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About this tool
Fits 20-20-20 eye breaks around your build and test waits, and shows how many extra prompts you still need.
This timer fits the 20-20-20 eye break rule around a programmer's real rhythm of editing and waiting for builds. It treats any build, test or deploy wait of at least 20 seconds as a usable eye break, works out how many of the required breaks that already covers, and prompts only for the ones that fall inside long uninterrupted stretches of editing. The rule itself — after at most 20 minutes of near work, look about 6.1 metres away for 20 seconds — is the standard advice from the American Academy of Ophthalmology for digital eye strain.
Open Coder Eye Break Timer on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Paste your code or data sample into the workspace.
Pick the format, conversion, or analysis you need.
Copy the polished result straight back into your project.
Counts qualifying build and test waits as breaks instead of adding interruptions on top of them.
A sub-20-second wait does not reset the clock, and the schedule reflects that.
Reports what percentage of the required breaks your build cycle covers, and how many prompts fill the rest.
Only if it is at least 20 seconds and you actually look away. A 90 second build gives you more than enough time, but staring at the log as it scrolls is still near work and does not rest the focusing muscle. A 5 second incremental compile is too short to count at all.
At least once every 20 minutes of near work, for a minimum of 20 seconds, looking at something around 6 metres away. On a four hour session that is twelve breaks — which sounds like a lot until you notice that a build-heavy workflow already supplies most of them for free.
It can reduce glare in a dim room, but it does not address the two main causes of digital eye strain: sustained focus at reading distance and a blink rate that roughly halves during concentrated work. Breaks and distance still matter regardless of theme.
The evidence for blue-filtering lenses improving eye strain symptoms is weak; systematic reviews have not found a clear benefit over ordinary lenses. Break frequency, screen distance, correct prescription and room lighting have far more support. If eye strain persists despite good habits, see an optometrist rather than buying filters — this tool is informational and not a substitute for an eye examination.