 50% at the midpoint, and the two endpoints are forced to 0 when closed and 1 when fully open.
How do I shape the curve?
Drag a single anchor point in the LID MAPPING pad. The point decides where the curve passes through the middle. Pull it toward “lid almost open + low” to delay brightening until late in the swing. Pull it toward “lid barely open + high” to ramp up immediately. The two endpoints stay fixed, so every position on the pad gives you a usable curve.
What happens if I adjust brightness, keyboard backlight, or volume manually?
Ajar reads the new value as your preference at the current lid angle. It calculates a new ceiling so the curve scales from there onward. Your manual change becomes the new top of the range. The lid still drives the fraction, but the absolute target shifts to match what you just set.
Will Sync conflict with Night Shift, True Tone, or auto-brightness?
Night Shift and True Tone live separately from the brightness slider, so they stay untouched. Auto-brightness writes to the same slider Ajar drives, so the two will fight each other. Turn off Automatically adjust brightness in System Settings > Displays when using Ajar Sync.
How does Awake know an AI agent is actually working?
Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLI each append to a session file on disk every time they think or call a tool. Ajar watches the file’s modified time. As long as the file moves, the rule is active. When it goes quiet for 30 seconds (configurable to 10, 60, 120, or 300), the rule clears and the Mac is allowed to sleep.
Which AI agents are supported out of the box?
Three are built in: Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLI. Ajar finds each one’s session files automatically. Cursor Agent is also bundled as a built-in Process rule. You can disable any of them or add your own rules in Settings > Awake.
What rule types can I create, and can I combine them?
Six types: AI Tool, App, Process, Wi-Fi, Disk, and Power. Each rule fires independently. While any one rule is active, the Mac stays awake. Rules combine as OR, never AND. Build the set you trust, leave them on, and the Mac stays up whenever any signal is real.
How long does the Mac stay awake after a rule clears?
There is a configurable release delay, defaulting to 5 minutes. When every rule goes quiet, Ajar starts the timer before releasing its idle-sleep assertion. If a signal flips back on during that window, the timer cancels and the Mac stays up. Change the value in Settings > Awake.
Can I keep the Mac awake for a fixed time, ignoring the rules?
Yes. From the menu bar, pick 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, or indefinitely. The override sits on top of the rule system and releases itself when the timer ends. If you reboot or relaunch Ajar while a timed override is running, it resumes with the same expiry.
Does Awake also stop the display from sleeping?
No. Ajar holds only a prevent-idle-sleep assertion. The display still dims and sleeps on its own schedule, the same as without Ajar. This is intentional. Most reasons to keep the Mac awake (builds, agents, exports, downloads) do not need the screen on, and a dark screen saves battery.
How is Ajar different from Amphetamine, Caffeine, or other keep-awake apps?
Those apps are switches and stopwatches. Turn on, forget to turn off, drain the battery overnight. Ajar runs on signals: a session file moving, a process alive, a disk mounted, the lid past an angle, the Wi-Fi you trust. It stays awake while a signal is real and steps back the moment it drops. There is also a manual override for the times you do want a switch.
Does Ajar send any data over the network?
Your curve, your rules, your watched session files, your Wi-Fi SSIDs, your process names, and your menu actions all stay on your Mac. Outbound network activity is limited to license activation and verification, update checks, and anonymous telemetry (which you can disable in Ajar’s preferences). Telemetry never carries the contents of your rules. No SSIDs, no process names, no app bundle IDs. See the privacy policy for the full list.
How does pricing work?
One-time purchase, no subscriptions. A 7-day free trial is included so you can try Ajar before you buy. See the Ajar page for current pricing and plans.
What does my license cover?
A single Ajar license covers one Mac, with the option to buy additional Mac slots up to fifty as part of the same purchase. After payment, your license key arrives by email. Open Ajar > Settings > About and enter the key on each Mac you want to activate.
Brightness or keyboard backlight is not following the lid. What should I do?
First, open Settings > Sync and confirm the toggles you want are on. Keyboard backlight and volume are off by default. If Automatically adjust brightness is enabled in System Settings > Displays, turn it off, since it writes to the same slider Ajar drives. If Ajar’s Status tab shows a lid angle of 0 even when the lid is open, quit and relaunch Ajar to re-attach to the hinge sensor.