auto.brightness.sh

#!/bin/bash
# -*- mode: shell-script -*-

# requires: brew install brightness

execPath=/usr/local/bin/brightness
brightApps=(iTerm iTerm2 Emacs)
ignoreApps=(Alfred)
logFile=/tmp/auto.brightness.log
logEnable=false
# logEnable=true
high='1.000000'
low='0.500000'

# function current { echo $($execPath -l | tail -1 | awk '{print $NF}'); }
function log     { $logEnable && echo $1: $currentApp >> $logFile; }
function bright  { log 'bright'; $execPath $high; }
function dim     { log 'dim'; $execPath $low; }
function ignore  { log 'ignore'; }

while [ true ]; do
    sleep 0.2
    previousApp=$currentApp
    currentApp=$(lsappinfo info `lsappinfo front` | head -1 | awk '{print $1}' | grep -Eo '[^"]+')
    if [[ $currentApp == $previousApp ]]; then
        continue
    elif [[ ${brightApps[*]} == *"$currentApp"* ]]; then
        bright
    elif [[ ${ignoreApps[*]} == *"$currentApp"* ]]; then
        ignore
    else
        dim
    fi
done

local.auto.brightness.daemon.plist

#> ~/Library/LaunchAgents/local.auto.brightness.daemon.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>local.auto.brightness.daemon</string>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/Users/gaurav/bin/auto.brightness</string>
    </array>
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>5</integer>
    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/auto.brightness.log</string>
</dict>
</plist>