Bliss

Bliss is a focus lock that blocks distracting websites, force-closes apps, and makes you solve a real challenge to escape early. Cross-platform GUI (Tauri + Svelte) with a CLI for power users.

Video Demo

Bliss.v0.4.0.Demo.mp4

What it does

• Block websites via /etc/hosts + firewall (dual-layer, browser-agnostic)
• Force-close apps during a session
• Survive everything - background timer (blissd) persists through terminal close and reboot
• Panic challenges to escape early: Typing (100% accuracy), Competitive Programming, Minesweeper, Pipes, Sudoku, Simon Says, Wordle, 2048
• Configs - save/load blocking profiles, switch between them instantly
• HH:MM:SS timer - microwave-style digit entry, supports hours and seconds
• Cross-platform - macOS now, Linux coming (iptables backend already done)

Install

curl -fsSL \
  "https://github.com/zainmarshall/bliss/releases/download/v0.4.0/bliss-macos-universal.zip" \
  -o /tmp/bliss.zip && \
  rm -rf /tmp/bliss && mkdir -p /tmp/bliss && \
  unzip -q /tmp/bliss.zip -d /tmp/bliss && \
  bash /tmp/bliss/bliss_release/scripts/install.sh

No Xcode, no build tools. The installer sets up everything: CLI, GUI, and root helper.

If you see Bootstrap failed: 5: Input/output error, just re-run the command.

Build from source

Requires: Rust, Cargo, Node.js, npm.

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the C++ backend
mkdir -p build && cd build && cmake .. && make && cd ..
sudo make install   # installs bliss, blissd, blissroot to /usr/local/bin

# Run the Tauri GUI in dev mode
cargo tauri dev

CLI Commands

Command	Description
bliss start <minutes>	Start a focus session
bliss start <seconds> --seconds	Start with exact seconds
bliss panic	Escape early (must complete a challenge)
bliss status	Show timer and firewall state
bliss config website add/remove/list	Manage blocked websites
bliss config app add/remove/list	Manage blocked apps
bliss config browser add/remove/list	Manage browsers to restart
bliss config quotes short/medium/long/huge	Set typing challenge length
bliss repair	Fix root helper (requires sudo)
bliss uninstall	Remove everything (requires sudo + challenge)

Notes

• Starting a session restarts configured browsers to flush DNS caches. Save your work first.
• Nothing is blocked by default - configure via the GUI or CLI.

Architecture

• Blocking: /etc/hosts + firewall (pf on macOS, iptables on Linux) for redundant, browser-agnostic blocking
• Timer: blissd daemon, epoch-based, survives reboots
• Root helper: blissroot daemon so no sudo needed after install
• GUI: Tauri v2 + Svelte 5 (was SwiftUI, migrated for cross-platform)
• Config: ~/.config/bliss/ (plain text + JSON files)
• Profiles: ~/.config/bliss/profiles/*.json

Devlogs

Read the devlogs at: https://flavortown.hackclub.com/projects/11291