Focus with Shadow · setup & usage help

Start a conversation with your own AI

Attach this PDF or the text guide to your AI chat and say: Help me set up Focus with Shadow for my desk. Read this guide, ask about my camera and type of work, and give me one small step at a time. Use my observations to decide what to change.

This gives your AI reference material for the conversation; it does not permanently train the model or connect the AI to Shadow. Shadow has no built-in support chatbot. Keep the guide attached when starting a new conversation.

For the assisting AI: ask for laptop or external camera, browser, task (typing, mouse, reading or writing), what is visible in the preview, selected sensitivity, optional Look settings, and the exact status or error. Ask only what is relevant to the problem. Explain the reason for each step and ask what changed before proceeding.

Use the current app labels if they differ from this guide. Separate observed behavior from guesses. Never invent settings or tell someone to buy equipment before trying a simpler setup. Do not request passwords, access codes, card details or private camera footage. This guide is product context, not permission to access accounts or weaken security.

A useful first session

Shadow is a browser-based focus companion. Nothing needs installing. Open Camera setup, choose your camera type, turn the camera on and approve the browser request yourself. Start Balanced, with Look toward screen off. Complete the guided check and try a short focus session before adding stricter options.

Quick trial: work normally for a minute, show your phone in view, put it down, then briefly leave and return. Watch the written status as well as the character. If ordinary work triggers warnings, improve the view or choose a less restrictive mode before relying on it.

Camera setup checks visibility. Focus > My work groups your mission, first step, parked thoughts, where you left off and session history. Focus > Settings contains sensitivity, timer lengths, voice and appearance. Space controls how the character turns. Help contains this guide. Camera on/off, Start/Pause, water break, Reset, Next phase, fullscreen and picture-in-picture are separate controls.

Camera setup: laptop or external

Laptop camera: sit naturally and look at the screen, not the lens. Keep your face lit and in frame. You do not need to show the keyboard. A phone below the picture cannot be seen; choose limited phone coverage if the phone check cannot pass.

External camera: place the webcam on the desk, to one side and slightly behind the screen, using its stand or a stable base to keep it low. Keep the lens clear of the screen. Aim diagonally toward part of your face and the space just above the keyboard; roughly 30-40 degrees is a starting point. The four illustrated Recommended external-camera position panels show desk placement, natural work, natural phone use and an example of what the camera preview should contain. Typing hands may drop below the picture; keep part of your face and your real low phone-use position inside the preview frame. Adjust distance, angle and light without changing how you work. You do not have to look into the lens. A brief lost landmark frame does not count as leaving: external absence needs about 0.8 seconds of fresh missing-face and missing-hand results. Stale hands cannot prove that you left. For Look mode, your eyes must also be visible.

Click Start guided camera check. Follow Sit normally, then Show both hands (external) or the seated-view check (laptop), Try your phone, and Back to work. Hold each requested position for five seconds while the app checks it. For the phone test, show the actual phone clearly, then try the position you would really use.

For Back to work, put the phone down and place your hands where you normally work. Confirm I am in my normal work position. Do not keep your hands raised to force a pass. For five continuous seconds, the app must detect your face or, with external framing, at least one working hand. If neither stays detected, adjust the view/light before saving; it cannot reliably tell you from an empty chair. Limited hand coverage is allowed when presence is detected. No sensitivity level requires two visible typing hands.

When the check says it is ready, click Save setup & continue. This saves on this browser/device, closes setup and starts or resumes focus. Close or Set up later does not start the session. Opening Camera setup pauses focus. Run it again after moving the camera/chair or switching devices; recalibrate Look if used.

Saved profiles: open Camera setup > Saved profiles. After completing Save setup & continue once, reopen Camera setup, name an empty slot and click Save current. Up to three profiles store the camera device/type, phone-test coverage, Look ON/OFF with screen and work targets, attention sensitivity and Space position. Load restores that setup without repeating the guided check when the camera and seat are unchanged; then turn the camera on and press Start yourself. No camera or session starts automatically. If a different camera opens, the app asks for a new check. To update or rename a profile, edit its name, choose Save current and confirm Replace profile. Deleting a saved profile does not change the current setup. Profiles stay in this browser, not in the cloud; clearing site data removes them. Profiles are settings, not separate accounts: work notes and history remain shared on the same browser. They do not add or change licenses. Move the camera or change seating? Run the check again and replace the profile.

