CatGuard

CatGuard protects your table from your cat, and your cat from your punishment :-)

CatGuard watches your table with a webcam and plays an alert sound when it detects a cat to scare it away.

Features

• Detects cats on your table or desk and plays an alert to scare them away.
• Runs in the system tray for quick access to the app functionality.
• Shows a live camera view with cat detection overlays.
• Lets you choose the camera and tune detection sensitivity, cooldown, and detection FPS.
• Supports the built-in alert sound, your own MP3/WAV files, and microphone-recorded custom alerts.
• Can play one specific alert sound or rotate randomly through your sound library.
• Supports optional start at login and daily monitoring schedules.
• Lets you take clean photos from the live view, with an optional countdown before capture.
• Saves dated tracking screenshots or annotated session video clips for later review.
• Tracks the full duration of each cat visit and records whether the alert worked, giving you a clear picture of how your cat responds over time.

Interesting Facts

• The default sound is "Tom spells CAT" from Tom and Jerry Online.
• Not a single line of Python code was written by a human.
• It works!
• The app has only been tested on Windows, because that's the only system I have. macOS and Linux builds are handled by CI, which is basically me saying "looks good from my machine" with extra steps :-)

Download

Pre-built executables are available on the Releases page. No Python installation is required.

1. Go to Releases and download the zip for your platform:
   • catguard-{version}-windows.zip
   • catguard-{version}-macos.zip
   • catguard-{version}-linux.zip
2. Extract the zip.
3. Run the executable inside the catguard/ folder:
   • Windows: catguard\catguard.exe
   • macOS / Linux: ./catguard/catguard

On first launch, CatGuard downloads the YOLO model (~6 MB) and caches it locally. Internet access is required only once.

Getting Started

1. Launch CatGuard.
2. Find the CatGuard icon in your system tray or menu bar.
3. Open Settings… to choose your camera, alert sound, schedule, and save locations.
4. Use Live View to show the live camera window.
5. Use Pause / Continue when you want to stop or resume monitoring without quitting the app.

OS Security Warnings

Windows - SmartScreen

Because the executable is not code-signed, Windows may show a SmartScreen warning. To allow it: right-click the .exe -> Properties -> check Unblock -> OK, then run again. Alternatively, click More info -> Run anyway in the SmartScreen dialog.

macOS - Gatekeeper

macOS blocks unsigned apps by default. To allow it: open System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> scroll to the blocked app -> click Open Anyway.

Development

For source setup, testing, and build instructions, see DEVELOPMENT.md.