Read the current Focus mode on macOS Monterey (12.0+) using JavaScript for Automation (JXA)

get-focus-mode.js

const app = Application.currentApplication()
app.includeStandardAdditions = true

function getJSON(path) {
	const fullPath = path.replace(/^~/, app.pathTo('home folder'))
	const contents = app.read(fullPath)
	return JSON.parse(contents)
}

function run() {

	let focus = "No focus" // default
	const assert = getJSON("~/Library/DoNotDisturb/DB/Assertions.json").data[0].storeAssertionRecords
	const config = getJSON("~/Library/DoNotDisturb/DB/ModeConfigurations.json").data[0].modeConfigurations

	if (assert) { // focus set manually

		const modeid = assert[0].assertionDetails.assertionDetailsModeIdentifier
		focus = config[modeid].mode.name

	} else { // focus set by trigger

		const date = new Date
		const now = date.getHours() * 60 + date.getMinutes()

		for (const modeid in config) {

			const triggers = config[modeid].triggers.triggers[0]
			if (triggers && triggers.enabledSetting == 2) {

				const start = triggers.timePeriodStartTimeHour * 60 + triggers.timePeriodStartTimeMinute
				const end = triggers.timePeriodEndTimeHour * 60 + triggers.timePeriodEndTimeMinute
				if (start < end) {
					if (now >= start && now < end) {
						focus = config[modeid].mode.name
					}
				} else if (start > end) { // includes midnight
					if (now >= start || now < end) {
						focus = config[modeid].mode.name
					}
				}
			}
		}
	}
	return focus
}

I use the following Alfred Workflow in order to enable/disable DND: https://github.com/vitorgalvao/calm-notifications-workflow/tree/main/Workflow

It uses its own Shortcut under the hood that needs to be installed first.

I post it here as an example of a working implementation that people can look into.

Python if you want in that context.

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import json
import os
import datetime

ASSERT_PATH = os.path.expanduser("~/Library/DoNotDisturb/DB/Assertions.json")
MODECONFIG_PATH = os.path.expanduser("~/Library/DoNotDisturb/DB/ModeConfigurations.json")
def get_focus():
    focus = "No focus" #default
    assertJ = json.load(open(ASSERT_PATH))['data'][0]['storeAssertionRecords']
    configJ = json.load(open(MODECONFIG_PATH))['data'][0]['modeConfigurations']
    if assertJ:
        modeid = assertJ[0]['assertionDetails']['assertionDetailsModeIdentifier']
        focus = configJ[modeid]['mode']['name']
    else:
        date = datetime.datetime.today()
        now = date.hour * 60 + date.minute

        for modeid in configJ:
            triggers = configJ[modeid]['triggers']['triggers'][0]
            if triggers and triggers['enabledSetting'] == 2:
                start = triggers['timePeriodStartTimeHour'] * 60 + triggers['timePeriodStartTimeMinute']
                end = triggers['timePeriodEndTimeHour'] * 60 + triggers['timePeriodEndTimeMinute']
                if start < end:
                    if now >= start and now < end:
                        focus = configJ[modeid]['mode']['name']
                elif start > end: # includes midnight
                    if now >= start or now < end:
                        focus = configJ[modeid]['mode']['name']
    return focus

if '__main__' == __name__:
    print(get_focus())

@roman-ld Had this script running on Sequioa. Upgraded last weekend to Tahoe. Script is now broken, info is not anymore in Assertions. Would appreciate a fix.

@tooh welcome to macos updates!
Still working for me after upgrading to Tahoe.

I think I've found the problem, have you agreed to the "Xcode and Apple SDKs license" after upgrading?

I looked at what my python3 I was using (which python3).
Found I'm on homebrew for python3 (meaning I didn't have to agree for the python to work).
Used find to find other python3 on my path (find "${(s/:/)PATH}" -name python3).

