Dev.to
7/11/2026

Planting a Future Breaking Change Today: A launchd Timer Job That Deletes Itself When Done
Short summary
A detailed walkthrough of creating a macOS launchd job that automatically rewrites Claude's config from Fable 5 to Opus on the model's end-of-life date, then unloads itself. The script uses a date gate, jq-based JSON rewriting with backup and validation, and self-unload via launchctl. Covers idempotency, temp-file safety patterns, and notification alerts.
- •launchd job fires on a target date, rewrites Claude config via jq, then self-unloads
- •Date gate prevents premature execution; temp-file pattern avoids redirect destruction
- •Includes backup, JSON validation, and macOS notification on completion
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