Free keep-awake app for Windows 10 and 11 · v1.2.1
Close the lid. Your agents keep working.
WakeKeeper stops Windows from sleeping while your AI agents, builds, downloads and backups run, even with the laptop shut. One click in the taskbar, and your power settings go back to normal when the job is done.
Free · 62 MB setup wizard · no admin rights · works offline, sends no data
› agent: reading 214 files in src/
› agent: planning refactor of auth module
› edit src/auth/session.ts (+48 −31)
› edit src/auth/tokens.ts (+12 −9)
› running test suite…
Not keeping your PC awake10/20/2026
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Use cases
For the jobs that should finish while you're away.
Windows decides you're gone after a few idle minutes and puts everything to sleep. Here's where WakeKeeper helps, and the setting to use for each one.
AI coding agents
Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other agents can run for hours on a refactor or a test fix. If the PC sleeps, the run dies and the work is lost.
Point WakeKeeper at the terminal the agent runs in. It keeps the PC awake for exactly as long as that window is open, and with lid-closed mode you can shut the laptop and come back to a finished pull request.
Set up: While an app is open → WindowsTerminal
Remote and SSH sessions
Keep a machine reachable over Remote Desktop, SSH or Tailscale while you work on it from somewhere else.
Set up: Until I stop it + lid closed
Big downloads and updates
Game installs, model weights, OS images. The session ends on its own about 15 seconds after the last download finishes.
Set up: Until downloads finish
Renders and exports
Video exports, 3D renders and long compiles that would otherwise stop halfway through the night.
Set up: While an app is open → your renderer
Backups and sync
Let OneDrive, a NAS backup or a cloud sync finish with the lid closed and the laptop in its dock.
Set up: Rule: power adapter + 1–6 am
Presentations and calls
Your screen never dims halfway through a slide, a screen share or a long call.
Set up: 1 hour, display stays on
Dashboards and kiosks
Monitoring walls, build radiators and shop displays that should stay on during working hours.
Set up: Rule: schedule 9 am–6 pm
Model training and data jobs
Fine-tunes, evals, scrapers and ETL scripts that run for hours and can't resume after a sleep.
Set up: While an app is open → python
Game servers and streams
Host a match or a stream from a laptop without Windows putting it to sleep under you.
Set up: While an app is open → obs64
Lid-closed mode
No fear of closing your laptop.
Start a long agent run, a render or an overnight backup, close the lid and walk away. Windows normally sleeps the moment the lid shuts. With WakeKeeper, the work carries on.
- Only while a session runsWakeKeeper sets the lid action to “Do nothing” when a session starts and puts your own setting back when it ends.
- Safe even if something crashesYour original setting is saved before anything changes. If the PC restarts mid-session, it's restored on the next launch.
- Battery guardOptionally end the session below a charge level or when the charger is unplugged, so a closed laptop never runs flat.
Everything a keep-awake app should do. Nothing it shouldn't.
One small tray app with no account and no background service. It uses Windows' own power APIs, so nothing is hacked or patched, and quitting it puts everything back as it was.
- Sessions that end themselves
- SetThreadExecutionState
- Keep awake indefinitely, for a number of minutes or hours, or until a specific time. Extend a running session from the menu.
- While an app runs
- Process watch, 1 s
- Pick any open app. The session ends the moment it quits, which is handy for renders, game installs and long video calls.
- While a download finishes
- *.crdownload, *.part
- Watches your Downloads folder for in-progress Chrome, Edge, Firefox and torrent files, and ends 15 seconds after the last one completes.
- Auto-start rules
- Evaluated every 5 s
- Start a session automatically when every condition is true: app running, plugged in, battery level, Wi-Fi network, schedule, idle time, CPU load, or a drive being connected.
- Lid closed mode
- powercfg LIDACTION
- Keep a laptop running with the lid shut. The original lid action is saved first and restored when the session ends, even after a crash.
- Battery safety
- PowerStatus
- End a session below a charge level, end it when the charger is unplugged, and start a new one when it's plugged back in.
- Idle helpers
- SendInput, LockWorkStation
- Nudge the cursor by one pixel so chat apps don't mark you away, or lock the screen after a period of real inactivity.
- Keep drives spinning
- .wakekeeper-keepalive
- Stops external drives from spinning down by writing a tiny hidden file to them at an interval you choose.
- Global hot keys
- RegisterHotKey
- Ctrl + Alt + A starts or ends a session from anywhere. You can set another key to let the screen turn off.
Auto-start rules
Set the rule once and forget about it.
A rule starts a session automatically while all of its conditions are true, and ends it as soon as one stops being true. Sessions you start yourself always take priority.
Toggle the conditions to see when this example would keep the PC awake.
