Short · 36 words
Focus Sentinel is a local-first Mac companion that keeps one priority in view, notices when work drifts, and asks before it assumes. It will be open source under the MIT licence and requires macOS 26 or later.
Press and media
Focus Sentinel, in brief.
Facts, wording and images for anyone writing about Focus Sentinel. Each fact here matches the app and its source.
Not yet released · follow the tracker
Focus Sentinel
PlatformmacOS 26 or later
DataLocal first, opt in for more
LicenceMIT, source published at release
Fact sheet
The facts, in one place.
- Name
- Focus Sentinel. In the app and in running text after first mention, Focus.
- What it is
- A local-first macOS companion that keeps one priority in view, notices when the app in front drifts from it, and asks before it assumes.
- Platform
- macOS 26 or later. Built and tested on Apple silicon.
- Status
- Not yet released. The first signed, notarised build ships through the release tracker, issue 12.
- Data
- Local first. No account, no sync, no usage reports, and nothing leaves the Mac by default. Update checks and the Decision-1 remote judge go online only if the person switches them on; opting in to the judge gives it everything the app knows, for sharper judgement.
- Licence
- MIT. The source is published with the first release.
- Website
- focus-sentinel.win
- Maker
- Chris Mitchelmore · mitchelmore.uk
Boilerplate
Wording you can use.
Use either version as it stands, or trim it. Please keep the privacy sentences intact if you quote them.
Long · 149 words
Focus Sentinel is a macOS companion that keeps one priority in view. You write the priority as one sentence, start a session, timeboxed if you like, and Focus watches which app is in front. When the work drifts, its menu-bar mark changes; drift longer and a small panel names the app and offers a way back. When Focus cannot tell, it asks, and the answer becomes a rule, so it stops asking.
It blocks nothing and keeps no score. It stays quiet on calls, while an app is full screen, while you are away and in the quiet hours you set. It is local first: no account, no sync, no usage reports, and nothing leaves the Mac unless you opt in. Turn on the remote judge and Focus can share everything it knows with Microsoft's Decision-1 model for far sharper judgement.
Focus Sentinel will be open source under the MIT licence and requires macOS 26 or later. It is made by Chris Mitchelmore.
On the name. Write Focus Sentinel in full the first time, then Focus. It is not yet released, so please do not describe it as available to download.
Assets
Images to download.
App screenshots are not published yet. They will follow the first release.
Privacy
Local first. More power if you opt in.
Drawn from the app's own Privacy settings. The build gate checks the shipped binary for networking code on every run.
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What it reads by default
Which app is active, by name. Accessibility, Screen Recording and the calendar are each off until the person switches them on, and raw window titles are never stored.
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Nothing leaves without consent
No account, no sync, no usage reports. Export the record from the File menu; delete everything from Privacy settings.
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Online only if you opt in
Update checks send the app's name and version. Both they and the remote judge are off by default.
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Opt in for the full picture
With Ask Decision-1 on, Focus may send Microsoft's Decision-1 model everything it knows that helps: priorities and their context, the window in front, busy times and tasks. It can only keep Focus quiet, and nothing is sent from password managers or private windows.
Contact
Questions go through GitHub.
- Press and general questions. Open an issue on the repository; replies are public.
- Release timing. Watch the release tracker for what remains before the first build.
- Security. Report privately through a security advisory, not a public issue.
- The maker. Chris Mitchelmore, on GitHub and at mitchelmore.uk.