Native macOS menu bar app for timed cursor movement, session management, system monitoring, and idle prevention.

Overview · Screenshots · Features · Quick Start · Build · Contributing · License

Screenshots

    

_{Left: Dashboard with live session stats  |  Right: Settings panel}

Overview

deceiverMe moves the cursor on a configurable schedule — set the pixel step, direction, and interval. Use it for demos, long-running sessions, or keeping the display and system from idling on machines you own or are authorised to control.

Single-file, zero dependencies. One Swift file + one Info.plist. Compiles to a universal binary (Intel + Apple Silicon) with ad-hoc codesign.

App	deceiverMe.app
Source	MouseMoverNative.swift + Info.plist
Build	./build.sh → universal binary, ad-hoc codesign, optional zip
Repo	github.com/mimran-khan/deceiverme
Author	mimran-khan

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Features

Cursor Movement

• Configurable step size — pixels per move (default 5)
• Five directions — right, left, up, down, or circular
• Adjustable interval — seconds between moves (default 10)
• Safe bounds — cursor clamped to main display via CoreGraphics

Session Modes

Mode	Behaviour
Run forever	Runs until manually stopped
Fixed duration	Auto-stops after N hours of active time (paused time excluded)
Stop at date & time	Stops when system clock passes the chosen moment

Quick-start presets from the menu: Saved Settings, Run Forever, 1 h, 4 h, 8 h.

Dashboard

Live control centre accessible from the menu bar:

• Status badge — Idle / Running / Paused
• Session clock — elapsed HH:MM:SS, time remaining, move count, progress bar
• System monitor — CPU/GPU temperature, CPU %, RAM, network throughput
• Action buttons — Start, Pause/Resume, Stop, Settings
• Version tag — current version at a glance

Auto-Update

On every Dashboard open, the app queries the GitHub Releases API:

• New release detected → a notification banner appears at the bottom
• One-click update → downloads the .zip, extracts, replaces the running app, and relaunches automatically
• Up to date → banner stays hidden
• Fallback → if the zip asset is missing, the button opens the release page instead

The check is a single background HTTPS GET — no telemetry, no data leaves your machine beyond the version query.

System Monitor

Real-time telemetry in the Dashboard and menu bar:

Metric	Source
CPU temperature	SMC (dynamic key discovery — Apple Silicon & Intel)
GPU temperature	SMC (dynamic key discovery)
CPU usage	host_processor_info
RAM usage	host_statistics64
Network throughput	getifaddrs (↓ / ↑)

Menu Bar

• Dock-free — runs as an LSUIElement agent; no Dock icon, no app-switcher entry
• Close = hide — closing the Dashboard hides the window; the app keeps running in the menu bar
• Status icon — concentric rings (template image)
• Banner rotation — live elapsed time, system stats
• Start submenu — presets (saved settings, run forever, 1 h / 4 h / 8 h)
• Pause / Resume, Stop
• Dashboard ⌘W · Settings ⌘, · Quit ⌘Q

Global Hotkey

Default ⌘⇧Space — toggles start / pause. Customisable in Settings via Record shortcut….

URL Scheme

Scheme: deceiverme://

open "deceiverme://start"                  # start with saved settings
open "deceiverme://start?duration=1800"     # start, 30 min session
open "deceiverme://start?until=1700000000"  # start, stop at Unix epoch
open "deceiverme://stop"                    # stop
open "deceiverme://pause"                   # toggle pause

Notifications

Session-end alerts via UserNotifications (banners on macOS 11+). Toggle in Settings.

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Quick Start

1. Download the latest .zip from Releases, or build from source.
2. Move deceiverMe.app to /Applications.
3. Open the app — the menu bar icon appears.
4. Grant Accessibility when prompted: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → enable deceiverMe.
5. Open Settings → configure pixels, direction, interval, session mode → Save.
6. Start from the Dashboard, menu bar, hotkey, or URL scheme.

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Build from Source

Prerequisites

• macOS 11+ with Xcode Command Line Tools

xcode-select --install

Build

chmod +x build.sh   # first time only
./build.sh

The script compiles with -O -whole-module-optimization, builds a universal binary (Intel + Apple Silicon), ad-hoc codesigns, and produces a distributable zip.

Output

deceiverMe.app/               ← repository root (gitignored)
dist/deceiverMe-macos.zip     ← distributable archive

Build Options

Variable	Effect
BUILD_STYLE=native	Single-arch for current CPU only
SKIP_CODESIGN=1	Skip codesigning
SKIP_ZIP=1	Skip zip creation

BUILD_STYLE=native ./build.sh
SKIP_ZIP=1 ./build.sh

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Reference — internals, defaults, and repo layout

How It Runs

1. NSApplication + NSStatusItem + Dashboard NSWindow
2. Timer on RunLoop.main (.common mode) fires every moveInterval → moveMouse()
3. AXIsProcessTrustedWithOptions before first start
4. shouldAutoStop on tick → optional stopMovement(notify:reason:)
5. 1 Hz UI refresh for menu + Dashboard
6. SMC temperature polling via persistent IOKit connection with dynamic key discovery

UserDefaults Keys

Key	Purpose
pixelMove	Pixels per move
direction	MovementDirection raw value
moveInterval	Interval (seconds)
totalDuration	Duration (seconds)
prefsSessionKind	0 forever / 1 fixed / 2 stop at
sessionUntilEpoch	Deadline (timeIntervalSince1970)
notifyOnSessionEnd	Bool
preventIdleSleepWhileRunning	Bool (default true)
hotkeyKeyCode	Carbon virtual key
hotkeyCarbonModifiers	Carbon modifiers bitmask

Repository Layout

.
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── AGENTS.md
├── build.sh
├── .gitignore
├── screenshots/
│   ├── dashboard.png
│   └── settings.png
├── packaging/
│   └── Info.plist
└── MouseMoverNative/
    └── MouseMoverNative.swift

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Permissions

Permission	Required	How to enable
Accessibility	Yes	System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → enable deceiverMe
Notifications	Optional	Allow when prompted for session-end alerts

Restart the app after changing permissions.

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Troubleshooting

Click to expand

Issue	Fix
Build fails at swiftc	Install CLT; check Swift errors in terminal
codesign fails	Read the error; or SKIP_CODESIGN=1 ./build.sh
Zip missing	Ensure SKIP_ZIP is not set; check dist/ is writable
App won't open	Right-click → Open; review Gatekeeper / quarantine
Cursor never moves	Accessibility off → add app and restart
Hotkey not working	Pick another combo in Record shortcut…
Can't save settings	Stop the running session first
Screen still locks	Enable Keep display & system awake in Settings; confirm session is active (not paused). MDM policies can override.
Temperatures show —	SMC access requires running without sandboxing; ad-hoc signed builds work on personal machines. v1.3.0+ uses dynamic key discovery to support all Apple Silicon generations (M1–M4).

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Security & Privacy

• No telemetry — the only outbound request is the GitHub Releases API update check.
• Cursor control and idle-sleep assertions are sensitive in managed environments — follow your org's policy.
• Ad-hoc signing is fine for personal builds; wide distribution needs Developer ID + notarization.

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Contributing

Contributions, issues, and feature requests are welcome.

1. Fork the repo
2. Create your branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Make changes and ensure ./build.sh passes
4. Commit (git commit -m 'feat: add amazing feature')
5. Push (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
6. Open a Pull Request

See Issues for known bugs and planned features.

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License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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deceiverMe is built and maintained by mimran-khan

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