MagSafe Guard

A Dead-Man's Cord Theft Protection Switch for Your Mac

MagSafe Guard transforms your Mac's power connection into an intelligent security guard. When armed, it instantly detects if your power cable is disconnected and triggers protective actions to secure your data - perfect for protecting your laptop in coffee shops, airports, or any public space.

Key Features

⚡ Instant Detection - Responds in milliseconds when your power cable is disconnected
🔒 Secure Authentication - Touch ID or password required to arm/disarm
⏱️ Smart Grace Period - Prevents false alarms with configurable delay (10 seconds default)
🎯 Customizable Actions - From simple screen lock to full system shutdown
📍 Location Aware - Automatically arms in public spaces, disarms at trusted locations
🔌 Universal Compatibility - Works with any Mac power adapter (MagSafe, USB-C, or third-party)
📋 Supply Chain Transparency - Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) included for security compliance

How It Works

1. Arm the protection when working in public spaces
2. Continue working normally with your power adapter connected
3. If someone grabs your laptop, the power cable disconnects
4. Security actions trigger immediately (or after grace period)
5. Your data stays protected even if your laptop is stolen

Perfect for digital nomads, security-conscious professionals, and anyone who works with sensitive data in public spaces.

Acknowledgments

MagSafe Guard is inspired by the excellent work of the BusKill Project - an open-source laptop kill cord that uses a USB magnetic breakaway to trigger security actions. We deeply appreciate their pioneering work in this space and their commitment to open-source security tools.

While BusKill requires a physical USB cable attachment, MagSafe Guard adapts the concept to use your existing power connection, making it seamless for Mac users. We encourage you to check out the original BusKill project, especially if you need cross-platform support or prefer a dedicated hardware solution.

Special thanks to:

• The BusKill team for creating the original concept and implementation
• Michael Altfield and all BusKill contributors
• The open-source security community for continuous innovation

Intended Usage

MagSafe Guard is fully open source software, licensed under the MIT License. We believe in transparency and community-driven development for security tools.

For information about contributing to the project, please see our Contributors Guide.

Installation

Installation Options

1. Mac App Store (Recommended)

Coming Soon - Get automatic updates and easy installation directly from the Mac App Store.

2. Direct Download

Download the latest release from our GitHub Releases page.

Note: Direct downloads require manual updates. For automatic updates, please wait for the Mac App Store release.

Getting Help

Need help or found an issue? We're here to assist:

• Feature Request: Have an idea? Submit a feature request
• Bug Report: Found a problem? Report an issue
• Security Issue: Found a vulnerability? Report securely
• General Question: Ask the community

Documentation

📚 View Full Documentation - Comprehensive guides and API references

Quick Links:

• Changelog
• QA Dashboard
• All Documentation

Development

Note: MagSafe Guard is a Swift Package project. You can use either Xcode or command-line tools for development. The menu bar app requires special handling - use task run for the best experience.

Quick Start

1. Install Task (if not already installed):

   brew install go-task/tap/go-task

2. Initialize Development Environment:

   task setup

   This sets up git hooks and verifies your development tools.

3. Build and Run:

   # Open in Xcode
   open MagSafeGuard.xcodeproj

   Then press ⌘R (Command+R) to build and run. Look for the lock shield icon in your menu bar.

Testing

For Development Testing:

# Run all tests
task test

# Run tests with coverage
task test:coverage

For CI/CD Automation:

The following tasks are used to run testing and quality assurance prior to opening a pull request:

task qa            # Run standard QA checks
task qa:quick      # Quick checks (for git hooks)
task qa:fix        # Auto-fix all fixable issues
task qa:full       # Full QA with SonarCloud

Tests are required to pass in our CI/CD approval flow. For more information, see the CI/CD Workflows Documentation.

System Requirements

• macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) or later
• Any Mac with power adapter support
• Administrator privileges for some security actions

Security & Quality

View our Quality Assurance Dashboard for security status, code coverage, and quality metrics.

Privacy & Security

• No tracking: We don't collect any user data
• Local only: All processing happens on your Mac
• Open source: Review our code anytime
• Secure: Requires authentication for all security operations

Project Task Status

For details on the project progress, planned initiatives and current status, expand the section below.

Expand task status report

🎯 Taskmaster Export - 2025-08-02 09:35:18 UTC 📋 Export: without subtasks • Status filter: none 🔗 Powered by Task Master

Project Dashboard
Task Progress	██████████░░░░░░░░░░ 50%
Done	9
In Progress	3
Pending	6
Deferred	0
Cancelled	0
-	-
Subtask Progress	█████████████░░░░░░░ 65%
Completed	73
In Progress	3
Pending	37

ID	Title	Status	Priority	Dependencies	Complexity
1	Setup Project Repository and Structure	✓ done	high	None	● 4
2	Implement Power Monitoring Service	✓ done	high	1	● 7
3	Implement Authentication Service	✓ done	high	1	● 6
4	Implement Security Actions Service	✓ done	high	1	● 7
5	Create Menu Bar UI Component	✓ done	high	1	● 6
6	Implement Core Application Logic	✓ done	high	2, 3, 4, 5	● 8
7	Implement Settings UI and Persistence	✓ done	medium	1, 6	● 6
8	Implement Auto-Arm Feature	✓ done	medium	6, 7	● 7
9	Implement Location Tracking and Evidence Collection	► in-progress	low	6	● 5
10	Implement Custom Script Execution	○ pending	low	6, 7	● 6
11	Implement Network Actions	○ pending	low	6, 7	● 6
12	Implement Data Protection Features	○ pending	low	6, 7	● 7
13	Implement Accessibility Features	✓ done	medium	5, 7	● 6
14	Implement Documentation and Help System	○ pending	medium	1, 5, 6, 7	● 5
15	Implement Code Signing and Distribution	► in-progress	high	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 16	● 8
16	Implement ViewInspector for SwiftUI Testing	○ pending	medium	6, 13	N/A
17	Implement Feature Flag Framework with Sentry Integration and Dynamic Management	► in-progress	medium	6, 13	N/A
18	Refactor PowerMonitorService for Testability with Protocol-Based Dependency Injection	○ pending	medium	2, 3	N/A

📋 End of Taskmaster Export - Tasks are synced from your project using the sync-readme command.