CORE COOLDOWN

A portable break timer for Windows that reminds you to rest.
Because your time and your body belong to you - not to your screen.

Download latest release

--- ## Why does this exist? Repetitive strain injury and eye strain are not personal failings. They are the predictable result of systems that treat human attention as an extractable resource. Every person at a screen deserves a tool that gently interrupts the grind - one that serves *them*, not a subscription model, not an analytics dashboard, not a corporate wellness KPI. Core Cooldown is a single portable `.exe`. No installer, no account, no telemetry, no data leaving your machine. Drop it in a folder and run it. It reminds you to rest. That's it.
--- ## 💡 Philosophy Core Cooldown exists because rest is not a luxury. It is a fundamental need that no productivity framework, no employer, and no software platform should gatekeep behind a paywall or a subscription. This application: - **Collects nothing.** No analytics, no telemetry, no usage tracking, no crash reports phoned home. Your break habits are your own business. - **Costs nothing.** Not "free tier with limitations." Not "free for personal use." Free, unconditionally, for everyone. - **Requires nothing.** No account, no email, no app store, no internet connection after download. It runs on your machine and answers to you alone. - **Owns nothing.** Released under CC0 - the most complete relinquishment of rights possible under law. There is no owner. There are no restrictions. The code belongs to the commons. Tools for human wellbeing should never be enclosed, never be scarce, and never serve a master other than the person using them.
--- ## 🖼️ Screenshots

Dashboard - Main Timer
_{Dashboard - Focus timer with countdown ring, status pill, and quick controls}

