# Lidlit

> Lidlit is a free macOS menu bar app that controls the glowing Apple logo on the lid of a MacBook Pro XDR. It turns the lid light into a quiet status light: a steady glow, a slow pulse, or a blink when Claude, ChatGPT, email or chat needs you. Website: https://lidlit.app (formerly Lidlight, lidlight.app).

- Download (free, 2.8 MB DMG): https://github.com/Lafsen/lidlit-site/releases/latest/download/Lidlit.dmg
- Homebrew: `brew install --cask lafsen/tap/lidlit`
- Requirements: MacBook Pro XDR with a lit logo, macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon.
- Not on the Mac App Store: the App Store doesn't allow apps that drive the logo light. It's signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without warnings.
- Price: free. Optional donations: https://lidlit.app/support/
- Not affiliated with Apple.

## What it does

- Glow: the logo stays lit at the brightness you choose, independent of the screen. Optional "Follow screen" makes it track the screen brightness like stock macOS.
- Pulse: a slow fade in and out (Slow, Calm, Quick).
- Off: one switch at the top keeps the logo dark.
- Auto-dim: softer in a dark room, using the Mac's light sensor.
- Alerts: blinks in a distinct rhythm when Claude Code or Codex (ChatGPT) finishes or needs input (installs their hooks with one switch), and for new email (Mail, Outlook, Spark and others) and chat messages (Slack, Teams, Messages, WhatsApp, Discord, Telegram), read from the unread badge on the app's Dock icon.
- Morse: type a message and the lid spells it out at the slider's brightness; saved messages can be an alert's signal.
- Schedule: different behaviour at different times of day.
- Lid closed (e.g. with an external display): keeps glowing, and brightness, Pulse and alerts still work; or only alerts flash.

## For AI agents and scripts

Lidlit can be driven from the command line on the user's Mac (installed at `~/.local/bin/lidlit` when the app first runs), so a coding agent can use the lid as a status light:

- `lidlit cue claude-done` / `claude-input` / `chatgpt-done` / `chatgpt-input` / `mail` / `message` / `alert` — flash a signal, if that source is switched on in Lidlit's Alerts (`alert` is the Scripts source). Optionally add a pattern: doubleSwell, tripleBlink, heartbeat, longPulse, beacon, sos.
- `lidlit morse "DONE"` — spell a message; `lidlit stop` ends it.
- `lidlit level 0-100`, `lidlit on`, `lidlit off`, `lidlit pulse [seconds]`, `lidlit mode steady|pulse|followScreen|off`.
- `lidlit status` — the logo's current LED duty.
- URL scheme for Shortcuts: `lidlit://cue/mail`, `lidlit://level/40`, `lidlit://off`.
- Example for Claude Code: a Stop hook running `lidlit cue claude-done` blinks the lid when Claude finishes (Lidlit's Alerts › Claude switch installs this for you).

## Common questions

- CPU: 0.0 % at rest; while pulsing, macOS does the fading itself (about 2 % in its own brightness service).
- Battery: the app barely does anything; the LED uses a little power, less at lower brightness.
- Color: no. The logo has a single white light, so signals use rhythm instead.
- Privacy: it never reads email or message contents, only Dock badge counts for apps you turn on. None of that leaves the Mac. The app checks lidlit.app for updates about once a day (sending only its version number); Settings › Auto-update turns that off.
- Updates: built in (Sparkle), signed with Lidlit's own update key and notarized by Apple.
- Undo: Reset hands the light back to macOS.