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Summary

Add cross-platform idle detection support for macOS and Windows, enabling the Claude Permission Daemon to run on all major operating systems. Previously, the daemon only supported Linux with swayidle for Wayland/X11.

  • macOS: Uses ioreg -c IOHIDSystem to poll HIDIdleTime (nanoseconds since last input)
  • Windows: Uses GetLastInputInfo() Win32 API via ctypes to poll idle time
  • Linux: Continues using existing swayidle event-based detection
  • Auto-detection: Factory pattern automatically selects appropriate backend based on platform.system()

Key Changes

Architecture

  • Created BaseIdleMonitor abstract base class defining the idle monitor interface
  • Refactored existing IdleMonitor to SwayidleMonitor (maintains backward compatibility)
  • Implemented MacIdleMonitor with 1-second polling of ioreg output
  • Implemented WindowsIdleMonitor with 1-second polling of GetLastInputInfo API
  • Added idle_monitor_factory.py for platform detection and monitor instantiation

Configuration

  • Added [mac] section with optional binary path for ioreg
  • Added [windows] section (reserved for future configuration)
  • Environment variable overrides: CLAUDE_PERM_IOREG_BINARY

Error Handling

  • Daemon exits with clear error messages if no backend is available
  • Error messages include platform details and resolution steps
  • Graceful handling of missing binaries or API failures

Testing

  • 240 tests passing (added 66 new tests)
  • 76% overall test coverage
  • Comprehensive unit tests for Mac and Windows monitors
  • Factory tests with platform detection mocking
  • Cross-platform test compatibility with conditional imports

Implementation Details

macOS Idle Detection:

# Parse ioreg output: "HIDIdleTime" = 12345678901
# Convert nanoseconds to seconds and compare to threshold
idle_ns = int(match.group(1))
idle_seconds = idle_ns / 1_000_000_000
is_idle = idle_seconds >= self._idle_timeout

Windows Idle Detection:

# Use GetLastInputInfo to get last input tick count
# Calculate idle time from tick difference
current_ticks = windll.kernel32.GetTickCount()
idle_ms = current_ticks - last_input_info.dwTime
return idle_ms / 1000.0

Platform Factory:

system = platform.system()
if system == "Linux":
    return SwayidleMonitor(...)
elif system == "Darwin":
    return MacIdleMonitor(...)
elif system == "Windows":
    return WindowsIdleMonitor(...)

Files Changed

  • Added: base_idle_monitor.py - Abstract base class
  • Added: idle_monitor_mac.py - macOS implementation (238 lines)
  • Added: idle_monitor_windows.py - Windows implementation (235 lines)
  • Added: idle_monitor_factory.py - Platform detection factory (124 lines)
  • Modified: idle_monitor.py - Refactored to SwayidleMonitor
  • Modified: daemon.py - Uses factory for monitor creation
  • Modified: config.py - Added Mac/Windows config sections
  • Added: 66 new tests across 3 test files

Test Results

============================= 240 passed in 6.42s ==============================

All tests passing with 76% overall coverage.

Documentation Updates

  • Updated README.md with cross-platform requirements and installation instructions
  • Updated example/config.toml with [mac] and [windows] sections
  • Updated CLAUDE.md with architecture details for all platforms
  • Feature document moved to docs/features/completed/mac-windows.md

Test Plan

  • All 240 tests passing
  • Daemon starts successfully on macOS
  • Idle detection works correctly on macOS with ioreg
  • Error messages are clear when backend unavailable
  • Configuration loads correctly for all platforms
  • Factory correctly detects platform and instantiates appropriate monitor
  • Backward compatibility maintained for existing Linux installations
  • Cross-platform testing works with conditional imports and mocking

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

jantmanAtCox and others added 16 commits January 26, 2026 08:35
Added comprehensive implementation plan for Mac and Windows idle detection support.

Plan includes:
- 6 milestones with detailed tasks
- Abstraction layer with BaseIdleMonitor
- Mac implementation using ioreg
- Windows implementation using ctypes/Win32 API
- Factory pattern for platform detection
- Full test coverage requirements
- Documentation updates

Awaiting human approval before starting implementation.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Created base_idle_monitor.py with abstract interface for idle monitoring:
- BaseIdleMonitor ABC with abstract methods: start(), stop(), run()
- Abstract properties: idle, running
- Default restart() implementation
- IdleCallback type alias
- IdleMonitorError exception class
- Comprehensive docstrings documenting the lifecycle and contract

This provides the foundation for platform-specific implementations.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Refactored existing idle monitor implementation to inherit from base class:
- Renamed IdleMonitor class to SwayidleMonitor
- Made SwayidleMonitor inherit from BaseIdleMonitor
- Imported IdleCallback and IdleMonitorError from base class
- Updated all log messages to use SwayidleMonitor name
- Added backward compatibility alias: IdleMonitor = SwayidleMonitor
- Updated .tool-versions to Python 3.14.2
- All 185 tests passing

