# Tamp – shows when another app is keeping your Mac awake

> Source: <https://tamp.kybernaut.cz/>
> Published: 2026-07-07 10:40:53+00:00

Free & open source · macOS 13+

# Tamp keeps your Mac awake.

*And tells you when something else does.*

Tamp is a menu bar app and CLI wrapping Apple's built-in
**caffeinate** — and the only keep-awake tool that shows when
**another app** is caffeinating your Mac.

[Star on GitHub](https://github.com/vyskoczilova/tamp)

Universal binaries (Apple Silicon + Intel) · no Xcode needed · MIT

## Why Tamp

### It tells the truth

If any other tool — Amphetamine, a script, an AI agent's hooks — runs
`caffeinate`

, Tamp's icon fills and the status says so. No more
wondering why the Mac won't sleep.

### One state, two faces

The menu bar app and the `tamp`

CLI share a single source of
truth. Toggle in the terminal, watch the icon change. Set a timer in the
menu, read it with `tamp status --json`

.

### Nothing exotic

Keep-awake is Apple's own `caffeinate`

, wrapped — not
reimplemented. Display, system and disk sleep controlled independently.
MIT-licensed, ~1 MB, no background daemon.

## Command line

``` bash
$ tamp on                # keep awake until turned off
$ tamp for 2h            # … for two hours
$ tamp until 17:30       # … until half past five
$ tamp on --no-display   # let the screen sleep, keep the Mac up
$ tamp status
☕️ On — caffeinated by another app.
$ tamp off               # yours stops; other apps' sessions are never touched
```

## Real-world integration

This is why Tamp shows when another app is caffeinating your Mac: I got
tired of not knowing if Claude Code was still working. A couple of lines
in my
[Claude Code hooks](https://gist.github.com/vyskoczilova/d5206f81f80e999cd4b2133c24712d8b)
mirror straight into Tamp's state — same icon I already glance at for
everything else.

## Compared

| Tamp | Amphetamine | KeepingYouAwake | Caffeine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menu bar app | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLI sharing state with the app | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Shows other apps' keep-awake | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Keep awake until a clock time | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Homebrew install | ✓ tap | App Store | ✓ cask | ✓ cask |
| Open source | ✓ MIT | — | ✓ MIT | ✓ MIT |

Based on each project's published documentation, July 2026. Amphetamine's trigger system covers automation Tamp doesn't attempt — if you need that, use Amphetamine.

## Questions

## Is Tamp free?

Yes — free and open source under the MIT license.

## What macOS version does it require?

macOS 13 Ventura or later. Homebrew installs universal binaries for Apple Silicon and Intel.

## Do I need Xcode?

No. Installing via Homebrew needs nothing extra; building from source needs only the Swift 6+ toolchain (Command Line Tools are enough).

## How is it different from Amphetamine or KeepingYouAwake?

Tamp ships a CLI and a menu bar app that share one state, and it uniquely shows when *another* app is keeping your Mac awake instead of pretending the machine is free to sleep.

## Does it drain my battery?

No. Keep-awake itself is Apple's native `caffeinate`

; Tamp adds a menu bar icon and a lightweight in-process check that notices external keep-awake activity while idle.

## Can I keep only the display awake?

Yes — display, system and disk sleep are independent, per run (`tamp on --display --no-system`

) or as saved preferences in Settings.

## How do I uninstall it?

`brew uninstall tamp`

, delete `/Applications/Tamp.app`

, and optionally remove `~/Library/Application Support/Tamp`

. The repo ships an `uninstall.sh`

that does all of it, login item included.

## How do I report a bug or contribute?

Open an [issue](https://github.com/vyskoczilova/tamp/issues) or pull request on GitHub — I read all of them. For anything else, email [karolina@kybernaut.cz](mailto:karolina@kybernaut.cz).