Eyesbreaker 👁️⏰

A Visual Studio Code extension that reminds developers to follow the 20-20-20 rule to prevent digital eye strain:

Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Reference: American Optometric Association — 20-20-20 rule

Features

• Background timers — a heartbeat timer runs every second in the extension host and schedules a break every 20 minutes (configurable).
• Annoying sound — when a break starts, Eyesbreaker plays a generated alarm through the OS audio player (no webview autoplay restrictions). Choose from alarm, beep, or siren.
• 20-second countdown popup — a full webview panel appears with a big countdown, a progress bar, and the 20-20-20 instructions. It disappears automatically after 20 seconds.
• Webview settings — an Activity Bar panel styled like the reference AISUG project, with toggles, number inputs, a dropdown, and a volume slider. Everything is saved to VS Code settings.
• Status bar countdown — see the time until your next break at a glance.
• Synced across windows — open several VS Code windows? They all share one schedule, so every status bar shows the same countdown and only one break popup appears at a time.
• Snooze — postpone a break without disabling reminders permanently.

✨ What's new

Open multiple VS Code windows at once? Eyesbreaker now keeps them all in sync:

• One source of truth — the next-break time is stored once in shared storage instead of a separate timer per window, so every window counts down to the exact same break.
• Only one popup — when a break fires, a single 20-20-20 panel appears (and the annoying sound plays once). The other windows just mirror the remaining time in their status bars instead of popping their own reminders.
• Continuous across sessions — closing and reopening VS Code resumes the same countdown, and an overdue schedule from a previous session is never fired as a surprise break.

How it works

1. On startup, activate() starts a background setInterval heartbeat and establishes the shared schedule.
2. ScheduleStore keeps the next-break time in a small file inside the extension's global storage, which is shared by every VS Code window on the same machine. Every window reads it and converges on the same countdown, so there is a single source of truth.
3. When the timer fires, BreakReminderController opens a webview panel and starts the 20-second countdown.
4. AnnoyingSoundPlayer generates a PCM WAV at runtime and plays it via System.Media.SoundPlayer (Windows), afplay (macOS), or paplay/aplay (Linux).
5. When the countdown reaches zero, the panel closes and the next break is scheduled automatically.

Multiple VS Code windows

When several VS Code windows are open, they all share one schedule, so every status bar shows the same countdown and breaks fire at the same time:

• The next-break time is stored once in the shared schedule file; any window that changes it (settings change, snooze, or after a break) writes the new value and the other windows pick it up within a second.
• Only one window ever shows the break popup. When a break is due, the windows race to claim it with an OS-level exclusive file (break.claim.json); exactly one wins and opens the popup, while the other windows mirror the remaining time in their status bars instead.
• Closing a window mid-break releases its claim so the remaining windows take over cleanly; a stale claim (e.g. from a crashed window) is reclaimed automatically once the break would have ended.
• Reopening VS Code resumes the same countdown. A schedule left over from a previous session that is long past due is re-established, so you never get a surprise break popup just for opening the editor.

Commands

Settings

Recommendations

• Keep the default 20 / 20 / 20 values — they match the optometric guidance the extension is based on.
• Leave the sound on but lower eyesbreaker.soundVolume if you work in an open office; the "annoying" part is the point, but volume should stay courteous.
• Use Snooze only when you are in the middle of something critical — it postpones the current break without turning the whole feature off.
• Pair this with a standing/water reminder for an even healthier workday.

Development

npm install
npm run compile

Then press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host with Eyesbreaker running. To test quickly without waiting 20 minutes, run the Eyesbreaker: Start Break Now command or use the Test Break Now button in the settings webview.

Packaging

npx @vscode/vsce package

Desktop app

A standalone Electron version is available in desktop/. It runs in the system tray and shows the same 20-second break popup outside VS Code.

cd desktop
npm install
npm run dist

The installer is written to desktop/release/. See desktop/README.md for download and installation instructions.