This refactoring maintains backward compatibility while preparing for
platform-specific implementations.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Created idle_monitor_mac.py with MacIdleMonitor implementation:
- Polls ioreg -c IOHIDSystem every second
- Parses HIDIdleTime (nanoseconds since last input)
- Triggers callbacks when crossing idle threshold
- Handles subprocess errors gracefully
- Proper logging with debug output every 60 seconds
- Inherits from BaseIdleMonitor

Implementation uses polling approach compatible with existing architecture.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Added MacIdleConfig to config.py:
- New MacIdleConfig dataclass with ioreg binary path
- DEFAULT_IOREG_BINARY constant ("ioreg")
- Added mac field to Config class
- Load mac config from [mac] TOML section
- Environment variable override: CLAUDE_PERM_IOREG_BINARY
- All config tests passing

Configuration now supports platform-specific idle monitor settings.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Created comprehensive test suite for MacIdleMonitor:
- 25 new tests covering all functionality
- Tests for binary finding and error handling
- Tests for idle time retrieval from ioreg
- Tests for state transitions (active <-> idle)
- Tests for subprocess error handling
- Tests for ioreg output parsing
- All 210 tests passing (185 original + 25 new)

Test coverage matches existing idle_monitor tests.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Created idle_monitor_windows.py with WindowsIdleMonitor implementation:
- Uses ctypes to call GetLastInputInfo Win32 API
- Polls every second to check idle time
- Calculates idle time from GetTickCount difference
- Handles tick count rollover (49.7 day wraparound)
- Triggers callbacks when crossing idle threshold
- Handles Windows API errors gracefully
- Proper logging with debug output every 60 seconds
- Inherits from BaseIdleMonitor

Implementation uses polling approach consistent with Mac version.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Added WindowsIdleConfig to config.py:
- New WindowsIdleConfig dataclass (currently empty)
- Added windows field to Config class
- Load windows config from [windows] TOML section
- Configuration structure in place for future extensibility
- All config tests passing

Windows implementation uses built-in APIs with no binary paths needed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Created comprehensive test suite for WindowsIdleMonitor:
- 21 new tests covering all functionality
- Tests for GetLastInputInfo API mocking
- Tests for tick count calculations and rollover handling
- Tests for state transitions (active <-> idle)
- Tests for API error handling
- Tests work on non-Windows platforms via mocking

Updated idle_monitor_windows.py for cross-platform compatibility:
- Conditional import of Windows-specific ctypes items
- WINDOWS_AVAILABLE flag for runtime platform detection
- Stubs for non-Windows platforms to enable testing
- All 231 tests passing (185 + 25 Mac + 21 Windows)

Test coverage matches existing idle monitor implementations.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Created idle_monitor_factory.py with platform detection:
- create_idle_monitor() function detects OS using platform.system()
- Returns SwayidleMonitor for Linux
- Returns MacIdleMonitor for macOS (Darwin)
- Returns WindowsIdleMonitor for Windows
- Raises descriptive IdleMonitorError for unsupported platforms
- Comprehensive error messages with troubleshooting steps
- Proper logging of detected platform and chosen backend

Factory provides single entry point for all platform-specific implementations.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Updated daemon.py to use idle monitor factory:
- Import create_idle_monitor instead of IdleMonitor directly
- Import IdleMonitorError for error handling
- Use factory to create platform-specific idle monitor
- Handle factory errors with descriptive logging
- Exit cleanly if idle monitor unavailable

Updated test_daemon.py:
- Patch create_idle_monitor instead of IdleMonitor class
- All 231 tests passing

Daemon now automatically selects correct idle monitor for platform.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Created comprehensive test suite for idle monitor factory:
- 9 new tests covering factory functionality
- Tests for platform detection (Linux, macOS, Windows)
- Tests for unsupported platforms with error messages
- Tests for creation failures with descriptive errors
- Tests verify error messages include resolution steps
- All 240 tests passing (231 + 9 factory)

Factory tests ensure correct monitor selection for each platform.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Updated project documentation for cross-platform support:

README.md:
- Updated overview to mention cross-platform idle detection
- Listed platform-specific implementations (Linux/macOS/Windows)
- Updated requirements section for all platforms

example/config.toml:
- Added [mac] section for ioreg binary configuration
- Added [windows] section (no config needed)
- Clarified [swayidle] is Linux-only

CLAUDE.md:
- Updated architecture diagram showing factory pattern
- Added all idle monitor implementations to component list
- Documented base_idle_monitor.py abstract interface
- Documented idle_monitor_factory.py platform detection

Documentation now accurately reflects multi-platform support.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Mark the Mac and Windows support feature as complete and move the feature
document to the completed folder. All six milestones have been successfully
implemented and tested:

