RosterFocus

Turn iOS/macOS Focus modes on and off automatically from your shift calendar — no fixed schedule required.

🌐 Website · ⬇️ Download · Setup guide · Discussions

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If you work shifts that move around — different days, different hours, different locations — Apple's time- and location-based Focus automations don't fit. RosterFocus instead reads your shift events from a calendar and turns the right Focus on while you're on shift, then off when it ends. Because it keys off calendar events (not clock times), it works no matter how irregular your roster is, and the Focus follows you to your iPhone.

⬇️ Get the app

1. Download RosterFocus.dmg (the macOS installer).
2. Open the DMG and drag RosterFocus to Applications.
3. Launch it — a 🌙 icon appears in your menu bar. Open “Set Up / Edit Rules…” and follow the wizard.

It's Developer ID-signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens with no Gatekeeper warning. Prefer the command line / running on a headless Mac? See the CLI.

How it works

your shift calendar ──▶ RosterFocus (on your Mac) ──▶ decides which Focus ──▶ runs your Shortcut
                                                                                      │
                                            Focus syncs to your iPhone via “Share Across Devices”

Apple gives apps no way to create a Focus or to turn one on/off — only the Shortcuts app can flip a Focus. So RosterFocus does the part it can automate — watching your calendar and deciding which Focus should be active right now — and runs a Shortcut you set up to do the actual toggle. The Focus then propagates to your iPhone through Settings → Focus → Share Across Devices.

✨ Features

• Shift-aware. Triggers on calendar events — variable days, hours, overnight/multi-day shifts.
• Multiple Focus modes. Map several calendars (and optional title keywords) to different Focuses — e.g. On-Call → Do Not Disturb, Work → Work, Gym → Fitness.
• Priority ordering. iOS allows one Focus at a time; the first matching rule wins.
• Lead / trail padding. Start a Focus a few minutes before a shift, or hold it after.
• Respects manual overrides. Acts only on a change, so killing a Focus mid-shift sticks.
• Two ways to run it — a friendly menu-bar app or a headless CLI, sharing one config.

🚀 Set it up (about 5 minutes, one time)

The app's wizard walks you through these; here's the whole picture.

One-time, only you can do these — macOS has no API for them:

Step	What	Where
1. Calendar access	Let RosterFocus read your calendar	Wizard → Grant Calendar Access (a system prompt appears)
2. Create a Focus	A Focus named e.g. Work (Apple's built-in “Work” is ideal)	System Settings → Focus → + (the wizard opens this for you)
3. Add the Shortcuts	A Work Focus On / Work Focus Off pair	Wizard → Import the ready-made pair, or build your own
4. Add a rule	Map your shift calendar → that Focus	Wizard → Rules (pick from dropdowns)
5. Share to iPhone	Settings → Focus → Share Across Devices = ON	On both your Mac and iPhone

Then enable it (and Launch at login) and close the window — RosterFocus keeps running in the menu bar. Add more Focuses anytime: create the Focus, make its Shortcut pair, add a rule. Full details, including the exact Shortcut actions, are in SETUP.md.

Example: different Focuses from one roster

{
  "rules": [
    { "calendar": "On-Call", "focus": "Do Not Disturb",
      "on_shortcut": "DND On", "off_shortcut": "DND Off" },
    { "calendar": "Work", "keyword": "night", "focus": "Sleep",
      "on_shortcut": "Sleep Focus On", "off_shortcut": "Sleep Focus Off" },
    { "calendar": "Work", "focus": "Work",
      "on_shortcut": "Work Focus On", "off_shortcut": "Work Focus Off" }
  ]
}

On-call shifts → Do Not Disturb; a Work event titled “night…” → Sleep; any other Work event → Work. Rules are evaluated top to bottom. See Adding more Focus modes.

⌨️ Headless / power users: the CLI

A Python CLI + launchd agent runs the same logic without a GUI — ideal for an always-on Mac mini you never log into graphically.

git clone https://github.com/TemujinCalidius/roster-focus.git
cd roster-focus && ./install.sh          # venv + bindings, config, launchd agent, guided setup
python3 rosterfocus.py --doctor          # health check: permission, calendars, Shortcuts

The app and the CLI share ~/.config/roster-focus/config.json and make identical decisions — don't run both at once (disable the launchd agent first: launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.rosterfocus.agent.plist). Diagnostics: --doctor, --validate, --list-calendars, --dry-run -v. Full guide: SETUP.md.

Why can't it just create the Focus / set it directly?

Two deliberate Apple restrictions, and RosterFocus works within both:

1. No app can create a Focus mode — there's no public API, Shortcut action, or AppleScript for it. You create the Focus once in System Settings.
2. No app can turn a Focus on/off directly — only the Shortcuts app can, so RosterFocus runs a Shortcut. Everything else (deciding when, from your calendar) is automated.

How it differs from similar tools

calendar-focus-sync and focus-time-app activate macOS Focus from meeting/“focus time” calendar blocks. RosterFocus is built around shift work, treats the iPhone as the target (via Share Across Devices), and maps multiple calendars to multiple Focuses.

Building from source

Everything's open. The app is SwiftUI (app/, generated from app/project.yml via XcodeGen); the CLI is rosterfocus.py. See CONTRIBUTING.md for build + test commands and the release runbook.

Contributing

PRs welcome! RosterFocus uses a dev/main model (code → dev, docs → main). Questions and ideas → Discussions. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Security

Found a vulnerability? Please report it privately — see SECURITY.md.

💜 Sponsor

RosterFocus is free and MIT-licensed. If it makes your shifts a little calmer, you can sponsor the project — it funds an Apple Developer membership (so the app stays signed + notarized) and ongoing work.

License

MIT © 2026 Samuel Lison