Clamshell for Mac. Close the lid. Keep your agents running

Apple Silicon Mac laptops on macOS 14 or later. The Option-close gesture (hold Option while you close the lid) needs a lid angle sensor: MacBook Air M2 (2022) or later, or 14-inch / 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021) or later.

Yes. Closing the lid only turns the screen off: agents, terminal sessions, builds, and downloads keep running, and the Mac stays on the network for SSH and screen sharing. Running Claude Code or another coding agent overnight? There is a step-by-step guide. While Clamshell is armed, the Mac stays fully awake instead of sleeping and briefly waking, the pattern some Claude Code users report using up their usage limit overnight.

Yes. Every module is included in the one-time purchase, and v1 owners upgrade to v2 free.

Yes. Describe what you want in a sentence and your own coding agent, like Claude Code or Codex, builds it as a module.

No. macOS normally needs an external display attached before the lid can close; Clamshell removes that. No monitor, no dock, no HDMI dummy plug.

Same idea, without the monitor. Clamshell mode is what macOS calls working with the lid closed, and macOS only allows it when an external display is attached. Clamshell removes that requirement: close the lid and the Mac keeps running on its own. Here is the full story on clamshell mode without an external display.

Most keep-awake tools only prevent idle sleep. Closing the lid uses a different sleep path. The detailed guides explain why caffeinate does not override it and what pmset disablesleep changes. Clamshell keeps the Mac awake through lid close without admin rights, and normal lid sleep returns the moment you disarm.

Your Mac runs as it would with the lid open: idle work sips power, heavy work draws what it always draws. It works the same on battery, and Clamshell stays armed through every plug or unplug. A low-battery switch, on by default, lets the Mac sleep when the battery reaches 20%, instead of running flat. If macOS reports serious or critical thermal pressure, Clamshell disarms, the Mac goes back to normal lid-close sleep, and arming stays blocked until it cools. This check is always on.

No. Keeping the Mac awake needs no kernel extension, no driver, no privileged helper and no sudo: Clamshell itself is a normal menu bar app. The optional modules Low Power While Closed, Fan Boost, Agent Light, Sleep Until Reset, Sleep Means Sleep, Stay Off When Opened and Password After Close use a helper you approve once in Login Items; they are off until you turn them on.

Disarming or quitting returns the Mac to normal lid sleep, and Clamshell warns you if that does not complete. The direct edition can also relaunch after an unexpected exit when its crash-recovery agent is permitted. Restarting always restores normal lid-close sleep.

No. Clamshell for Mac is available only from clamshell.dev and on Setapp. An App Store app with the same name is unrelated.

Yes. The Setapp version has every module, and you can make your own modules there too.

Yes. Every purchase has a 14-day money-back guarantee, for any reason. The details are in the refund policy, or just email support.