Rule
Overnight agent runs
Every condition must be true. At least one isn't, so nothing happens.
Download WakeKeeper
Version 1.2.1 · Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) · 62 MB
- Setup wizard, no administrator rights needed
- Start menu entry and optional start with Windows
- Uninstall any time from Settings › Apps
- Everything bundled, nothing else to install
Portable: unzip anywhere and run WakeKeeper.exe. Nothing is installed, and it's handy for USB sticks and work PCs.
Windows may show a blue warning
New apps that aren't widely downloaded yet get a SmartScreen prompt saying “Windows protected your PC”. Click More info, then Run anyway. It appears only once.
What it changes on your PC
It installs to your user folder, adds a Start menu entry and, if you choose, a startup entry. It never changes system files, and uninstalling removes everything.
› Verify the download (optional)
SHA-256 fingerprints, for anyone who wants to confirm the files weren't changed in transit.
WakeKeeper-Setup.exe
196c0c9603235f09491d4c4b24cf671ce7b4e27b7e8d5680aa230e3a84dfdcc4WakeKeeper-Portable.zip
a8dbcccf99a4702ea10a78315c663f3074d4e34601a1e22b1bdfea04cac3beaaUp and running in under a minute
A standard Windows setup wizard: no terminal, no commands, no administrator password. Everything else happens from the cup icon next to your clock.
Download WakeKeeper-Setup.exe
It lands in your Downloads folder. Open it from the browser's download bar.
If Windows shows a blue warning
Click More info, then Run anyway. Windows does this for new apps that aren't widely downloaded yet.
Follow the wizard
Click Next, keep Start when I sign in ticked if you want it ready every day, then Install and Finish.
Find the cup next to the clock
New tray icons sometimes start hidden behind the ^ arrow. Drag the cup onto the taskbar so it's always in view. A welcome notification tells you it's ready.
WakeKeeper 1.2.1 SetupWelcome to WakeKeeper
WakeKeeper keeps your PC awake while AI agents, builds, downloads and backups run, even with the laptop lid closed.
Setup takes a few seconds and doesn't need administrator rights.
Try it: click through the same steps you'll see in the real wizard.
Help test v1.2.1
Put it through its paces
Each check takes a minute or two, and none of them need a terminal. Tick the ones that work; your progress is saved in this browser. When you're done, copy the report and send it with anything that didn't work.
Support
Stuck? A real person answers.
Email is the quickest way to get help. Tell us your Windows version and what happened. If you can, turn on Feedback & Support › Debug Mode in the tray menu, try again, and attach the debug log.
Report a bug on GitHub
Public and searchable, so the next person with the same problem finds the answer.
Open an issueTroubleshooting guide
Fixes for the common ones: SmartScreen, hot keys, sleep settings, company PCs.
Read the guideQuestions
Yes. WakeKeeper doesn't need to know what the agent is. It keeps Windows awake, so anything running on the PC keeps running. The neatest setup is While an app is open with the terminal or editor the agent lives in.
Right-click the WakeKeeper cup in the taskbar, turn on Keep running with lid closed and start a session. While the session runs, closing the lid doesn't put the laptop to sleep, so downloads, builds and agents carry on. When the session ends, your normal lid setting comes back automatically.
Click the WakeKeeper cup in the taskbar and choose Until downloads finish, or pick a time such as 2 hours. Windows stays awake until the download stops or the timer runs out, then sleeps normally again.
All three keep Windows awake. WakeKeeper adds lid-closed mode, sessions that end when an app closes or a download finishes, auto-start rules for Wi-Fi, power, schedules and CPU load, low-battery protection and a setup wizard. It's a single small app, so you don't need to install a whole toolkit.
Yes. WakeKeeper changes the lid action to “Do nothing” only during a session and restores your setting afterwards, even after a crash or restart. One caution: a closed laptop still produces heat, so don't zip it into a bag while it's working.
SmartScreen warns about new apps until enough people have downloaded them. Click More info, then Run anyway. You'll see it once, not every time you use the app.
No. It installs into your own user folder. On some company-managed PCs, IT policy blocks changing the lid setting; if so, WakeKeeper tells you, and everything else still works.
No. There's no account, telemetry or network code. Your settings are a small file in your user profile.
WakeKeeper itself uses almost nothing. Keeping a PC awake does use power, so you can end sessions automatically below a charge level or when the charger is unplugged.
Yes. WakeKeeper only stops automatic idle sleep. Start › Power › Sleep and the power button work as normal.
The installer is the easiest choice: Start menu entry, start with Windows, and a normal uninstall. The portable zip runs from any folder or USB stick without installing anything.
Start the run. Close the lid. Come back to results.
Free for Windows 10 and 11. Set up in under a minute.