Show HN: VS Code extension that fades out the colors until you take a break

I don't use VS Code, but I like that there's experimentation in this space -- every X minutes, do something to the UI to remind you to take a break.

I currently use Time Out on Mac and every X minutes it slowly greys out the entire screen. The hardest scenario is if I'm in "the zone" and super focused on fixing a bug, etc. and the notification pops up. I end up feeling antagonistic towards the break reminder.

This looks like it's a good balance.

It is an interesting idea, but I am not sure that a VS code extension is a complete solution - When I code, it is rarely typing in the IDE for 25 straight minutes. It is thinking, taking notes, drawing, testing in the browser, looking at dev tools... and then a few minutes of typing once I have figured out what I want to do.

I also question the wisdom of breaks at specific intervals. Do I really want to get knocked out of flow because a timer expired? I take my breaks when I complete a task. Sometimes that is after 10 minutes, sometimes it is after 2 hours.

If I were in your position, I'd look for a different metric than just time. Maybe measure the rate of activity across all running apps, and provide a notice of, "Your typing speed has dropped, and you are taking more time between mouse movements - if you are slowing down, maybe it is time for a break?"

I feel like for me, this would end up just making me gradually strain my eyes without noticing. I'd prefer it to try doing a gradual change that didn't make it harder to see - maybe increase the font size until I'm working in a 20character wide screen or something, which would be annoying but not bad for me?

Why would you want to interrupt your code flow?

I'm curious, why did you remove syntax highlight. I feel like I couldn't function properly if I didn't have my Dracula themed VS Code.