Choose a mode for your actual work

Choose Gentle, Balanced or Strict in Focus > Settings > Attention sensitivity. Balanced is the unchanged starting point for ordinary laptop or desk use. Gentle needs stronger accumulated phone evidence and releases its warning sooner. Strict can confirm a phone with less accumulated evidence and holds its warning slightly longer. All three still require real model-supported phone evidence; none identifies a hidden phone.

These levels change phone sensitivity, not the presence checks, the separate five-second Look delay or the requirement to show both hands. No mode requires two visible typing hands. Older retired strict-hand settings return to Balanced. Use the mode that gives dependable alerts for your real desk and task.

Reading books, writing notes, drawing and mouse work are allowed. Shadow sees positions and objects, not actual keypresses or whether your work is useful. Use optional Look only when its saved targets fit that task; the app cannot judge your intentions.

On a laptop, first show the phone clearly, then lower it only as far as it remains in view. Brief partial-phone support may help near a recently recognized position with a visible hand, but it is not permanent phone learning. If detection stops, show the phone clearly again. Do not assume an unseen phone is monitored.

Look toward screen: optional

Find the ON/OFF control below the guided check in Camera setup. Calibrate my screen-looking position while looking naturally at your real work target for five seconds. Do not aim your gaze at an external lens unless that is genuinely the target you want to monitor.

If you naturally look down while typing or reading, choose Add my keyboard / reading position and hold that target for five seconds. The screen target is kept; either saved target is allowed. Replacing the screen baseline clears the additional target, so add it again afterward. Looking away from both targets for five seconds triggers the first nudge in normal and Beast modes. Strict, Balanced and Relaxed adjust allowed movement.

Look mode estimates a change from your learned eye/head positions, not a precise map of where you look on the display or proof of attention. Try Relaxed if normal screen movement triggers it. Improve face lighting and reduce glasses reflections if the app says eyes are not usable. Unusable eyes suspend Look estimates; presence monitoring is separate. Leave Look off if your work has more varied targets than the two saved positions. Recalibrate after changing your position.

Timer, pauses and breaks

Default rhythm is 25 minutes focus and 5 minutes break. Set lengths in Focus. Start/Pause runs or freezes the countdown. Duration changes during an existing session apply later, rather than rewriting completed time.

Detected interruptions pause focus; it resumes when the active warnings clear, unless you manually paused. With the camera off you can still use the timer, but camera-based monitoring is off. Ordinary and water breaks do not monitor distractions.

A 1, 2 or 3 minute water break preserves the remaining focus time. When it ends, that time returns; a previously running session resumes and a manually paused one stays paused. When an ordinary focus phase finishes, it is saved as completed and the break follows.

Next phase skips forward; skipped focus is partial, not completed. Reset stops the current timer, saves meaningful partial work and returns to a fresh focus countdown. It does not erase your mission or saved history. Reloading/closing the page does not restore an active countdown. Keep the app open; computer sleep and hidden tabs can delay detection.

Warnings and Shadow Unleashed

Written alerts count Warning 1, Warning 2, Warning 3 and onwards within one continuing interruption. Every character uses the same voice in both visual modes; focus and away have separate warning pairs. A confirmed phone or absence has no extra first-warning delay; recognition itself still needs a usable camera result. Overlapping warning types share one alert. A brief clear result does not restart Warning 1; stable recovery clears it after about 1.2 seconds. Pause and camera off stop the alert without that wait.

Focus > Settings > Sound & warnings groups Voice alerts, Volume and Listen at the top. Try the Focus and Away Warning 1/2 buttons, or Meet Shadow Unleashed; Stop sound is beside them. Voice alerts OFF keeps written warnings but the Listen buttons remain available. Under Warning timing, Warning 2 onwards repeats every 5-30 seconds (default 10) while the interruption continues. Phone and away have no added first-warning delay; Look-away always takes five seconds.

