# Cat Mode: let the cat pounce, keep the video playing

> A Chrome extension that freezes keyboard, mouse, and touch input with one click so a cat can bat at a YouTube video without pausing, skipping, or launching anything.

Canonical URL: https://saifsiddiqui.in/work/cat-mode/ (this is its markdown representation; the same URL serves HTML to browsers)
Other languages: hi: https://saifsiddiqui.in/hi/work/cat-mode/ · kn: https://saifsiddiqui.in/kn/work/cat-mode/ · ur: https://saifsiddiqui.in/ur/work/cat-mode/ · te: https://saifsiddiqui.in/te/work/cat-mode/ · ar: https://saifsiddiqui.in/ar/work/cat-mode/ · hi-Latn: https://saifsiddiqui.in/hi-latn/work/cat-mode/

**Role:** Built 0→1  
**Stack:** Browser extension APIs, JavaScript

**Links**

- Web: https://saif-09.github.io/cat-mode/
- Extension: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/fnccbbhppojahcammnnoadoajhndeion

## Problem

Put a bird or fish video on for a cat and the fun lasts about ten seconds: the
first paw on the keyboard pauses playback, skips the video, or opens something
random. The cat wins, the video stops, and you get up to fix it again. Cat Mode is
the small fix: let the cat pounce at the screen without their paws controlling the
browser.

## Decisions

**One click, everything frozen.** The whole product is one toggle. Hit it and Cat
Mode freezes keyboard, mouse, trackpad, scroll, and touch, so the video keeps
playing through every pounce, headbutt, and full-body slide across the desk. No
settings to wade through mid-cat.

**A human-only way out.** Blocking all input raises an obvious question: how do you
turn it back off. The unlock is a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+K by default,
customizable), chosen because it is the kind of deliberate key combination a cat
cannot realistically hit but a human presses in a second.

**Local, private, no accounts.** There is nothing to sign into and nothing tracked.
Everything runs locally in the browser. A toy this small should not want your data,
so it does not.

**Match the tone to the use case.** The whole thing is deliberately silly:
pounce-proof, cat emoji, playful copy, because pretending a cat-video locker is
serious software would be the wrong call. The restraint is doing one job well and
not dressing it up.

## Outcome

{/* TODO(saif): install count when worth stating. */}

Cat Mode is live in the
[Chrome Web Store](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/fnccbbhppojahcammnnoadoajhndeion)
with a [landing page](https://saif-09.github.io/cat-mode/) that explains it in about
one screen. It does exactly one thing, block input so a cat can enjoy a video
without breaking it, and does that one thing cleanly. Small, finished, and shipped
through Chrome Web Store review like anything else.

All work: [/work/](/work/)

---

Mohd Saif, Product Engineer. I build solutions, not dead software.
Email: saifmd238@gmail.com · GitHub: https://github.com/Saif-09 · LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohd-saif-134076141/ · Résumé (PDF): https://saifsiddiqui.in/resume

More for agents:
- [/llms.txt](/llms.txt): short summary of this site
- [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt): the complete text of every page in one fetch
- [/agents.md](/agents.md): when to use this site, and how to query it
- [/sitemap-index.xml](/sitemap-index.xml): every URL, in seven languages