chai ☆

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Description:
Utility to prevent the system from going to sleep

Type: Cask | Latest Version: 3.3.0@0 | Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: System utilities

Tags: cli productivity system-utility sleep-prevention macos

Install: brew install --cask chai

About:
Chai is a command-line utility designed to assert system activity and prevent macOS from entering sleep mode. It achieves this by periodically simulating user input, such as moving the mouse cursor in minute increments. This ensures long-running processes like downloads, builds, or renders are not interrupted by system sleep or screen savers.

Key Features:

Prevents system sleep without keeping the display awake
Lightweight command-line interface with configurable intervals
Supports temporary activation with a specified duration
Minimal system resource usage

Use Cases:

Preventing interruptions during large file downloads or uploads
Keeping a development environment active during long compilation tasks
Maintaining active sessions for remote connections or SSH sessions

Alternatives:

caffeinate – Built-in macOS command, but requires keeping the terminal session active.
Amphetamine – Feature-rich GUI app, but Chai is a lightweight CLI alternative.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Aug 24, 2025 8:51pm	3.3.0	0	VERSION_BUMP	583f3c13