- Milestone 1: Created BaseIdleMonitor abstraction layer
- Milestone 2: Implemented MacIdleMonitor using ioreg for macOS
- Milestone 3: Implemented WindowsIdleMonitor using GetLastInputInfo API
- Milestone 4: Added platform detection factory
- Milestone 5: Integration and cross-platform polish
- Milestone 6: Documentation updates and acceptance criteria validation

The daemon now supports Linux (swayidle), macOS (ioreg), and Windows
(GetLastInputInfo API) with automatic platform detection. All 240 tests
are passing with 76% overall coverage.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Make the installation and setup instructions platform-specific for Linux,
macOS, and Windows instead of being Linux-only. Key changes:

Installation:
- Add Windows PowerShell commands alongside Unix bash commands
- Use platform-appropriate paths (%LOCALAPPDATA%, %APPDATA% for Windows)
- Show .exe extensions for Windows executables

Automatic Startup:
- Linux: systemd (existing)
- macOS: launchd with example plist configuration
- Windows: Task Scheduler with manual and automated options

Configuration:
- Show config file locations for all platforms
- Document socket/named pipe differences
- Add platform-specific config sections ([swayidle], [mac], [windows])

Troubleshooting:
- Platform-specific log checking (journalctl, launchd logs, manual runs)
- Separate troubleshooting for swayidle (Linux), ioreg (macOS), and
  GetLastInputInfo (Windows)
- Add installation instructions for swayidle on various Linux distros

Development:
- Platform-specific venv activation and testing commands
- Cross-platform hook testing examples

This makes the daemon fully usable on all three supported platforms
without users needing to mentally translate Linux-specific instructions.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Pull request overview

This PR adds comprehensive cross-platform idle detection support for macOS and Windows, enabling the Claude Permission Daemon to run on all major operating systems beyond its original Linux-only implementation.

Changes:

  • Introduced abstract BaseIdleMonitor class and factory pattern for platform-specific idle monitor instantiation
  • Implemented MacIdleMonitor using ioreg to poll IOHIDSystem idle time (nanoseconds) with 1-second polling interval
  • Implemented WindowsIdleMonitor using GetLastInputInfo Win32 API via ctypes with 1-second polling interval
  • Added platform-specific configuration sections ([mac] and [windows]) with environment variable overrides
  • Refactored existing IdleMonitor to SwayidleMonitor with backward compatibility alias
  • Updated documentation with platform-specific installation and troubleshooting instructions

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 16 out of 16 changed files in this pull request and generated 8 comments.

Show a summary per file
File Description
base_idle_monitor.py New abstract base class defining idle monitor interface with properties and lifecycle methods
idle_monitor_mac.py macOS implementation polling ioreg for HIDIdleTime every second
idle_monitor_windows.py Windows implementation polling GetLastInputInfo API every second with tick rollover handling
idle_monitor_factory.py Platform detection factory with comprehensive error messages for each platform
idle_monitor.py Refactored to SwayidleMonitor inheriting from base class, maintains backward compatibility
daemon.py Updated to use factory for monitor creation with error handling
config.py Added MacIdleConfig and WindowsIdleConfig with environment variable support
example/config.toml Added example Mac and Windows configuration sections
README.md Comprehensive platform-specific installation, configuration, and troubleshooting
CLAUDE.md Updated architecture diagram showing all three platform implementations
docs/features/completed/mac-windows.md Complete feature implementation document with design decisions
.tool-versions Added Python 3.14.2 version specification
test_idle_monitor_mac.py 24 tests covering all Mac monitor functionality
test_idle_monitor_windows.py 22 tests covering all Windows monitor functionality
test_idle_monitor_factory.py 9 tests covering factory logic and error handling
test_daemon.py Updated mock paths to use factory instead of direct IdleMonitor

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### Idle Detection Approaches

**Linux (existing)**: `swayidle` subprocess that prints IDLE/ACTIVE to stdout
**Mac**: Poll `ioreg -c IOHIDSystem` every second to read `HIDIdleTime` (milliseconds since last input)
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The documentation states that HIDIdleTime is in milliseconds, but it should be nanoseconds. The actual implementation in idle_monitor_mac.py correctly uses nanoseconds and divides by 1,000,000,000 to convert to seconds. This documentation should be updated to say "nanoseconds" instead of "milliseconds" to match the implementation and PR description.

Suggested change
**Mac**: Poll `ioreg -c IOHIDSystem` every second to read `HIDIdleTime` (milliseconds since last input)
**Mac**: Poll `ioreg -c IOHIDSystem` every second to read `HIDIdleTime` (nanoseconds since last input)

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.
slack_data = data.get("slack", {})
swayidle_data = data.get("swayidle", {})
mac_data = data.get("mac", {})
windows_data = data.get("windows", {})
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Variable windows_data is not used.

Suggested change
windows_data = data.get("windows", {})

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import logging
import re
import shutil
from typing import Any
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Import of 'Any' is not used.

Suggested change
from typing import Any

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@@ -0,0 +1,216 @@
"""Tests for idle_monitor_factory module."""

from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock, patch
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Import of 'MagicMock' is not used.

Suggested change
from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock, patch
from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, patch

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try:
await self._poll_task
except asyncio.CancelledError:
pass
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'except' clause does nothing but pass and there is no explanatory comment.

Suggested change
pass
# Expected when stopping: the polling task is cancelled intentionally.
logger.debug("MacIdleMonitor poll task cancelled during stop()")

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self._poll_task.cancel()
try:
await self._poll_task
except asyncio.CancelledError:
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'except' clause does nothing but pass and there is no explanatory comment.

Suggested change
except asyncio.CancelledError:
except asyncio.CancelledError:
# Task cancellation during shutdown is expected and safe to ignore.

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async def dummy_task():
try:
await asyncio.sleep(100)
except asyncio.CancelledError:
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'except' clause does nothing but pass and there is no explanatory comment.

Suggested change
except asyncio.CancelledError:
except asyncio.CancelledError:
# Expected in this test: ignore cancellation of the dummy task.

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async def dummy_task():
try:
await asyncio.sleep(100)
except asyncio.CancelledError:
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'except' clause does nothing but pass and there is no explanatory comment.

Suggested change
except asyncio.CancelledError:
except asyncio.CancelledError:
# Expected when the monitor stops and cancels the poll task; ignore.

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.
Fix all 8 issues identified by GitHub Copilot code review:

1. Fix documentation: Change HIDIdleTime from "milliseconds" to "nanoseconds"
   in mac-windows.md to match actual implementation

2. Remove unused variable: Delete windows_data in config.py since
   WindowsIdleConfig has no fields yet

3. Remove unused imports:
   - Remove unused 'Any' import from idle_monitor_mac.py
   - Remove unused 'MagicMock' import from test_idle_monitor_factory.py

4. Add explanatory comments to empty except clauses:
   - idle_monitor_mac.py: Add comment for expected CancelledError
   - idle_monitor_windows.py: Add comment for expected shutdown cancellation
   - test_idle_monitor_mac.py: Add comment for test dummy task cancellation
   - test_idle_monitor_windows.py: Add comment for test dummy task cancellation

All 240 tests still passing after changes.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 16 out of 16 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.


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jantmanAtCox and others added 2 commits January 26, 2026 10:40
The daemon was crashing on macOS trying to create a socket at
/run/user/1000/claude-permissions.sock, which is Linux-specific and
doesn't exist on macOS (and /run is read-only).

Changes:
- Add _get_default_socket_path() function with platform detection
- macOS: defaults to /tmp/claude-permissions.sock
- Linux: tries XDG_RUNTIME_DIR, then /run/user/{uid}, falls back to /tmp
- Windows: returns \\.\pipe\claude-permissions (named pipe)
- Unknown platforms: falls back to /tmp

This fixes the startup crash on macOS:
  OSError: [Errno 30] Read-only file system: '/run'

All 240 tests still passing.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Apply the same platform-aware socket path fix to hook.py. The hook script
was also hardcoded to use the Linux-specific /run/user/1000 path, causing
connection failures on macOS.

Changes:
- Add _get_default_socket_path() function to hook.py (duplicates config.py
  logic since hook.py must remain stdlib-only with no imports)
- Platform-specific defaults same as config.py:
  - macOS: /tmp/claude-permissions.sock
  - Linux: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR, /run/user/{uid}, or /tmp fallback
  - Windows: \\.\pipe\claude-permissions

This ensures the hook script can connect to the daemon on macOS.

All 240 tests still passing.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 17 out of 17 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.


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… polling tasks

The _poll_task attribute in MacIdleMonitor and WindowsIdleMonitor was declared
but never assigned, causing the stop() cancellation logic to silently fail since
_poll_task was always None. This prevented proper cleanup of the background
polling loop.

Solution: Make idle monitors fully self-managing by creating the background task
in start() instead of relying on external task management. This matches the
pattern used by SwayidleMonitor where the subprocess lifecycle is self-contained.

Changes:
- MacIdleMonitor.start(): Create and store asyncio task for run() loop
- WindowsIdleMonitor.start(): Create and store asyncio task for run() loop
- Daemon.start(): Remove idle_monitor from external task list (self-manages now)
- test_daemon.py: Update task count assertions from 3 to 2

The existing stop() cancellation logic now works correctly since _poll_task is
properly assigned. All 240 tests pass.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
@jantman jantman merged commit d3889d2 into jantman:main Jan 26, 2026
@jantmanAtCox jantmanAtCox deleted the mac-windows branch January 26, 2026 18:10
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2 participants