Focus Guard

A Chrome/Chromium browser extension that blocks distracting websites and apps for a set duration. One control point for both web and app blocking.

How It Works

• Website blocking: Uses Chrome's declarativeNetRequest API to redirect blocked sites to a "blocked" page with a countdown timer.
• App blocking: A local Python server kills blocked app processes every 2 seconds. The extension communicates with the server via HTTP on localhost:7532.

Features

• Block websites and macOS/Linux/Windows apps from a single popup
• Configurable duration: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, 60, 90, or 120 minutes
• Add/remove sites and apps while a blocking session is active
• Blocked websites show a countdown page
• Blocked apps are terminated every 2 seconds if reopened

Installation

1. Install the Extension

1. Open chrome://extensions in your Chromium-based browser
2. Enable Developer mode (toggle in top right)
3. Click Load unpacked
4. Select the extension/ folder from this repo

2. Install the Kill Server

The kill server is a small Python HTTP server that handles app blocking. It requires Python 3.6+.

python3 server/install.py

This will:

• macOS: Copy the server to ~/.webblocker/ and register a LaunchAgent (auto-starts on login)
• Linux: Copy the server to ~/.webblocker/ and create a systemd user service (auto-starts on login)
• Windows: Copy the server to ~/.webblocker/ and create a Task Scheduler entry (auto-starts on logon)

Manual Server Start

If you prefer to run the server manually instead of auto-starting:

python3 server/server.py

Usage

1. Click the extension icon in the toolbar
2. Sites tab: Add website domains to block (e.g. reddit.com, x.com)
3. Apps tab: Add app names to block (e.g. WhatsApp, Discord)
4. Set the blocking duration with the slider
5. Click Start Blocking

Managing the Kill Server

macOS:

# Stop
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.webblocker.killserver.plist

# Start
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.webblocker.killserver.plist

Linux:

# Stop
systemctl --user stop webblocker.service

# Start
systemctl --user start webblocker.service

# View logs
journalctl --user -u webblocker.service

Windows (PowerShell):

# Stop
schtasks /End /TN FocusGuardKillServer

# Start
schtasks /Run /TN FocusGuardKillServer

Project Structure

extension/          Chrome extension (load this in your browser)
  background/       Service worker for blocking logic
  blocked/          "Blocked" page shown for blocked sites
  popup/            Extension popup UI
  icons/            Extension icons
server/             Kill server (handles app blocking)
  server.py         Cross-platform HTTP server
  install.py        Cross-platform auto-start installer