FocusShield · Stillcraft

What's inside

Everything FocusShield does.

A timer always in view

A compact floating timer on top of every window: progress ring, time left, your intention and one-click controls.

Intention and check-in

Every session starts with what exactly will be done and ends with one question: did you make it?

Websites stop resolving

Domains on your list go nowhere, system-wide. DNS-over-HTTPS servers are blocked too.

Tab guard

Closes a YouTube tab by its title, even through a proxy or VPN. A search for “how to block youtube” is left alone.

Apps and folders

Chosen apps close during focus and chosen folders can't be opened. System folders are refused on purpose.

Focus apps

Pick the apps you work in. Wander off and they come back to the front.

Breaks that restore

4‑7‑8 breathing with an animated circle, the 20‑20‑20 eye rule, a stretch and a glass of water.

A sprout that grows

An optional mascot grows a leaf with each pomodoro, sweats in the last minute and blooms on the long break.

Check-ins and stats

Optional webcam and screen captures during focus, stored by day. Minutes, streaks and every intention with its outcome.

Screens

Captured in FocusShield.

FocusShield: New session — **New session**Duration and what exactly will be done.

FocusShield: Check-in — **Check-in**Did you make it?

FocusShield: Break — **Break**4‑7‑8 breathing with the circle.

FocusShield: The sprout — **The sprout**From napping seedling to bloom.

FocusShield: Statistics — **Statistics**Minutes, streaks, a 7-day chart.

FocusShield: Photos by day — **Photos by day**Optional captures, kept locally.

Blocking that holds up

Layer	What it does	Through proxy / VPN
Websites	Domains resolve to 0.0.0.0 via the hosts file; DNS-over-HTTPS servers are blocked	No
Tab guard	Closes a tab whose title contains a keyword, YouTube by default	Yes
Apps	Processes on your list are closed during focus	Yes
Folders	An NTFS deny-read rule: every program gets “access denied”	Yes

Get it

Get FocusShield.

Install

Version: v1.2.1
File: FocusShield.exe + .sha256
Requires: Windows 10 or 11, administrator rights
Data: %LOCALAPPDATA%\focus-shield

Download FocusShield.exe. It's one file, no Python needed.
Run it and accept the administrator prompt.
It adds itself to startup and lives in the tray. Press ▶ on the timer to start.

The exe isn't code-signed, so Windows may say “Windows protected your PC”. Click More info → Run anyway. Every release is built from source by GitHub Actions and ships with a .sha256 checksum.

Download for Windows All releases

Build from source

Python 3.10+ from python.org, with tkinter.

git clone https://github.com/bigdevwhale/focus-shield.git
cd focus-shield
python install.py   # run from source, with autostart
python build.py     # or build dist\FocusShield.exe

Good to know

Questions people ask.

I use a proxy or VPN and YouTube still opens

With a proxy, domain names are resolved by the proxy and the hosts file is never asked. That's what the tab guard is for: it works on window titles. Keep it on in Settings → Tab guard.

Something stayed blocked. How do I unblock it?

Run FocusShield.exe --unblock, or remove everything with FocusShield.exe --uninstall. Your original hosts file is backed up as hosts.focus-shield.bak.

Can I cheat?

Of course. Anyone with an admin terminal can kill a process. FocusShield is friction, not armor, and friction is usually all it takes.

Is anything sent anywhere?

No. There are no network calls in the code. Captures are deleted after the retention period you set, 14 days by default.