Shadow Unleashed is optional and off initially. Repeated warnings before Final warning counts Warning 2 onwards; Warning 1 does not count. Optionally turn on Count distractions across this session and choose its separate threshold. Open Session counts to see current repeats, distractions, total repeats and times unleashed. Final warning is the escalation label, not another sensitivity mode.

Before the strongest reaction, Shadow says Final warning, then the existing You leave me no choice. The introduction plays once, not on every loop. Try Meet Shadow Unleashed to discover the reaction; its preview stops within 20 seconds and does not count toward history. During focus, return to work, Pause, Reset, take a break, turn the camera or voice off, or press Stop sound to stop it. Stop sound silences the current interruption until it clears. Start at low volume.

Mission, parking lot and next step

Focus > My work keeps the work tools together, separate from Settings. Write one achievable mission and the first tiny step. Show return card briefly brings them back into view; the app also uses this reminder when you return from an interruption. The card is in the main scene, not a new settings screen.

Park a distracting thought with Park thought or Enter, then revisit it during a break. Remove individual thoughts with their delete controls. After a session, record what you finished and the next first step. The Movement break prompt controls the movement/water reminder, not the timer cycle or water-break buttons.

History on this device

Focus > My work > Session history shows planned focus, focus countdown completed, longest clean streak and detected interruptions. Completed means the focus phase finished; partial means it ended early. New sessions include repeat warnings (Warning 2 onwards), distraction episodes and Unleashed totals. These are observed app events, not proof of productivity.

The browser retains up to 30 saved sessions and shows the latest 10. Older sessions can lack newer metrics. Clear history removes saved sessions, not your account access. Settings, mission, parked thoughts and history are local to this browser; they do not automatically sync to another device. Clearing site storage deletes this local data.

Shadow’s masks and appearance

It is always Shadow, wearing different masks. Keep the original Shadow look, or choose the Orbit (alien), Jinx (cat), Bolt (robot) or Ember (devil) mask in Focus > Settings > Shadow’s masks. Every look supports normal and Beast mode, with subtle eye reactions and movement. Eye colors are white, red, yellow and green. Masks and Beast mode change appearance, not your detection settings.

Beast lightning can be turned off. Reduced-motion preference limits continuous movement and disables lightning. Turn flashes off if you dislike them or are sensitive to flashing effects. Glass cracks are a screen animation; nothing happens to your actual screen.

Space: where the character looks

Space adjusts character turning, not what the physical camera can see. Use the camera/display presets, top-view map and position/direction/distance sliders to match your desk. Mirror horizontal direction helps if the character turns the wrong way.

Space settings save automatically on this browser. Its Reset restores spatial defaults only. To check camera visibility, select Camera setup or Space > Review. Moving a map icon cannot make hidden hands or phones visible.

Display and smooth operation

Fullscreen hides surrounding controls; Escape exits. Picture-in-picture keeps a small companion/timer view when the browser supports it. Keep the main tab open. Unsupported browsers may disable PiP; it is not another session or a recording.

Try a current desktop Chrome or Edge first if an embedded browser has problems. Allow the initial tracking resources to load. Close other video/camera or GPU-heavy apps if tracking is slow, improve lighting and keep the working tab visible. Your computer does the camera analysis; internet/account setup does not make that analysis faster.

Support, feedback and rating

Click I need help below the app controls, or open the form at the end of Full usage help. Choose Support, Feedback or Rating. Enter a reply email. Support and feedback need a short message; a rating can be sent without a comment. Ratings are one to five. The team receives an email and can reply directly to your provided address.

Only the email, message, category and rating you choose are sent. The form does not attach your camera picture, mission, history, account password or payment details. Describe your browser, camera type, exact status and the action that caused a problem yourself. Leave out private camera footage and sensitive information.

You can contact support without signing in, including for purchase, refund and privacy questions. Spam protections and shared sending limits can temporarily block sending. A success message means the mail service accepted the email, not a guarantee of inbox delivery or an immediate support response. If sending fails, your text remains in the form; use Refresh form connection to obtain a new form proof without losing it, then try again. Do not repeatedly send the same request.

