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Running SelfControl from the Terminal
In some cases, you may want to start a SelfControl block from the command line. This can make it much easier for advanced users to script their SelfControl blocks. This article explains how you can start SelfControl from the command line. If you're not familiar with the command line, this article is not for you. These instructions assume SelfControl is installed in your Applications folder.
- The SelfControl helper command-line tool is located inside the SelfControl.app bundle:
SelfControl.app/Contents/MacOS/org.eyebeam.SelfControl - When a block is started, the command-line tool is copied to
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/org.eyebeam.SelfControl. Note that this copy of the helper tool may be a different version than the SelfControl app's version. - The helper tool must be run as root (i.e.
sudo) and the first argument must be the UID of the current user (i.e.$(id -u $(whoami))).
Returns: YES if a SelfControl block is currently running, NO otherwise
Example: $ sudo /Applications/SelfControl.app/Contents/MacOS/org.eyebeam.SelfControl $(id -u $(whoami)) --is-running 2020-05-20 11:39:08.037 org.eyebeam.SelfControl[1806:3220904] NO
Arguments:
- Path to saved SelfControl blocklist (use File --> Save Blocklist to generate)
- Block ending date in ISO 8601 format
Example: $ sudo /Applications/SelfControl.app/Contents/MacOS/org.eyebeam.SelfControl $(id -u $(whoami)) --install /path/to/saved/blocklist.selfcontrol 2020-04-28T08:49:58.157+0000
Checks whether the block is finished, and removes it if so. This is run automatically on a regular interval, and should not generally need to be run manually.
Example: $ sudo /Applications/SelfControl.app/Contents/MacOS/org.eyebeam.SelfControl $(id -u $(whoami)) --checkup
Returns: printout of the SelfControl secured settings (for debug purposes)
Example: sudo /Applications/SelfControl.app/Contents/MacOS/org.eyebeam.SelfControl $(id -u $(whoami)) --print-settings 2020-05-20 11:51:42.652 org.eyebeam.SelfControl[2099:3232812] - Printing SelfControl secured settings for debug: - 2020-05-20 11:51:42.659 org.eyebeam.SelfControl[2099:3232812] { AllowLocalNetworks = 1; BlockAsWhitelist = 0; BlockEndDate = "0001-01-01 00:00:00 +0000"; BlockIsRunning = 0; BlockSound = 5; BlockSoundShouldPlay = 0; Blocklist = ( "facebook.com", "youtube.com" ); ClearCaches = 1; EvaluateCommonSubdomains = 1; IncludeLinkedDomains = 1; LastSettingsUpdate = "2020-05-15 21:50:49 +0000"; SettingsVersionNumber = 12; TamperingDetected = 0; }
Returns: version string for this helper tool
Example: $ sudo /Applications/SelfControl.app/Contents/MacOS/org.eyebeam.SelfControl $(id -u $(whoami)) --version 2020-05-20 11:39:08.037 org.eyebeam.SelfControl[1806:3220904] 3.0
Returns: version string for this helper tool
Example: $ sudo /Applications/SelfControl.app/Contents/MacOS/org.eyebeam.SelfControl $(id -u $(whoami)) --version 2020-05-20 11:39:08.037 org.eyebeam.SelfControl[1806:3220904] 3.0