Fermata

A minimal menu bar break timer for macOS. Work earns break time, and you decide when to take it.

Download for Mac View on GitHub

Latest release · Universal (Apple Silicon and Intel) · Free

$ brew install --cask matthew-fernando/tap/fermata
How it works

Work earns your rest

Instead of a countdown telling you when to stop, Fermata keeps a running balance of break time. Take it whenever it suits you.

Work

Earns break time. At the default ratio, every 5 minutes of work earns 1 minute of break.

Break

Spends it. Your Break Balance counts down while you rest, and can dip below zero if you linger.

Pause

Holds everything. Nothing is earned or spent until you start again.

The long break

Rests that fill in as you go

Keep working and you earn a long break bonus, by default an extra 25 minutes after every 2 hours. The Break button and the menu bar icon show how close you are.

Fermata Under 25%
Quarter rest 25% of the way
Half rest Halfway there
Whole rest Long break earned
Why Fermata
A fermata is the musical sign for “hold this note.” How long is up to the musician. Fermata treats your breaks the same way: you choose when to take them, and it tells you how much you’ve earned.
Install

Get Fermata

Requires macOS. One download runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

With Homebrew

brew install --cask matthew-fernando/tap/fermata

Homebrew installs open right away, with no extra steps.

Manual download

  1. Download the DMG and drag Fermata into Applications.
  2. Open it. macOS will say it can't verify the developer, because Fermata isn't notarized by Apple. Click Done.
  3. In System Settings → Privacy & Security, click Open Anyway. You only do this once.

If macOS says the app is “damaged”, run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Fermata.app in Terminal.

Your download has started

Installing Fermata

Fermata isn't notarized by Apple, so macOS asks you to approve it once. Nothing to worry about, it takes a minute. If the download didn't start, click here.

  1. Open the DMG

    Find Fermata_…_universal.dmg in your Downloads folder and double-click it.

  2. Drag Fermata into Applications

    Drop the Fermata icon onto the Applications folder in the window that opens, then eject the DMG.

  3. Open Fermata once

    Open it from Applications. macOS will say “Fermata” Not Opened because it can't verify the developer. Click Done.

  4. Click Open Anyway

    Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to the Security section, and click Open Anyway next to Fermata. Enter your password, then click Open Anyway again.

  5. Find it in your menu bar

    Fermata lives in the menu bar, not the Dock. Click the fermata symbol at the top of your screen to open it. You won't need these steps again, and future updates install from inside the app.

macOS says the app is “damaged”? It isn't. Run this in Terminal, then open Fermata again:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Fermata.app
Skip all of this next time with Homebrew:
brew install --cask matthew-fernando/tap/fermata