# System Monitor

> Check system health (CPU, memory, disk, network, top processes) and report alarms on high usage

- Skill: `archibate/system-monitor` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add archibate/system-monitor`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/archibate/system-monitor/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Docs & Writing
- Author: archibate (https://skillmd.com/u/archibate)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/archibate/system-monitor

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# System Monitor

Check current system health and report alarms when any resource exceeds safe thresholds.

## Goal

Present a single summary table of CPU, memory, disk, and network status with OK / Watch / ALARM indicators. List top resource-consuming processes. Flag any metric that exceeds its threshold.

## Thresholds

| Resource | Watch   | ALARM  |
|----------|---------|--------|
| CPU      | > 60%   | > 80%  |
| Memory   | > 60%   | > 80%  |
| Disk     | > 70%   | > 85%  |

## Steps

### 1. Gather system metrics

Run the following commands and parse their output:

- **CPU**: `top -bn1 | head -5` — extract user%, system%, idle%, and load averages
- **Memory**: `free -h` — extract total, used, available
- **Disk**: `df -h --total -x tmpfs -x devtmpfs -x efivarfs` — extract total, used, available, use%
- **Network**: `cat /proc/net/dev` — extract RX/TX bytes for non-loopback interfaces
- **Top processes**: `ps aux --sort=-%cpu | head -6` for CPU hogs, `ps aux --sort=-%mem | head -6` for memory hogs

### 2. Evaluate thresholds

Compare each metric against the threshold table above. Assign status:
- **OK**: below Watch threshold
- **Watch**: between Watch and ALARM thresholds
- **ALARM**: at or above ALARM threshold

### 3. Report

Present results as:

1. A **summary table** with columns: Resource, Status, Details
2. A **Top Processes** section showing the top 5 by CPU and top 5 by memory (deduplicate if overlapping)
3. A **Network** section showing per-interface RX/TX rates
4. If any metric is ALARM, lead with a bold warning line

**Success criteria**: User sees a clear, scannable health report and any alarms are immediately obvious.

