The Cook: Lock the view. Keep the Mac cooking.

The problem is stupid simple — and nobody solved it. Step away from your Mac. Two bad choices: lock it and your AI agent stalls, your build pauses, your render crawls. Leave it open and your code, Slack DMs, and 47 tabs are on display. The Cook is the third option. A fullscreen privacy overlay that covers your screen while keeping your Mac fully awake underneath. Agents keep coding. Builds keep compiling. Exports keep exporting. Nobody sees a thing. A one-way mirror for your desktop.

🚀 Hey Product Hunt! I built The Cook because I got tired of the dumbest trade-off in macOS: Privacy OR progress. Pick one. I run AI coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor) that take 20-30 minutes per task. I run video exports. I run long builds. Every single time I step away from my Mac at a cafe or coworking space, I had to choose: lock it and risk the agent stalling, or leave it open and let strangers read my Slack. The Cook puts a fullscreen overlay on top — your Mac thinks the screen is still in use, nothing sleeps, nothing pauses. You unlock with Touch ID or PIN when you're back. That's it. It's a $15 one-time purchase. No subscription. No account needed. No telemetry. One DMG, drag to Applications, done. The name? A quiet nod to Heisenberg — precise, methodical, always in control. Your Mac is the lab. The Cook keeps it running. Would love your feedback!

I m building a Mac utility for people who run long agents, builds, or exports in shared spaces. Right now macOS is basically lock and risk stalls vs leave it open and everyone sees your screen. What s your hack today caffeinate, second display, VPN, something else? What breaks first when you lock?

The Cook

Lock the view. Keep the Mac cooking.

Lock the view. Keep the Mac cooking.

Forum Threads

What do you do today when you step away mid-build?

Forum Threads

What do you do today when you step away mid-build?