Install FAQ

Everything the install asks you, in the order it asks. Nothing here is unusual for a Mac app that watches window titles, but you should know what each prompt does and does not allow before you click it.

"Praxlock" can't be opened / unidentified developer?

You shouldn't see this one: the beta is signed and notarized by Apple, so a normal download opens with at most a one-time "downloaded from the internet" confirmation. If macOS flat-out refuses to open it, the download was corrupted or didn't come from this site. Delete it and download again from your invite link.

Drag to Applications, then open from Applications

Open the downloaded file and drag the Praxlock icon onto the Applications folder shown next to it. Then launch it from Applications (or Spotlight), not from inside the downloaded disk image. The coach installs its background half on first launch, and it needs to run from its real home to do that.

Why does it ask for Accessibility?

This is the permission that lets the coach read the title of the window in front of you. That's how it knows "Physics past paper" from "YouTube". Titles and app names only: this app never takes screenshots, never reads page contents, never sees keystrokes. That's the covenant, and the setup screen shows it to you before asking. macOS opens System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility; turn Praxlock on, then come back.

Why does it ask to control Safari or Chrome?

For browsers, a window title alone can't tell work from a feed, so the coach asks the browser for the active tab's address and title. Same rule: addresses and titles only, never page contents. macOS shows this prompt the first time the coach meets a running browser, so it may arrive during your first session rather than during setup. Click Allow when it does.

It asked to install "command line developer tools"?

Click Cancel. Praxlock never needs those tools; that dialog was a bug in the first beta build (fixed the same night). If you already clicked Install, it's harmless: it just downloads standard Apple developer software you can ignore.

The invite code doesn't work

Paste it exactly as it appears in your invite email, dashes included (it looks like five groups of letters and numbers). If it still won't take, reply to the invite email and we'll reissue it. Codes are per-person, and yours is yours: don't share it. A leaked code gets revoked, and that stops it working for both of you.

Does it run all the time?

The coach lives in your menu bar and its background half starts with your Mac, so your schedule and sessions work without you launching anything. It only ever watches during a session you started or a school block you turned on, and watching means titles, nothing else. Earned free time is never reported to anyone; the coach never snitches.

What leaves my Mac?

Two things. The window title and app name of whatever you're looking at, sent to the model that judges whether you're on task: that one is not optional, because it is how the coach works. And a weekly ping of aggregate counters, which is optional, off by default, and shown to you in plaintext during setup before you decide. The full deal is one page:the beta agreement.

How do I uninstall?

Completely, in four moves, no hidden leftovers:

1. Quit Praxlock from the menu bar.
2. Drag Praxlock from Applications to the Trash.
3. In Finder press ⌘⇧G and delete these three folders if they exist: ~/PraxlockProfile,~/Library/Application Support/Praxlock,~/Library/Logs/Praxlock.
4. Also via ⌘⇧G, delete the file~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.praxlock.coach.plist, then log out and back in (or restart).

Everything the coach knew about you lived in those folders; deleting them is the wipe. Our server keeps only the aggregate counters you opted into (if you did). Reply to your invite email and we delete those within 30 days of you asking; if you never ask, they delete themselves 90 days after they arrive. That's covenant point 6, and it's the same sentence onthe beta agreement.

Something else went wrong

Reply to your invite email, or write to [email protected]. Include what you clicked and what happened; a screenshot of the stuck screen helps.