Is there a way to disable user input when macros are running?
Sometimes I have these huge macros running and I end up forgetting they are still performing actions or a worst case scenario last week my wife's cat decided sleeping on the keyboard of my macbook during a scheduled macro run.
I use alerts and notifications for reminding me when a macro is about to start or finish and use Pause Until Conditions Met using the IDLE function but it doesn't prevent me messing something during execution.
I understand that by disabling user input I could no longer panic cancel a macro if something goes wrong.
How about just activating the Mac Screen Saver?
I just drag the mouse to the lower left corner to activate. Other options available.
You could probably do this in KM (just guessing)
Display a window (maybe use the Custom HTML Prompt?) that says not to touch anything, and keep it displayed (by putting it in a sub-macro and executing the macro asynchronously).
While you are screen saving, screen locked, or screen sleeping, you cannot do UI. You can still run macros (as long as your Mac is not asleep) with non-UI triggers like the Time trigger, and the macros can still do lots of things, but not UI stuff like clicks and keystrokes.
I concur. Turn off or unplug your keyboard and mouse. It's the safest way and if you need to suddenly cancel the macro you can.
Regarding the screensaver you'll have to disable it if you are doing a lot of UI work.
No it’s still not possible in a native way - and I doubt that this will ever be ….
With Keyboard Maestro you have a wonderful tool at your hands to build you a solution that helps you staying away from your peripherals during long and complex macros.
There is the Macro suggested by @JMichaelTX above - but you could also build something completely different by yourself….
Another hint is can give you is - there are a lot of little nifty helper tools called as cleanup applications for your Peripherals … you could eventually use even those in your macros to lock up your keyboard trackpad and all other devices you use to control your Mac.
I don't believe it is, because of the potential issues it could cause: As discussed above, if you had a runaway macro that disabled the mouse and keyboard, the only solution would be a hard reboot.
If the normal text window as shown earlier isn't enough to get your attention, you can use a custom HTML prompt in an asynchronously run sub-macro to display a more outlandish message:
