caffeinate for Windows

macOS's caffeinate, on Windows. Keep your PC and display awake from the terminal, for as long as a command runs, or for a set time.

caffeinate -d -i npm run build   # screen stays on until the build finishes

I got too used to running caffeinate -d on my Mac to keep my laptop awake during long tasks. When I switched to Windows, I missed it enough to just build it myself.

This is a minimal Rust CLI that replicates caffeinate on Windows. Run it, your system won't sleep. Kill it with Ctrl+C, everything goes back to normal.

Usage

Keep system awake until you stop it:

caffeinate

Keep the display awake too (mirrors caffeinate -d on macOS):

caffeinate -d

Keep awake for a fixed duration (in seconds):

caffeinate -t 3600

Keep awake only while a command runs, then exit automatically:

caffeinate -i npm run build
caffeinate -i rsync -av ~/Pictures/ /Backup/Pictures/
caffeinate -d -i docker build .

Flags can be combined. -t and -i are mutually exclusive.

Flags

Flag	What it does
(none)	Keep system awake until Ctrl+C
-d	Also keep the display on
-t <seconds>	Exit automatically after N seconds
-i <command>	Exit when the given command finishes

Installation

Download (no Rust needed)

1. Download caffeinate.exe from the latest release.

2. Put it in a folder for your command-line tools, such as C:\tools, and add that folder to your PATH once. In PowerShell:

   mkdir C:\tools
   move $HOME\Downloads\caffeinate.exe C:\tools\
   [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User") + ";C:\tools", "User")

3. Open a new terminal and run caffeinate.

The exe isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn you the first time. Click More info, then Run anyway.

With Cargo

If you have Rust installed:

cargo install --git https://github.com/dincertekin/caffeinate-windows

Cargo puts caffeinate.exe in ~/.cargo/bin, which is already on your PATH.

How It Works

Windows exposes a SetThreadExecutionState API that lets a process tell the OS to stay awake. Three flags matter:

• ES_SYSTEM_REQUIRED prevents idle sleep
• ES_DISPLAY_REQUIRED also prevents the display from turning off (what -d adds)
• ES_CONTINUOUS holds the state until explicitly cleared or the process exits

On Ctrl+C or natural exit, the state is cleared so Windows immediately goes back to normal sleep behavior.

Dependencies

• windows for Win32 API bindings
• ctrlc for clean Ctrl+C handling

License

MIT License