SidecarKeeper

Auto-reconnect Apple Sidecar on macOS.
Reconnect your iPad after waking or unlocking your Mac.

SidecarKeeper runs in the background and checks screen, lock, lid and device state before trying to reconnect. Failed attempts back off to reduce repeated notifications.

Install

Requires macOS 14.2 or newer and an iPad that already works with Sidecar. Unlock your iPad, then paste this into Terminal:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://github.com/EMOEMOJAI/SidecarKeeper/releases/latest/download/install.sh)"

The release install needs no Xcode, git, admin rights or special permissions. It starts at login. Binaries support Apple silicon and Intel; they are not notarized, and the installer removes their quarantine flag. See Security for verification details.

Or use Homebrew:

brew install emoemojai/tap/sidecarkeeper
brew services start sidecarkeeper

Choose one installation method. See the user guide for updates, other install options and configuration.

Use

sidecar-keeper status   # show service state and recent log entries
sidecar-keeper pause    # stop reconnecting when you disconnect on purpose
sidecar-keeper pause --for 1h  # resume automatically after an hour
sidecar-keeper resume   # start reconnecting again

Logs are at ~/Library/Logs/sidecar-keeper.log. To choose an iPad or enable experimental USB-only mode, follow configuration.

Uninstall a standard installation with ~/.sidecarkeeper/uninstall.sh. For Homebrew, run brew services stop sidecarkeeper followed by brew uninstall sidecarkeeper.

Limitations

• macOS drops Sidecar when the built-in display turns off. Reconnection waits until the screen is awake, the Mac is unlocked and the lid is open.
• The iPad must be reachable and unlocked. Failed connections can still show a macOS notification.
• It uses Apple's private SidecarCore framework through SidecarLauncher, so macOS updates may break it.
• Actual Sidecar sessions have been tested on Apple silicon. CI also builds and tests on Intel.

User guide · Website · Changelog · Contributing

Built on SidecarLauncher by Jovany Ocasio. MIT licensed. Not affiliated with Apple.