____________   _____________________
7      77  7   7     77     77  7  7
!__  __!|  |   |  7  ||  ___!|   __!
  7  7  |  !___|  |  ||  7___|     |
  |  |  |     7|  !  ||     7|  7  |
  !__!  !_____!!_____!!_____!!__!__!

🔒 Lock your terminal. Unlock with your fingerprint.

A terminal lock screen for macOS that uses Touch ID for biometric unlock with macOS password fallback. Drop it into tmux as your lock-command and walk away.

Worms	DVD	Pipes
Passphrase	Touch ID

✨ Features

• 🖐️ Touch ID fingerprint unlock via macOS LocalAuthentication
• 🔑 macOS password fallback with blinking block cursor
• 🎨 Glitch-style unicode bordered prompts (purple/teal palette)
• 🧠 Auto-detects Touch ID availability (skips when lid is closed)
• 🛡️ Signal-proof — Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Z won't bypass the lock
• 📐 Terminal resize aware
• 🖥️ Designed as a tmux lock-command

📦 Install

⬇️ Download binary (macOS)

Grab the latest release for your architecture:

# Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)
curl -sL https://github.com/retr0h/tlock/releases/latest/download/tlock_$(curl -sL https://api.github.com/repos/retr0h/tlock/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d '"' -f4 | tr -d v)_darwin_arm64 -o tlock

# Intel Mac
curl -sL https://github.com/retr0h/tlock/releases/latest/download/tlock_$(curl -sL https://api.github.com/repos/retr0h/tlock/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d '"' -f4 | tr -d v)_darwin_amd64 -o tlock

chmod +x tlock
sudo mv tlock /usr/local/bin/

🔏 Verify checksum

curl -sL https://github.com/retr0h/tlock/releases/latest/download/checksums.txt -o checksums.txt
grep "$(uname -s | tr A-Z a-z)_$(uname -m | sed 's/x86_64/amd64/;s/aarch64/arm64/')" checksums.txt | sed 's/tlock_.*$/tlock/' | shasum -a 256 -c

🔨 Build from source

git clone https://github.com/retr0h/tlock.git
cd tlock
go build -o tlock .
sudo mv tlock /usr/local/bin/

🚀 Usage

Run directly:

tlock                          # Password prompt only
tlock --worms                  # Worms screensaver
tlock --pipes                  # Pipes screensaver
tlock --dvd                    # Bouncing lock screensaver
tlock --random                 # Random screensaver
tlock --random --cycle 5m      # Rotate screensaver every 5 min
tlock --worms --delay 30s      # Worms after 30s idle

As a tmux lock command:

# ~/.tmux.conf
set -g lock-command "tlock --random --cycle 5m"
set -g lock-after-time 1800    # Lock after 30 min idle
bind ^X lock-server            # Ctrl+X to lock now

⚙️ How It Works

tlock brings the classic xlock experience to your terminal — an animated screensaver that kicks in when your terminal is locked, with authentication required to dismiss it.

1. 🎨 Pick a screensaver — --worms, --pipes, --dvd (bouncing lock), or --random
2. ⌨️ Any keypress pauses the screensaver and shows the passphrase prompt
3. 🔑 Type your macOS password and press Enter to unlock
4. 🖐️ Press Esc to switch to Touch ID — authenticate with your fingerprint
5. 🚫 Wrong password? ACCESS DENIED — back to the screensaver
6. 🔄 Cycle mode — --random --cycle 5m rotates screensavers automatically

Without a screensaver flag, tlock shows the passphrase prompt directly.

All signals (SIGINT, SIGTERM, SIGTSTP) are ignored. The only way out is authentication. 🔐

📋 Requirements

• 🍎 macOS (uses LocalAuthentication.framework and PAM)
• 🐹 Go 1.21+ with CGo enabled
• 🖐️ Touch ID hardware (optional — password fallback always available)

💡 Inspiration

tlock is inspired by xlock, the classic X11 screen locker from the 90s that shipped with most Unix workstations. The worm screensaver mode (xlock -mode worm) by David Bagley was a staple of SGI Indigos and Sun workstations in dimly lit server rooms everywhere.

🔀 Alternatives

Tool	Platform	Description
xlock / xlockmore	X11 / Unix	The OG screen locker with 50+ screensaver modes
vlock	Linux	Virtual console lock — locks Linux TTYs
bashlock	macOS / Linux	Simple bash-based terminal lock
slock	X11	Suckless screen locker — minimal, no frills

🗺️ Roadmap

• 🪱 xlock-style worm screensaver with fading trails
• 🔒 Bouncing DVD padlock screensaver
• 🔲 Pipes screensaver with fade-out reset
• 🎲 Random screensaver selection with --cycle rotation
• 🔐 1Password CLI integration

📄 License

MIT - John Dewey