Mac Health

Mac Health Check

Why? Quickly diagnose if your Mac is struggling and get actionable fixes without digging through Activity Monitor.

Quick Start

"check my mac health" → battery, RAM, CPU summary + recommendations

Workflow

Step 1: Gather System Metrics

Run these commands in parallel:

# Battery status
pmset -g batt

# RAM overview (total + usage)
system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep "Memory"
vm_stat

# Top processes by memory (top 5)
ps aux -m | head -6

# Top processes by CPU (top 5)  
ps aux -r | head -6

# Network speed (built-in macOS tool)
networkQuality

[!NOTE] Validation checkpoint: Verify all commands succeeded before proceeding. If pmset returns nothing, you're on a desktop Mac — skip battery. If vm_stat fails, fall back to top -l 1 for memory info.

Step 2: Format Concise Output

Present as a brief summary, NOT tables. Example format:

🔋 Battery: 73% (discharging, ~20h remaining)
💾 RAM: 17.1GB / 24GB used (71%)
⚡ CPU: Light load
🌐 Network: ⬇️ 262 Mbps ⬆️ 26 Mbps (36ms latency)

Top memory: Amp (478MB), Passwords (320MB), Spotlight (310MB)
Top CPU: WindowServer (3.2%), Amp (2.1%), Finder (0.8%)

Step 3: Analyze & Recommend

[!TIP] Keep output concise — users want a quick health check, not a system report.

Apply these thresholds and provide recommendations:

Battery:

• < 20%: "⚠️ Consider plugging in soon"
• < 10%: "🔴 Critical — plug in now"

RAM:

• > 85% used: "⚠️ Memory pressure high"
• > 95% used: "🔴 System may slow down — consider closing apps"
• Any single process > 2GB: Flag it for potential action

CPU:

• Any process > 80% sustained: "⚠️ [Process] using significant CPU"
• Any process > 150%: "🔴 [Process] may be stuck — consider force-quitting"

Network:

• Download < 10 Mbps: "⚠️ Slow download speed"
• Upload < 5 Mbps: "⚠️ Slow upload speed"
• Latency > 100ms: "⚠️ High latency — may affect video calls"

Common recommendations:

Step 4: Offer Actions

[!CAUTION] Only offer to kill a process if it's clearly stuck (>150% CPU) or the user explicitly asks.

If issues found, offer:

• "Want me to kill [process]?" (if clearly stuck)
• "Should I check what's causing [issue]?"

If healthy:

• End with "✅ System looks healthy — no action needed"

Examples

Example 1: Healthy System

🔋 Battery: 73% (discharging, ~20h remaining)
💾 RAM: 17.1GB / 24GB (71%) — healthy
⚡ CPU: Light load (< 10% average)
🌐 Network: ⬇️ 262 Mbps ⬆️ 26 Mbps (36ms latency)

Top memory: Amp (478MB), Passwords (320MB), Spotlight (310MB)
Top CPU: WindowServer (1.0%), Amp (0.7%), Finder (0.3%)

✅ System looks healthy — no action needed

Example 2: Low Battery + High RAM

🔋 Battery: 8% (discharging, ~45min remaining)
   🔴 Critical — plug in now!
💾 RAM: 22.8GB / 24GB (95%)
   🔴 Memory pressure critical — consider closing apps
⚡ CPU: Moderate load

Top memory: Chrome (4.2GB), Slack (1.8GB), Docker (1.5GB)
Top CPU: Chrome Helper (12%), Docker (8%), Spotlight (5%)

⚠️ Chrome using 4.2GB — consider closing unused tabs
⚠️ Docker using 1.5GB — quit if not needed

Want me to help close any of these?

Example 3: Stuck Process

🔋 Battery: 45% (charging)
💾 RAM: 14GB / 24GB (58%) — healthy
⚡ CPU: High load

Top memory: Xcode (2.1GB), Simulator (890MB), Safari (650MB)
Top CPU: node (187%), Xcode (45%), coreaudiod (12%)

🔴 node at 187% CPU — likely stuck or in infinite loop
   Process running for 8+ minutes at this level

Want me to kill the stuck node process (PID 12847)?

Troubleshooting

Quality Rules

Output Validation Checklist

Before presenting results, verify:

• All four sections present (Battery, RAM, CPU, Network)
• Percentages calculated correctly (used/total × 100)
• Top processes listed for both memory AND CPU
• Recommendations match thresholds (not arbitrary)
• Emojis used consistently (🔋💾⚡🌐 for sections, ⚠️🔴✅ for status)

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Naming Conventions

• Battery states: "charging", "discharging", "fully charged", "not charging"
• RAM levels: "healthy" (<85%), "high" (85-95%), "critical" (>95%)
• CPU levels: "light" (<30%), "moderate" (30-60%), "high" (>60%)
• Network levels: "slow" (download <10Mbps), "moderate" (10-50Mbps), "fast" (>50Mbps)

Testing

Evaluation Scenarios

Model Coverage

• Tested on: Sonnet, Haiku
• Edge cases verified: Desktop Mac (no battery), fresh boot (low usage), compile job (high CPU spike)

Validation Commands

# Verify battery section works
pmset -g batt

# Verify RAM calculation
vm_stat | head -5

# Verify process listing
ps aux -m | head -3

# Verify network test works
networkQuality