A proxy sits between your browser and the internet. Every website request passes through it first. StudyFocus uses this to check each site against your age group's allowed list - study sites load normally, everything else is politely blocked. It runs entirely on your own device - nothing you browse is ever sent anywhere else.

You are always in control. Turn it on before a study session, turn it off the moment you're done - your Mac returns to completely normal browsing instantly.

Open Terminal, navigate to the project folder, and run:

You should see "Gateway proxy listening on 0.0.0.0:8888" - leave this terminal window open while studying.

On Mac: System Settings → Network → Wi-Fi → Details → Proxies. Turn on Web Proxy (HTTP) and Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS), and for both set:

Your focus session is now active - try opening a non-study site and you'll see it's blocked.

Complete onboarding on this dashboard with your age, class, and board - the proxy automatically switches to the matching allowlist. Track your time, work through your task list, and use the AI Tutor tab whenever you're stuck - all without ever leaving your study environment for a distracting site.

Go back to System Settings → Network → Proxies and turn both toggles off. That's it - completely normal, unrestricted browsing again, instantly.

Then Ctrl+C in the terminal to stop the proxy itself when you're fully done for the day.