Caffeine

Caffeine is a small macOS menu-bar utility that temporarily keeps a Mac awake during long tasks, presentations or reading. This is the IntelliScape continuation of the original Lighthead Software app, not the separate domzilla Caffeine fork.

Main features

• Toggle wakefulness by clicking the coffee-cup menu-bar icon.
• Prevent automatic idle sleep, screen dimming and screen savers while active.
• Open the menu with a right-click or Command-click.
• Choose a timeout so normal power management resumes automatically.
• Configure a default duration, activation at launch and launch at login.

Install and use

Install this catalog's Mac cask with brew install --cask caffeine, or download the official DMG and drag Caffeine to Applications. Launch the app and find its coffee-cup icon in the menu bar. Click to activate; a full cup indicates activity. Click again to return to normal power management. Right-click or Command-click for the menu, durations and preferences.

The 1.1.4 source still checks Accessibility permission and provides a prompt linking to the macOS Accessibility privacy settings. If prompted, review the app and enable Caffeine under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility. Version 1.1.4 changes the mechanism used to keep the Mac awake for Tahoe compatibility, but does not remove this permission check.

Caffeine controls automatic idle behavior. Do not rely on it to override closing a laptop lid, manual sleep, shutdown, low-battery protection or other system power constraints. Keeping the display and computer awake consumes more power; use a timeout or deactivate it when the task ends. It is not a task scheduler or a guarantee that an interrupted network transfer will resume.

Requirements and compatibility

The current official download requires macOS 11 Big Sur or later and explicitly supports macOS Tahoe 26. Version 1.1.4 adds full native Apple Silicon support without Rosetta. It is a Mac application; no official Windows, Linux, iOS or Android version is established for this project. The cask conflicts with domzilla-caffeine, so select one implementation rather than installing both casks together. No additional Homebrew formula dependency is declared.

The official 1.1.4 Caffeine.dmg download is 827,593 bytes, matching the release asset and catalog record. This is download size, not installed disk usage. Upstream publishes no specific RAM or installed-space minimum. The local wakefulness workflow does not require an account or subscription; downloading updates and accessing support need network access.

Price, license and history

Caffeine is free of charge, with optional donations. The source uses the MIT license. Tomas Franzén of Lighthead Software originally developed it in 2006; IntelliScape continued development from the open-sourced project in 2018 after macOS privacy changes affected the older app. Historical inactivity should not be confused with the maintained continuation: the official site announces 1.1.4 in September 2025. Version 1.1.4 removes analytics and crash reporting.

Sources: Official product page, Official 1.1.4 release, Source and usage, 1.1.4 permission and power-management source, MIT license.