Breathe CLI
Paced resonance breathing in the macOS terminal
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I built a terminal app that paces slow breathing at 6 breaths per minute for vagal tone training. It's a single Python file, stdlib only, no dependencies — just run breathe and follow the bar.I'm a cardiology patient (HFrEF). Slow breathing at resonance frequency is one of the few non-pharmacological interventions shown to improve cardiac vagal tone and baroreflex sensitivity (Bernardi et al., Circulation 2002; Lancet 1998). I wanted a frictionless daily habit tool — no app store, no account, no subscription, just open terminal and go.Design constraints, all grounded in the clinical literature:- No breath retention — Valsalva risk in cardiac patients- No rapid breathing — minimum 8-second cycles- Exhale ≤ 2x inhale — no evidence for extreme ratios- Immediate exit, always — q or Ctrl+C restores the terminal even on crashThe README includes a resonance frequency measurement protocol for anyone with a chest-strap HRV monitor who wants to find their individual optimum instead of using the 6 bpm default.macOS only (uses afplay for audio cues). MIT licensed.pip install breathe-cliorbrew tap marekkowalczyk/breathe && brew install breathe.
HN · launched May 30, 2026 · 132 upvotes (top 6%) · 0 views
Niche: mindfulness and wellness apps · 230 launches, 26 in the last 7 days ▲ +8% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Healthcare
- Vertical SaaS
- Prosumer
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 230 launches in mindfulness and wellness apps →
Could you build this?
Yes It is explicitly a single-file Python script using only standard library modules to render a timed progress bar in the terminal.
Discussion
20 comments analyzed.
Competitors mentioned: Resonant breathing bar (avrhut.com), Zenta (GitHub project), Gabor Mate's approach
Concerns raised: Dizziness from excessive oxygen during breathing exercises, Unclear whether to push through dizziness or stop earlier
Feature requests: Support for breath retention and rapid breathing modes, Additional breathing modes beyond heart-failure-friendly patterns, Pomodoro timer integration
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 318 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #33 of 319 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 213 days after the earliest competitor.
- ZenBreath · ph · 2026-09-29 · 3 upvotes · similarity 0.56
- Nervous System Calmer: Breathe · ph · 2026-11-09 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.56
- Help Me Breathe · ph · 2026-11-11 · 2 upvotes · similarity 0.55
- Lighthouse · ph · 2026-10-17 · 6 upvotes · similarity 0.53
- BreathLife · ph · 2026-10-25 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.52
- Resonance Meditation · ph · 2026-11-08 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.51
- Airwell · ph · 2026-10-30 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.48
- Deep Breath Plus · ph · 2026-10-21 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.48
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