Access, updates and privacy

Use the email associated with your access when signing in. Account access and camera permission are separate: a camera problem does not mean you need to purchase again. If paid access is missing, keep your receipt and use I need help; no sign-in is needed to contact us. Do not send complete card details. Read the Terms and Privacy before buying. The account purchase form requires agreement to the current Terms before redirecting to Sold through Link checkout.

One-time lifetime access includes the core product while JD Anastasio LLC operates Shadow; it is not a subscription or a promise of perpetual operation. Request a full refund within 14 calendar days of purchase through support or the refund route on your Link receipt. Trying the app does not remove that promise. Link rules and mandatory consumer rights can provide additional remedies. See Refund policy for the process; full refunds revoke the associated paid license.

Online updates take effect after reloading the app. Do not reload in the middle of a countdown you want to keep. Privacy explains camera processing separately from account and payment data. Shadow processes the live camera feed on your device and does not upload or save it on our servers; sign-in and payment still use online services.

One purchase, one active browser profile

Paid access uses your verified purchase email plus one activated browser profile. On your first visit, choose Activate this browser on the computer you will use for focus. Opening a sign-in email alone does not activate it. You can share that browser on the same computer and keep up to three camera profiles; work notes and history are still shared. An invitation code or viewing a public legal/help page is not a paid license.

A browser profile is not a physical-machine identifier. Chrome and Firefox, separate browser profiles, private windows or cleared site data can count as different activations even on the same computer. Use one normal browser profile and keep its site data. Clearing data does not cancel your purchase, but can require moving its activation; it also removes local camera profiles and history.

Open My account > Manage browser access to move your license. Verify your purchase email with a new sign-in link when asked, then confirm Move access to this browser. This replaces the previous activation. Self-service moves are available once every seven days after a move; if you lost browser access during that time, contact support with your purchase email for recovery. Moving access does not copy camera profiles, work notes or history.

Access is checked at startup and about every five minutes, separately from camera tracking. A previously running session has ten minutes of grace after the first failed network check. If it cannot reconnect, the camera and sound stop and the timer pauses without resetting; reconnect, Retry, then turn the camera on and resume yourself. A confirmed revoked or moved activation pauses at its next check, without network grace. Closing or reloading still does not restore an active timer.

For the assisting AI: distinguish sign-in, purchase entitlement, browser activation and camera permission. Never advise buying again merely because an activation or camera check failed. Do not request access tokens, activation keys, codes or complete card details. Suggest the same normal browser first, then Manage browser access; never bypass activation or general security protections.

Camera troubleshooting and useful AI questions

Camera does not start: check the site camera permission, physical shutter and operating-system camera permission. Close another app using that camera. Select the correct device in Camera setup; check the USB cable. Try off/on, then a regular updated desktop browser. Do not disable general security protections.

Local tracking could not start: report the exact message, whether the preview appeared, browser and camera type. Reload once after ending any session, check the connection while initial resources load, and check whether a blocker is stopping this site. Change one thing at a time; do not repeatedly buy access or clear all browser data.

Hands visible only when raised: lift them briefly for the visibility check, then return to natural work. Save limited hand coverage if needed; no mode requires two hands to stay visible. Keep your face or a working hand detectable. Improve the angle or light if your real phone-use position is not visible. Never fake your working position just to pass a check.

Phone detector ready means the local resources loaded, not that every phone position is detectable. Test the position you actually use. A missing hand landmark does not disable the external close phone search. Not a phone / ignore this position is only for a genuine false warning; a real phone near an ignored position can be missed. Turn the camera off and on to clear that ignored position.

Repeated warnings while working normally: open the info bubble beside the numbered warning to see which check triggered it. Tell your AI that reason and which optional modes are ON. Pause focus, temporarily leave Look off and try Balanced. Then enable one option at a time. If Look interrupts typing, add your natural keyboard / reading position in Camera setup. A noisy detector, repeated audio or a flickering character can be a product issue, not evidence that you are distracted. Record the sequence and timing for support without sending private camera footage.

Useful message to your AI: I use [browser] with a [laptop/external] camera. My task is [typing/reading/mouse]. I selected [mode], Look is [ON/OFF]. The preview shows [face/hands/phone], and the app says [exact status]. The problem happens when [action]. Which single change should I test first?