macOS system performance diagnostics — see how the machine is running and what's slowing it down: CPU/GPU/memory/energy hogs, thermal throttling, memory and swap pressure, disk usage, Spotlight indexing, launchd/startup load, via a deterministic read-only CLI with known-process interpretation (kernel_task, WindowServer, mds_stores)
The thinking, frameworks, and architecture that distinguish this skill from a generic version of the same task.
bun ~/.claude/skills/Vitals/Tools/Vitals.ts check # fast snapshot (<1s)
bun ~/.claude/skills/Vitals/Tools/Vitals.ts hogs # live per-process CPU/energy (~3s)
bun ~/.claude/skills/Vitals/Tools/Vitals.ts full # everything (~4s)
# also: gpu · memory · disk · thermal · startup · --json · --top N
The tool is read-only by contract: it never kills, renices, unloads, or writes system state. Remediation is recommended to the operator, never executed by the skill.
Example 1: Something feels slow
User: "My Mac is dragging, what's going on?"
→ FindCulprit: run hogs + check + gpu
→ Cross-reference Interpretation.md (is the hog a known background process?)
→ Report: named culprit with two evidence classes, recommended action for approval
Example 2: Routine check
User: "How's my system doing?"
→ HealthCheck: run check
→ One-screen verdict: 🟢/🟡/🔴 per subsystem, abnormalities flagged against thresholds
Example 3: Fans blasting
User: "Why are my fans so loud?"
→ FindCulprit: thermal + hogs + gpu
→ If kernel_task is the top consumer: that IS the cooling response — report the thermal cause, not the process
top's first sample is garbage — CPU% is cumulative since boot. The tool always runs -l 2 and parses the SECOND sample; never "optimize" this away.ps -m does not reliably sort by memory on modern macOS (observed mis-ordering by GB-scale RSS). The tool sorts in code; keep it that way.kernel_task high CPU is the thermal system working, not a runaway process — it pins cores to force cooling. Never recommend killing it.kern.memorystatus_vm_pressure_level (1 normal / 2 warning / 4 critical) and live swapouts are the real signals.powermetrics requires sudo and runs forever without -n. It's the only accurate source of per-process energy and GPU power — keep it as the optional consent-gated leg in DeepDiagnosis.top -l truncates command names (~16 chars) regardless of COLUMNS in logging mode. Use the PID to identify the full process (ps -p <pid> -o comm=).ioreg -c IOAccelerator works without sudo on Apple Silicon (Device Utilization % in PerformanceStatistics) but is not guaranteed on every GPU — the tool degrades to an explicit unavailable-message, never a silent blank.pmset -g therm may not report CPU_Speed_Limit on desktops — the tool treats a missing key as not-throttled rather than erroring.Each workflow is one job the skill runs. The trigger phrases route your request to the right one — this is the skill's routing table.
Workflows/HealthCheck.md hows my system, check my mac, system health
Workflows/FindCulprit.md mac is slow, whats eating CPU/GPU/memory, fans loud
Workflows/DeepDiagnosis.md full diagnosis, deep check, chronic/recurring slowness
Deterministic executables the workflows call — the code that does the real work, not prompt scaffolding.
Vitals.tsSay any of these to your DA and LifeOS activates the Vitals skill automatically:
Or invoke explicitly:
Skill("Vitals")Auxiliary files the skill loads at runtime — frameworks, guides, configs.
Install LifeOS on your machine — your DA gets the Vitals skill plus 55 others, all hooked into one Life OS.