Aside: Apple's zsh now has several entries that are not readable / search able from a non-admin account (don't worry about these if you run into this as a non-admin user).

find: /usr/sbin/authserver: Permission denied
find: /var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/local/bin: No such file or directory
find: /var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/bin: No such file or directory
find: /var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/appleinternal/bin: No such file or directory
find: /Library/Apple/usr/bin: No such file or directory

When I switched the #! to #!/usr/bin/python3 (macos stock python3) I got:

You have not agreed to the Xcode and Apple SDKs license.
...

Bottom of that says:

Agreeing to the Xcode and Apple SDKs license requires admin privileges, please accept the Xcode license as the root user (e.g. 'sudo xcodebuild -license').

After agreeing (running the -license, typing accept) the script worked with macos stock python3

I hope this helps.

I just needed something dead-simple: focus mode on or off. None of the above were working without errors for me on Tahoe, so I adapted the Python example from @roman-ld above (thanks) and stripped out some parts that I don't need.

I saved this as /usr/local/bin/dnd and chmod +x'd it. “Works for me” but YMMV.

With this you can do things like if dnd -q ; then ... ; fi in shell scripts.

#!/usr/bin/env python3

"""
Check DND status - tested only on macOS 26.0 Tahoe
exits with 0 if a focus mode is enabled, 1 otherwise
prints mode unless -q/--quiet is passed as arg

based on https://gist.github.com/drewkerr/0f2b61ce34e2b9e3ce0ec6a92ab05c18

"""

import json
import os
import sys

ASSERTIONS_PATH = os.path.expanduser("~/Library/DoNotDisturb/DB/Assertions.json")
CONFIG_PATH = os.path.expanduser("~/Library/DoNotDisturb/DB/ModeConfigurations.json")
QUIET = False

def msg(m: str, q: bool) -> None:
	if not q:
		print(m)

def get_focus(q: bool) -> int:
	try:
		ASSERTION_RECS = json.load(open(ASSERTIONS_PATH))['data'][0]['storeAssertionRecords']
		FOCUS_CONFIGS = json.load(open(CONFIG_PATH))['data'][0]['modeConfigurations']
		MODE = ASSERTION_RECS[0]['assertionDetails']['assertionDetailsModeIdentifier']
		msg(FOCUS_CONFIGS[MODE]['mode']['name'], q)
		return 0
	except:
		msg("No focus", q)
		return 1

if '__main__' == __name__:
	if len(sys.argv) > 1:
		if sys.argv[1] in ['-q', '--quiet']:
			QUIET = True
	sys.exit(get_focus(QUIET))

Reading the JSON files in the user library throws permissions problems for me when attempting to run the script outside of a terminal (e.g. on a schedule via Lingon.app). That goes for the both the JavaScript for Automation as well as the Python variants that were posted. Any suggestions on how to overcome this other than running as root?

With @roman-ld's Python script, I also ran into errors thrown because of keys that were expected by the script but missing in the JSON files on my system. I'm barely familiar with python but was able to come up with workarounds in case it's useful for someone:

The storeAssertionRecords key in the line assertJ = json.load(open(ASSERT_PATH))['data'][0]['storeAssertionRecords'] was missing, so I replaced that line with:

assertJ = json.load(open(ASSERT_PATH))['data'][0].get('storeAssertionRecords')

and the index 0 in the line triggers = configJ[modeid]['triggers']['triggers'][0] was missing, so I replaced that line with these:

triggers_arr = configJ[modeid]['triggers']['triggers']
triggers = triggers_arr[0] if len(triggers_arr) > 0 else None

EDIT: The solution to the permissions problem mentioned above was to drag the script onto MacOS's Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access pane. (Manually adding with the + button sometimes works too depending on the script extension). At least on my system, the script will not show up in the GUI of the preferences pane (thanks, Apple), but will be registered as having full disk access. Good luck removing its permission if you ever want to, without being able to select it in the GUI, however. I had to use Tinkertool System to remove full disk access perms for everything.