Tamp

Website: tamp.kybernaut.cz

Tamp is a free, open-source macOS menu bar app and CLI that keeps your Mac awake — a lightweight wrapper around Apple's built-in caffeinate. Unlike other keep-awake tools, Tamp also detects when another app is caffeinating your Mac and reflects the machine's real state in the menu bar.

Named after the coffee tamper (and the menu bar icon that goes with it).

Install

brew install vyskoczilova/tap/tamp

Then copy the menu bar app to /Applications (see the formula caveats):

cp -R "$(brew --prefix tamp)/Tamp.app" /Applications/
open /Applications/Tamp.app

Requirements: macOS 13 Ventura or later. Homebrew installs universal binaries (Apple Silicon + Intel); no Xcode or developer tools needed.

What it does

• Shows the truth about your Mac's sleep — if any other tool (Amphetamine, a script, Claude Code hooks…) runs caffeinate, Tamp's icon and status say "On — caffeinated by another app"
• Toggle keep-awake on/off from the menu bar or with tamp toggle
• Caffeinate for a duration (30m, 1h, 1h30m, 90s; capped at 7 days) or until a clock time (17:30)
• Independently prevent display / system / disk sleep
• The tamp CLI and the menu bar app share one source of truth — change state in one and the other reflects it immediately
• Selectable menu bar icon styles, including coffee brewing concepts (tamper, pour-over, filter, pot)

How it compares

	Tamp	Amphetamine	KeepingYouAwake	Caffeine
Menu bar app	✅	✅	✅	✅
CLI sharing state with the app	✅	❌	❌	❌
Shows when another app keeps the Mac awake	✅	❌	❌	❌
Keep awake until a specific time	✅	✅	❌	❌
Timed sessions (durations)	✅	✅	✅	✅
Homebrew install	✅ tap	❌ App Store	✅ cask	✅ cask
Open source	✅ MIT	❌ (free, closed)	✅ MIT	✅ MIT

Based on each project's published documentation as of July 2026. Amphetamine offers an extensive trigger/automation system that Tamp doesn't attempt to match — if you need that, use Amphetamine.

CLI usage

tamp on              # keep awake until turned off
tamp off             # allow sleep again
tamp toggle          # flip current state
tamp for 2h          # keep awake for 2 hours
tamp until 17:30     # keep awake until 17:30 (rolls to tomorrow if past)
tamp status          # show state ( --json for scripting, incl. resolved phase )
tamp icon            # list icon styles ( * marks current )
tamp icon pourOver   # set the menu bar icon style

# Per-run sleep overrides (otherwise saved preferences apply):
tamp on --no-display --system

How it works

Each session shells out to /usr/bin/caffeinate with flags mapped from your preferences (-d display, -i idle system, -m disk) and -t <seconds> for timed sessions. The running PID and session details are persisted to ~/Library/Application Support/Tamp/state.json; the menu bar app watches that file so CLI changes show up immediately. If a tracked process dies (timer elapsed or manual kill), the state self-reconciles to "off" — and a recorded PID is never trusted (or killed) unless it still names a caffeinate process, so recycled PIDs are harmless.

When Tamp's own state is inactive, it also checks the live process list (via libproc, in-process) for any external caffeinate keeping the Mac awake. If one exists, the icon and status line show "On — caffeinated by another app" — read-only, Tamp never touches external processes. See docs/adr/001-system-aware-caffeinate-detection.md.

FAQ

Is Tamp free? Yes — free and open source under the MIT license.

What macOS version does Tamp require? macOS 13 Ventura or later. The Homebrew formula ships universal binaries for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

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 Tamp different from Amphetamine or KeepingYouAwake? Tamp ships both 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 Tamp drain my battery? No. Keep-awake itself is Apple's native caffeinate; Tamp's own footprint is a menu bar icon plus a lightweight in-process check (no subprocesses) that notices external keep-awake activity while idle.

Can I keep only the display awake (or only the system)? Yes — display, system, and disk sleep are controlled independently, per run (tamp on --display --no-system) or as saved preferences in the app's Settings.

Where does Tamp store its state? ~/Library/Application Support/Tamp/state.json plus a small preferences suite (cz.kybernaut.tamp). Scripts/uninstall.sh removes both.

Build from source

Requires the Swift toolchain (Swift 6+). No Xcode needed.

swift build -c release

Binaries land in .build/release/:

• tamp — the CLI
• TampBar — the menu bar app (runs as a background "accessory", no Dock icon)

Package the menu bar app as a real Tamp.app bundle (ad-hoc signed, no Dock icon) and run it like any other app:

Scripts/make-app.sh --install   # builds build/Tamp.app, installs to /Applications, launches

A coffee-tamper icon appears in the menu bar. To start it automatically at login, click the icon → Settings… → Launch at Login (uses SMAppService; the app must live in /Applications).

You can also run the bare binary without bundling — .build/release/TampBar & — but then the "Launch at Login" toggle is disabled (it needs a real .app).

Tests

swift run TampKitChecks

(A plain executable harness — the standard test frameworks require full Xcode, which this setup doesn't have.)

Uninstall

Scripts/uninstall.sh   # stops the session, unregisters login item, removes app/state/prefs

Roadmap

See TODO.md for the up-to-date backlog.

License & attribution

MIT — see LICENSE. Original implementation, inspired by the MIT-licensed Raycast "Coffee" extension — no code or artwork was copied; only the public behavior of Apple's caffeinate is wrapped.

Icon artwork from the Noun Project, used under CC BY 3.0: icons by Mila Karmila, Styfico, mikicon, erix subyarko, little_dipper_studio, and Side Project — per-icon details in Sources/TampBar/Icons/CREDITS.txt.