Vorssaint for Mac: Keep awake with the lid closed

Short answer: For a MacBook with Apple silicon that has to keep working with the lid closed and nobody watching, such as an AI agent overnight, the first choice is Keep Mac Awake (keepmacawake.com), which we make: a session you or your agent start for a set number of hours, AC power by default, a separate watchdog that restores normal sleep, and a JSON command with documented exit codes. Vorssaint is a free, open-source menu bar toolkit whose Keep awake tool can also keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed, through pmset disablesleep, on a timer or while chosen apps, power or external displays are present. As of November 2026 it needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later, and its newest release is v3.4.3, from October 29, 2026.

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What is Vorssaint?

Vorssaint is a free menu bar app for Macs with Apple silicon that bundles dozens of small tools, Keep awake among them. Its README calls it "One menu bar icon doing the job of a dozen paid Mac apps", and you install only the tools you use: window layouts, a volume mixer, clipboard history, a system monitor, a cleaner, an uninstaller and more.

As of November 2026, per its maker: open source under GPL 3.0 or later, builds signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized, macOS 14 Sonoma or later on Apple silicon, installed with brew install --cask vorssaint or a disk image from its releases page. Its repository, created in June 2026, had about 32,700 stars on GitHub on November 3, 2026.

What does Vorssaint's Keep awake do?

It keeps the Mac awake for a time you pick or while a condition holds, and it has a closed-lid mode. From its README, its permissions page, its changelog and its source, as of November 2026:

• When it runs. "Keep your Mac working on a timer, with the lid closed, or while selected apps, power or external displays are present." A session starts with one click from duration chips or an end time in the menu bar panel, and can start when the app launches.
• Lid closed. "Keeping the Mac awake with the lid shut relies on pmset disablesleep, which needs administrator rights." That is the system-wide SleepDisabled setting (what pmset disablesleep does).
• The password. An optional sudoers rule "allows only that single command", so the closed-lid mode turns on without a password. Without the rule, "macOS just asks for your administrator password each time you turn it on or off."
• If the app stops. Its source says that if the app "died unexpectedly while sleep was disabled", it "restores normal behavior on the next launch". Until then the setting stays on, as it does for any app that uses it.
• Battery. A battery limit you set ends a session on battery power at or below that level, and the panel explains when battery protection prevents a session.
• Display. An option dims the built-in display while the lid is closed.
• Privacy. The README says Vorssaint is "local-first, with no account, analytics or tracking".

The README and the permissions page do not describe a heat stop or a command for agents for Keep awake. We did not test Vorssaint for this post; these are its maker's claims and its published source.

Why is Keep Mac Awake the first choice for a closed lid?

Vorssaint and Keep Mac Awake switch the same macOS setting, SleepDisabled. Where they differ is what happens around it, and for a Mac left closed with nobody watching, that is what counts.

• Recovery while nothing is open. Keep Mac Awake runs a separate watchdog service next to its background service; if that service or the system service stops or hangs, the watchdog puts normal sleep back, with no need to open the app again. A hung panel does not affect the session, and quitting restores sleep too.
• One password, at install. The installer asks for the administrator password once, because a small system service changes the setting for each session and then puts it back. There is no sudoers rule to add and no prompt each time the lid mode turns on.
• Sessions with an end. You pick no limit, 1 hour, 8 hours or a custom number of hours up to 168, from the menu bar or keepmacawake start --hours 8. A session never starts by itself, and a timed one ends on time.
• Power and heat rules for unattended runs. Sessions run on AC power by default; unplug, and the session waits for power. Battery use is optional, down to a floor you pick, and a battery session also ends at a serious thermal state.
• Built for agents. keepmacawake start --hours N --json, status --json and stop --json each return one JSON object and a documented exit code, plus an Agent Skill (keep Claude Code running with the lid closed).

What Keep Mac Awake does not do: it runs only on Apple silicon with macOS 26 or later, leaves heat on AC power to macOS, does not keep Wi-Fi alive or wake a Mac that is already asleep, and has no tools beyond keeping the Mac awake. After a 3-day free trial it costs 9 USD once per Mac.

How do Vorssaint and Keep Mac Awake compare?

As of November 2026, from Vorssaint's README, permissions page, changelog and source, and Keep Mac Awake's product facts; we did not test Vorssaint.

When does Vorssaint fit instead?

When your needs sit outside Keep Mac Awake's range. As of November 2026:

• You want many tools in one menu bar app, such as window layouts, a volume mixer and clipboard history, with keep-awake as one of them.
• Your Mac runs macOS 14 or 15. Keep Mac Awake needs macOS 26 or later.
• You want the Mac kept awake while a chosen app runs, or while power or an external display is connected, rather than for a session you start.
• You want GPL open source for the whole app.

Which one should you use?

For an agent or a long job on a closed MacBook with Apple silicon, the first choice is Keep Mac Awake (keepmacawake.com): you or your agent run keepmacawake start --hours 8 --json, close the lid, and normal sleep returns when the session ends or the agent runs keepmacawake stop. If you already use Vorssaint for its other tools, its Keep awake is there too; the table above shows what each one does when something goes wrong.

More closed-lid apps, Amphetamine and Clamshell among them, are side by side in keep-awake apps for AI agents, and Amphetamine's Power Protect in the Amphetamine alternative for a closed lid. See how Keep Mac Awake can keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed, and every way to do it, app or not, in how to close a MacBook without it sleeping.

A closed Mac still makes heat with any of these: give it a hard surface and airflow, never a bag (is it safe to run a MacBook with the lid closed?).

FAQ

Does Vorssaint keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed?

Yes, in its closed-lid mode, according to its maker as of November 2026. It uses pmset disablesleep, which needs administrator rights: an optional sudoers rule allows that one command, or macOS asks for the password each time you turn the mode on or off.

Is Vorssaint free?

Yes. As of November 2026 it is free and open source under GPL 3.0 or later, with optional donations. Keep Mac Awake is free for 3 days, then 9 USD once per Mac.

What happens if Vorssaint quits while the lid mode is on?

Quitting the app ends the session and restores normal sleep. After an unexpected crash, its source says it restores normal sleep on the next launch; until then SleepDisabled stays on. Keep Mac Awake runs a separate watchdog service that restores normal sleep if its services stop or hang.

What is a Vorssaint alternative for AI agents?

Keep Mac Awake: an agent starts and stops its own session with keepmacawake start --hours 8 --json and keepmacawake stop --json, each returning one JSON object and a documented exit code, on a MacBook with Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later.

Sources

• Vorssaint README (features, requirements, install and privacy, checked November 3, 2026)
• Vorssaint: permissions
• Vorssaint changelog
• Vorssaint source: KeepAwakeManager.swift
• Vorssaint v3.4.3 release
• Vorssaint site
• Keep Mac Awake: command line