_{Statistics - Daily summary, compliance rate, streaks, and 7-day history chart}

_{Settings - Grouped configuration cards with live preview}

_{Break Screen - Always-on-top break overlay with activity suggestions}

_{Mini Mode - Compact floating timer, click-through until hovered}

--- ## Features ### ⏱️ Timer & Breaks | | Feature | Description | |:--|:--------|:------------| | 🔄 | **Configurable intervals** | Work sessions from 5-120 min, breaks from 1-60 min | | 🔔 | **Pre-break warnings** | Toast notification + optional sound alert before each break | | 🛡️ | **Break enforcement** | Always-on-top break window with optional fullscreen mode | | 🔒 | **Strict mode** | Removes skip and cancel buttons entirely | | ⏩ | **Early end** | Optionally allow ending a break after 50% completion | | 😴 | **Snooze** | Delay breaks by a configurable duration (with limits) | | ⏳ | **Skip cooldown** | Prevents rapid-fire skipping with a cooldown timer | | ⚡ | **Immediate breaks** | Skip pre-break notification, go straight into break | | 🎯 | **Manual break** | Start a break anytime from the dashboard or tray menu |
### 🧠 Idle Detection & Smart Breaks | | Feature | Description | |:--|:--------|:------------| | 💤 | **Idle auto-pause** | Detects inactivity via Windows API and pauses the timer | | ▶️ | **Auto-resume** | Timer resumes automatically when you return | | 🌿 | **Smart breaks** | Recognizes natural breaks (stepping away) and optionally counts them toward your daily goal | | ⚙️ | **Configurable thresholds** | Idle timeout (30-600s) and smart break threshold (2-15 min) are independently adjustable |
### 🧘 Break Activities Each break shows a randomized suggestion from a curated library of **72 activities** across four categories: | Category | Examples | |:---------|:---------| | 👁️ **Eyes** | Palming, distance focusing, figure-eights, warm compress visualization, peripheral awareness | | 🤸 **Stretch** | Neck rolls, wrist flexion, shoulder blade squeezes, chest openers, spinal twists, hip flexors | | 🌬️ **Breathing** | Box breathing, 4-7-8 technique, alternate nostril, diaphragmatic, resonance breathing | | 🏃 **Movement** | Calf raises, wall push-ups, balance exercises, gentle squats, toe touches, desk yoga | Activities cycle every 30 seconds and never repeat consecutively.
### 📅 Working Hours Schedule A per-day schedule with multiple time ranges per day. The timer only runs during your configured hours - outside those hours, it pauses automatically. - **Monday through Sunday** - each day independently togglable - **Multiple ranges per day** - for split shifts or non-contiguous work blocks - **Weekend defaults** - Saturday and Sunday disabled by default
### 📊 Statistics & History | | Metric | Description | |:--|:-------|:------------| | ✅ | **Today's summary** | Breaks completed, skipped, snoozed, and total break time | | 🌿 | **Natural breaks** | Separately tracked idle breaks (with optional stat inclusion) | | 📈 | **Compliance rate** | Ratio of completed to total scheduled breaks | | 🔥 | **Streak tracking** | Current and best consecutive-day streaks | | 📉 | **7-day chart** | Canvas-rendered bar chart showing daily break history | All statistics stored locally in a plain JSON file next to the executable.
### 🔊 Sound Effects Synthesized notification sounds via Web Audio API - no bundled audio files, no network requests. > **8 presets:** Bell · Chime · Soft · Digital · Harp · Bowl · Rain · Whistle Sounds play on break start, pre-break warning, and break completion. Volume configurable 0-100%.
### ⌨️ Global Keyboard Shortcuts | Shortcut | Action | |:---------|:-------| | `Ctrl + Shift + P` | Pause / resume timer | | `Ctrl + Shift + B` | Start break now | | `Ctrl + Shift + S` | Show / hide main window | Works system-wide, even when Core Cooldown is not focused.
### 🔲 System Tray - 🎨 **Dynamic icon** - 32x32 progress arc rendered in real-time (orange = focus, purple = break, dimmed = paused) - 💬 **Countdown tooltip** - hover over tray icon to see time remaining - 📋 **Context menu** - pause/resume, start break, toggle mini mode, show/hide, quit
### 📌 Mini Mode A compact floating timer (200x50px) that sits on top of your other windows. - 👻 **Click-through** - completely transparent to mouse events, never blocks what's underneath - ✋ **Hover to grab** - hover for a configurable number of seconds and it becomes draggable - 🖱️ **Double-click** - opens the main window - 🔀 **Togglable** - enable/disable from the tray menu
### 🎨 Appearance & Customization | Setting | Range | |:--------|:------| | 🔍 **UI zoom** | 50-200% with live preview | | 🎯 **Accent color** | Hex color picker for the main UI accent | | 💜 **Break color** | Separate hex for the break screen ring | | 🌈 **Color schemes** | Ocean, Forest, Sunset, Midnight, Dawn | | 🔤 **Countdown font** | Google Fonts selector for timer display | | 🫧 **Background blobs** | Animated gradient blobs with film grain overlay | | 🌑 **Backdrop opacity** | 50-100% for the break screen overlay | | 💬 **Break title & message** | Fully customizable text shown during breaks | | 🌙 **Dark mode** | Always on (the only civilized option) |
### 🔔 Notifications Native Windows toast notifications for: - ⏰ Pre-break warnings (configurable seconds before break) - ✅ Break completion
### 🪟 Window Behavior - **Frameless window** with custom titlebar and drag region - **Transparent background** with frosted glass effects - **Window position persistence** - main and mini windows remember position between launches - **Animated view transitions** - directional fly/scale/fade transitions (700ms, cubicOut easing)
--- ## 📦 Portability Core Cooldown is **fully portable**. The executable carries everything it needs and stores everything it creates right next to itself: ``` 📁 anywhere-you-want/ ├── core-cooldown.exe ← the application ├── config.json ← your settings (auto-created on first run) ├── stats.json ← your break history (auto-created on first run) └── data/ ← WebView2 runtime data (auto-created on first run) ``` - No installer - No registry entries - No writes to `%APPDATA%`, `%LOCALAPPDATA%`, or any system directory - Move the folder anywhere - USB stick, shared drive, different machine - Nothing to uninstall - delete the folder and it's gone, zero traces
--- ## 🚀 Installation ``` 1. Download core-cooldown.exe from the Releases page 2. Put it in any folder you like 3. Run it ``` That's it. No elevated permissions. No runtime dependencies. The first launch may take a moment while Windows initializes the WebView2 runtime. **[Download latest release →](https://git.lashman.live/lashman/core-cooldown/releases)**
--- ## 🔨 Building from Source

Prerequisites

- **Node.js** (v18+) and **npm** - **Rust** toolchain (`rustup`) with the `x86_64-pc-windows-gnu` target - **MinGW-w64** - the GNU toolchain for Windows (provides linker, windres, dlltool)

