GitHub Actions on the Mac, a default 90% CPU cap on renders AwakeFlow starts, and AwakeFlow Pro at $4.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial. Update from the Mac App Store if you do not see them yet.
AwakeFlow keeps your Mac awake until a wait condition completes, then performs your chosen finish action. This page covers common questions and where to report issues.
Get help
Email support@awakeflow.app for help with AwakeFlow.
- Bug reports & feature requests: support@awakeflow.app
- Privacy questions: Privacy Policy
- Guides & setup: AwakeFlow documentation
In the app, Settings → Help → Report a problem opens an email with your AwakeFlow version, build, and macOS version filled in. When writing in, include which edition you are using (Mac App Store or direct), and steps to reproduce the problem.
System requirements
- Mac: macOS 13 (Ventura) or later, Apple silicon or Intel
- iPhone: iOS 17 or later. A companion to the Mac app, with no purchases of its own.
Permissions
AwakeFlow may ask for permissions depending on the features you use:
- Notifications — requested when a flow starts; used for finish alerts and failure messages.
- Bluetooth — used only if you add a “Bluetooth disconnects” wait step.
- Folder access — you choose folders for watching, downloads, or output files.
Direct distribution edition
The direct build may also request Automation for Lock and Shut Down finish actions, and can run shell commands you configure. If lock or shut down fails, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation and allow AwakeFlow to control System Events.
Mac App Store edition
The App Store build does not include Run Command, quit-open-apps automation, Lock, Shut Down, or Apple Events. Under When finished, the switches are Notify me and Sleep Mac. With both off, the Mac goes back to its usual sleep settings. Sleep uses IOKit.
Agents and renders
AwakeFlow can connect Cursor, Claude Code and Codex so an agent turns a sentence or a render command into a flow, then stay with the job until it finishes. Both editions can start Blender, Cinema 4D and Compressor renders, and Quiet Mode can pause a render AwakeFlow started when the fans get loud. Direct also launches After Effects, Maya and Houdini, and can pause or resume a render by hand.
See the full guide: Documentation. It covers Connect, the difference between control and activity, Quiet Mode, and copy-paste examples for Blender, After Effects and Claude Code.
Troubleshooting
Notifications do not appear
- Check System Settings → Notifications → AwakeFlow and ensure alerts are allowed.
- Start a flow once so AwakeFlow can request notification permission.
Sleep finish action did not work
- AwakeFlow uses Apple’s public IOKit sleep API. macOS may refuse sleep if other apps hold power assertions or if system policy blocks it.
- AwakeFlow shows a local notification when sleep is denied.
- Sleep counts down 30 seconds first. If you pressed Cancel sleep in the window or the menu bar, the flow ends without sleeping.
Folder or download access fails
- Re-select the folder or download destination in the flow editor so AwakeFlow can refresh its security-scoped bookmark.
- Ensure the Mac App Store build has permission to access Downloads if you save files there.
A render will not start
- The App Store edition starts Blender, Cinema 4D and Compressor through a render starter you save once. Open Settings → Rendering and choose Set Up Render Start.
- If the message says the starter is from another version, choose Update Render Starter, then start the flow again.
- Until that file is saved, a render step can only watch a render you start yourself.
My saved flow changed after updating
- The Mac App Store edition migrates unsupported options (such as Run Command, Lock, or Shut Down) to safe alternatives when loading saved flows.
App information
- App name: AwakeFlow
- Mac bundle ID:
com.imehdihosseini.awakeflow - Developer: Mehdi Hosseini
- Category: Utilities
- support@awakeflow.app
Version 1.5.0
GitHub Actions
Open Pipelines on the Home toolbar. Create a read-only token on GitHub (Actions: read), paste it in, then pick which repositories to follow. The token stays in this Mac’s Keychain and is sent only to GitHub. AwakeFlow’s servers do not receive it. Disconnect GitHub from the account menu in that window when you want the token gone.
CPU limit
A render AwakeFlow starts uses at most 90% of the CPU by default. A render you started yourself in another app is not limited.
AwakeFlow Pro
AwakeFlow Pro is $4.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial. A lifetime unlock bought before Pro stays yours, with nothing to renew.
Version 1.4.2
Quiet Mode
On a flow with a render step, open the Silent mode tab, or use Settings → Rendering. AwakeFlow pauses a render it started when the fans reach your level, then resumes as they cool. If macOS will not share a fan reading, the level is estimated from the chip temperature. A render you started yourself in another app is not paused.
Stay awake until a schedule starts
In the schedule, turn on Start now and keep the Mac awake until then. The Mac stays awake from that moment until the flow starts. On Home, Turn off the display until it starts leaves the screen dark while you wait, and a countdown shows the time left. Closing the window is fine. Quitting AwakeFlow cancels upcoming runs until you open it again. On Macs where macOS allows it, Wake Mac to run is under Advanced options. A shut-down Mac cannot start a schedule.
Render time and thermal load
Estimated remaining time uses hours and minutes. It shows Estimating until enough frames have progressed, Unknown without a frame range, and Updating if the estimate runs out before rendering finishes. A long Blender log still keeps the scene’s frame range, so the estimate can appear after the startup lines scroll away. Fan Speed shows a measured percentage, or On or Off. If only the chip temperature is available, that cell shows Thermal load. That estimate is not a fan speed.
Start a render
Open Settings → Rendering and choose Set Up Render Start. That saves a script into AwakeFlow’s scripts folder on this Mac. It starts Blender, Cinema 4D or Compressor, and nothing else. If you update AwakeFlow and the starter is from another version, choose Update Render Starter. Without it, a render step watches a render you start yourself.
When finished
Notify me and Sleep Mac are switches. You can use either, both, or neither. With both off, keep-awake ends and the Mac goes back to its usual sleep settings. Sleep still counts down 30 seconds, and Cancel sleep stops it.
Battery range
A battery step can finish when the charge goes up to a level, down to a level, or leaves a band you set with Min & max. It starts watching once the charge is between the two.
Version 1.4
Schedule a flow
Choose Schedule on the Home toolbar, pick a saved flow and a time, then choose Once, Daily, Weekdays or specific days. You can cap how long the run lasts and decide whether the Mac sleeps afterwards. If the Mac was asleep at the scheduled time, the run is skipped, or started after the next wake if you allowed a grace period.
Start a render in the App Store edition
A render step can start Blender, Cinema 4D and Compressor in the App Store edition. After Effects, Maya and Houdini launches, and pausing a render by hand, remain in Direct. Quiet Mode is in both editions since version 1.4.2.
Sleep with a countdown
Sleep is never the default finish action. When you choose Sleep when this flow finishes, AwakeFlow counts down 30 seconds first, and Cancel sleep stops it.
Version 1.3
Connecting an agent
In version 1.3, open Settings, find Agents, enable “Let agents control AwakeFlow,” and choose Connect beside your client. See the documentation for client-specific steps, render-command examples, Quiet Mode, and the difference between flow control and activity reporting.
Render controls and quiet mode
The Direct edition can launch renders and pause or resume them by hand. Quiet Mode pauses automatically when the fans, or a temperature estimate, reach your threshold. Since version 1.4, the App Store edition can start Blender, Cinema 4D and Compressor renders. Since version 1.4.2, Quiet Mode is in that edition too. Temperature and fan information depend on the hardware.
Cancel or finish a step
Cancel flow stops the run without performing its finish action. Finish this step completes a manual step, which can advance the flow and reach the finish action. An active agent can independently keep your Mac awake.