Stop the repeated administrator password prompts

A few Keepresso features flip protected macOS settings on your behalf: closed-display mode (which uses pmset disablesleep), the AWDL pause for gaming and streaming, the thermal safety net's fan boost, high CPU priority for a game, and a scheduled wake. macOS guards those, so without a helper in place it asks for your administrator password the first time you use one after each launch. The administrator helper turns that into a one-time setup, then every privileged switch after is instant and silent.

Install the helper once

1. Click the cup in the menu bar and open Preferences.
2. Under General, find Administrator helper at the top and install it.
3. Approve it under System Settings, Login Items & Extensions (the background-apps section, called Allow in the Background on some macOS versions). macOS asks for your administrator password that one time.

The Welcome screen also offers the helper as a one-time step the first time you launch Keepresso.

What it does, and does not do

• One password, ever. After setup, "Only while brewing" closed-display mode and the AWDL watchdog engage with no prompt, even when a trigger starts a session in the background.
• It survives restarts and updates. The helper service ships inside the app, so an app update replaces it on disk automatically. The only leftover is the pre-update service still running in memory, which Keepresso recognizes by version, retires in the background, and reports in Preferences while it lasts, usually under a minute. No reinstall, no password, no new approval.
• It is narrow on purpose. The helper can only flip those few switches: closed-display sleep, the AWDL pause, a fan boost, a game's CPU priority, and a scheduled wake. It holds nothing else, and it fails safe: everything restores if Keepresso quits or crashes, a forced fan boost dies with the app connection (with a crash marker restoring automatic fan control at the next start), and a raised CPU priority returns to normal when you stop playing, and always when the game quits.
• It links the CLI too. On a DMG install the helper creates the /usr/local/bin/keepresso link so the command-line tool just works, and re-heals it after the app moves or updates. It never touches a file it did not create.

Remove it any time

Open Preferences, General, Administrator helper and remove it. Everything keeps working the old way, with the per-launch password prompt. After a removal, System Settings can keep showing a leftover Keepresso row under App Background Activity until macOS refreshes its list; a restart clears it.

Frequently asked questions

Why did Keepresso ask for my password again after an update?

Older builds could lose the helper's registration after an update or a reboot. Current versions check the helper at launch and repair it themselves, silently and without a password, in the common case. If it does need you, a small window opens front and center with the single step to fix it.

Do I have to install the helper?

No. It is optional. Without it, closed-display mode and the AWDL pause still work; macOS just asks for your administrator password once per app launch.

Is the helper safe?

It is a small privileged service that can only toggle closed-display sleep and the AWDL pause, boost the fans for the thermal safety net, raise a game's CPU priority, and install a scheduled wake. Its commands are hardened against untrusted input, and Keepresso is open source, so you can read exactly what it does on GitHub.

Can automation change the wake schedule through the helper?

Only if you let it. keepresso wake set and the matching MCP tools work only while Allow automation to change the wake schedule is on under Preferences, Automation, and it is off by default. Reading the schedule with keepresso wake status is always allowed. More: let AI agents keep your Mac awake.