Mole Optimize

Mole Optimize Skill

Author: Anton Gulin · Tool: opencode-skill-creator · GitHub: @antongulin · Registry: skills.sh

Use this skill when you need to help a user improve macOS system performance using Mole's optimize command.

Overview

mo optimize performs system maintenance tasks: clearing caches that slow down the system, optimizing databases, repairing configs, and tuning services.

Command Reference

Basic Usage

mo optimize                  # Run full optimization (will prompt for sudo)
mo optimize --dry-run        # Preview what would be optimized
mo optimize --whitelist      # Manage protected optimization items
mo optimize --debug          # Show detailed operation logs
mo optimize --help           # Show help

Flags

What It Does

The optimize command performs these operations:

1. System health check — Collects memory, disk, uptime, and system metrics
2. Diagnostics — Runs health_json generator to identify optimization opportunities
3. Cache optimization — Clears system and user caches that impact performance
4. Database optimization — Optimizes system databases and indexes
5. Configuration repair — Fixes damaged preference files and plists
6. Service tuning — Refreshes background services and daemons

Workflow Patterns

Pattern 1: Quick System Health + Optimization

mo optimize

The tool will:

1. Check system health (RAM, disk, uptime)
2. Request sudo for system-level tasks
3. Show optimization results

Pattern 2: Preview Before Optimizing

mo optimize --dry-run

Shows what actions would be taken without making any changes.

Pattern 3: Exclude Specific Items

mo optimize --whitelist

Opens the whitelist editor to protect specific optimization tasks from running.

Pattern 4: Check System Health Only

Use mo status for a live system health dashboard. The optimize command includes a health snapshot at the start but is focused on actionable optimizations.

Output Format

The command outputs a JSON-based diagnostics report that includes:

{
  "memory_used_gb": 12.5,
  "memory_total_gb": 16,
  "disk_used_gb": 234,
  "disk_total_gb": 500,
  "disk_used_percent": 46.8,
  "uptime_days": 12.3,
  "optimizations": [
    {
      "action": "clear_dns_cache",
      "name": "Clear DNS cache",
      "description": "Flush DNS resolver cache",
      "safe": true
    }
  ]
}

Safety Guidance

• System optimization requires sudo — the tool handles this interactively
• --dry-run is recommended before running optimizations
• The whitelist protects specific optimization tasks from running
• All optimization actions are designed to be safe (caches regenerate, configs have backups)
• The bc command is required for calculations — suggest brew install bc if missing
• System health data requires awk, sysctl, and df commands

Dependencies

• bc — Required for numerical calculations. Install with brew install bc

Exit Codes

• 0: Success (or dry-run complete)
• 130: Interrupted (Ctrl+C)

Related Commands

• mo status — Live system health dashboard
• mo clean — Free up disk space (complementary)
• mo analyze — Explore disk usage in detail