### Setup ```bash git clone https://git.lashman.live/lashman/core-cooldown.git cd core-cooldown npm install ``` ### Linker Configuration Create or edit `src-tauri/.cargo/config.toml` to point to your MinGW installation: ```toml [build] target = "x86_64-pc-windows-gnu" [target.x86_64-pc-windows-gnu] linker = "C:/path/to/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe" ar = "C:/path/to/mingw64/bin/ar.exe" ``` ### Development ```bash # Launch with hot-reload npm run tauri dev # Rust check (no full build) cd src-tauri && cargo check # Frontend only (no Tauri shell) npm run dev ``` ### Release Build ```bash npm run tauri build ``` Output: `src-tauri/target/x86_64-pc-windows-gnu/release/core-cooldown.exe`
--- ## 🏗️ Architecture A split-architecture desktop app: Rust backend for system integration and timer logic, Svelte frontend rendered in a native WebView. ``` ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ System Tray │ │ (dynamic icon · tooltip · menu) │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ │ │ │ Main Window │ │ Break Window│ │ Mini Window │ │ │ │ (WebView) │ │ (WebView) │ │ (WebView) │ │ │ └──────┬──────┘ └──────┬──────┘ └──────┬──────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─────────┬───────┴──────────────────┘ │ │ │ Tauri IPC │ │ ┌─────────┴─────────┐ │ │ │ Rust Backend │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ TimerManager │ state machine (1 tick/sec) │ │ │ Config │ JSON persistence (portable) │ │ │ Stats │ break history tracking │ │ │ IdleDetector │ GetLastInputInfo polling │ │ │ GlobalShortcuts │ Ctrl+Shift+P/B/S │ │ │ TrayIcon │ RGBA ring rendering │ │ │ Notifications │ Windows toast │ │ └───────────────────┘ │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ```

Backend modules (Rust)

| Module | Responsibility | |:-------|:---------------| | `lib.rs` | Tauri app builder, command registration, tray setup, timer tick thread, window management, global shortcuts | | `config.rs` | Config struct with serde serialization, validation (clamping all values to safe ranges), portable file I/O | | `timer.rs` | Timer state machine (`Running` / `Paused` / `BreakActive`), idle detection via Windows API, working hours enforcement | | `stats.rs` | Daily break statistics, streak calculation, history queries | | `main.rs` | Entry point, WebView2 Runtime detection | | `msvc_compat.rs` | MSVC CRT compatibility stubs for static WebView2Loader linking on MinGW |

Frontend layers (Svelte 5 + TypeScript)

| Layer | Files | |:------|:------| | **Views** | `Dashboard`, `BreakScreen`, `Settings`, `StatsView` | | **Windows** | `BreakWindow` (standalone break modal), `MiniTimer` (floating mini mode) | | **Components** | `TimerRing`, `Titlebar`, `ToggleSwitch`, `Stepper`, `ColorPicker`, `FontSelector`, `TimeSpinner`, `BackgroundBlobs` | | **Stores** | `timer.ts` (reactive timer state from IPC events), `config.ts` (config with debounced auto-save) | | **Utilities** | `sounds.ts` (Web Audio synthesis), `activities.ts` (72 break activities), `animate.ts` (motion library) |

IPC contract

**Commands** (frontend → backend): `get_config` · `save_config` · `update_pending_config` · `reset_config` · `toggle_timer` · `start_break_now` · `cancel_break` · `snooze` · `get_timer_state` · `set_view` · `get_stats` · `get_daily_history` · `get_cursor_position` · `save_window_position` **Events** (backend → frontend): `timer-tick` · `break-started` · `break-ended` · `prebreak-warning` · `config-changed` · `natural-break-detected`

--- ## ⚙️ Configuration Reference All settings stored in `config.json` next to the executable. The settings panel exposes every option with live validation, but the file is plain JSON and can be edited by hand.

Full configuration schema (35 keys)

