What is focusd?

FocusD is a pomodoro timer that lives in your terminal, built for people who want more than a basic countdown clock. It runs as a background process, called a daemon, so your timer keeps counting even if you close the visual interface, and multiple terminal windows can show the same, synced timer state. The main way to use FocusD is through its text based interface, which shows a timer page, a history of past sessions, and a statistics page with details like your current streak of focused days. You start and control the timer with simple keyboard shortcuts, such as pressing space to start or pause, or jumping ahead to the next work or break session. The tool also sends a notification when a timer finishes. FocusD supports different presets, so you are not locked into the traditional twenty five minute work block. The default configuration file lets you set custom work, short break, and long break lengths, and you can define multiple named presets, such as a longer deep work block, and switch between them. For people using the Waybar status bar on Linux, common on window managers like Hyprland, FocusD can output its current status as JSON, which Waybar can display directly, including icons and colors that change depending on whether you are working or on a break. The README also shows examples of wiring FocusD into custom keyboard shortcuts and quick launch menus. The project is written in Rust and can be installed through Homebrew on macOS, through the AUR helper yay on Arch Linux, or built from source using Cargo. It is licensed under the MIT license. The author describes this as a personal project built partly to learn Rust, and notes that it is still under active development, so some rough edges are expected. Pull requests are not currently being accepted, though bug reports and feature suggestions are welcome.