An AI coding session often has a quiet middle. You've explained the change, the agent is working through files, and there isn't much to do until it finishes or asks for input. You want to leave the keyboard alone while still being able to glance at the output.
Warden is my macOS utility for blocking physical input while work continues. With Claude Code in a terminal or Cursor in an editor, it lets you keep the session on display while preventing stray typing, clicks, and trackpad gestures from reaching applications. Optional sleep prevention keeps the Mac awake during the lock.
Picture a refactor followed by a test run. The terminal occupies one display, and a diff is open on the other. You move a notebook, brush the trackpad, and suddenly the pointer is over a control you didn't intend to touch. An input lock gives that waiting period an explicit state: the work is running, and the desk's controls are temporarily out of use.
The Warden guide for Claude Code and Cursor describes this setup. Start the task, confirm that it is underway, and activate Warden. When you want to interact again, unlock using Touch ID or your macOS password. You return to the session to see what it actually did.
That last step matters. A visible agent can be busy, finished, or waiting for a decision. Warden doesn't answer a permission request, approve a command, or decide whether a change is correct. If the agent needs your response, the work may wait until you return and give it. Physical input protection fits around your existing review process.
It also doesn't change the scope of the task you gave the agent. Before stepping away, make the request clear enough that the next stretch of work is useful on its own. For example, asking for a change plus a focused check gives you a result to examine when you come back. An input lock cannot make an ambiguous brief more precise.
This workflow is especially useful when you remain nearby. You might read something on another device, sketch the next interaction on paper, or move around the room while occasionally checking the session's progress. Configure Warden's display appearance for the visibility you want. Its current controls include adjustable blur, so check the result before settling into the run.
The goal is protecting the session from the physical desk around it. Warden doesn't sandbox the agent or limit which files its software can change. Keep using the permissions and review steps appropriate to the coding tool and project.
When the run finishes, unlock and review the diff and test output before starting the next task. That gives a long agent session a comfortable rhythm: begin deliberately, let it work, then return with attention. If your waiting time is mostly media exports or local builds, the same idea appears in using Warden during long renders.