| Key | Type | Default | Range | Description | |:----|:-----|:--------|:------|:------------| | `break_duration` | `u32` | `5` | 1-60 min | Duration of each break | | `break_frequency` | `u32` | `25` | 5-120 min | Interval between breaks | | `auto_start` | `bool` | `true` | - | Start timer on launch | | `break_title` | `string` | `"Rest your eyes"` | max 100 chars | Title shown on break screen | | `break_message` | `string` | `"Look away..."` | max 500 chars | Message shown during breaks | | `fullscreen_mode` | `bool` | `true` | - | Use fullscreen break window | | `strict_mode` | `bool` | `false` | - | Remove skip/cancel buttons | | `allow_end_early` | `bool` | `true` | - | Allow ending break after 50% | | `immediately_start_breaks` | `bool` | `false` | - | Skip pre-break notification | | `working_hours_enabled` | `bool` | `false` | - | Restrict timer to schedule | | `working_hours_schedule` | `array` | Mon-Fri 09-18 | 7 days | Per-day time ranges | | `dark_mode` | `bool` | `true` | - | Dark theme | | `color_scheme` | `string` | `"Ocean"` | 5 presets | Color scheme name | | `backdrop_opacity` | `f32` | `0.92` | 0.5-1.0 | Break screen opacity | | `notification_enabled` | `bool` | `true` | - | Enable toast notifications | | `notification_before_break` | `u32` | `30` | 0-300 sec | Pre-break warning time | | `snooze_duration` | `u32` | `5` | 1-30 min | Snooze delay | | `snooze_limit` | `u32` | `3` | 0-5 | Max snoozes per cycle | | `skip_cooldown` | `u32` | `60` | 0-600 sec | Cooldown between skips | | `sound_enabled` | `bool` | `true` | - | Play notification sounds | | `sound_volume` | `u32` | `70` | 0-100 | Volume percentage | | `sound_preset` | `string` | `"bell"` | 8 presets | Sound preset name | | `idle_detection_enabled` | `bool` | `true` | - | Enable idle auto-pause | | `idle_timeout` | `u32` | `120` | 30-600 sec | Idle threshold | | `smart_breaks_enabled` | `bool` | `true` | - | Detect natural breaks | | `smart_break_threshold` | `u32` | `300` | 120-900 sec | Natural break threshold | | `smart_break_count_stats` | `bool` | `false` | - | Count natural breaks in stats | | `show_break_activities` | `bool` | `true` | - | Show activity suggestions | | `ui_zoom` | `u32` | `100` | 50-200% | Interface zoom level | | `accent_color` | `string` | `"#ff4d00"` | hex | Main accent color | | `break_color` | `string` | `"#7c6aef"` | hex | Break screen ring color | | `countdown_font` | `string` | `""` | font family | Google Font for countdown | | `background_blobs_enabled` | `bool` | `false` | - | Animated background blobs | | `mini_click_through` | `bool` | `true` | - | Mini mode click-through | | `mini_hover_threshold` | `f32` | `3.0` | 1.0-10.0 sec | Hover delay before drag |

--- ## 📚 Dependencies

Rust crates

| Crate | Purpose | |:------|:--------| | `tauri 2` | Application shell, IPC, multi-window, system tray | | `tauri-plugin-shell 2` | Shell integration | | `tauri-plugin-notification 2` | Windows toast notifications | | `tauri-plugin-global-shortcut 2` | System-wide keyboard shortcuts | | `serde` / `serde_json` | Config and stats serialization | | `chrono` | Date/time handling for schedules and statistics | | `anyhow` | Error handling | | `winapi` | Windows idle detection (`GetLastInputInfo`), WebView2 check dialog |

JavaScript packages

| Package | Purpose | |:--------|:--------| | `@tauri-apps/api` | Frontend IPC bindings | | `svelte 5` | Reactive UI framework (runes: `$state`, `$derived`, `$effect`) | | `tailwindcss 4` | Utility-first CSS | | `vite 6` | Build tool and dev server | | `motion` | Animation library | | `typescript 5` | Type safety |

--- ## 🤝 Contributing This project belongs to no one and everyone. If you find it useful and want to make it better, you are welcome. No contribution agreements to sign. No corporate CLAs. No licensing traps. Everything here is in the public domain. Your contributions will be too - freely given, freely shared, freely built upon by anyone who needs them. **Some ways to help:** - 🐛 Report bugs or rough edges - 🧘 Suggest new break activities (especially with physiotherapy or ergonomics knowledge) - ♿ Improve accessibility - 🐧 Port idle detection to macOS/Linux - 🌍 Translate the interface - 💌 Share it with someone who needs it The best software is built through mutual aid - people helping people because it's the right thing to do, not because there's a profit motive attached.
--- ## 📄 License

CC0 1.0 Universal - Public Domain Dedication

To the extent possible under law, the author has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work. Published from the commons, for the commons. Copy, modify, distribute, perform - even commercially - all without asking permission. No attribution required (though always appreciated). See [`LICENSE`](LICENSE) for the full legal text.
---

_{Built with care. Shared without conditions. 🧊

Rest well.}