๐ป MacBook Optimizer
Complete MacBook health & performance suite - No installation required
A comprehensive, user-friendly skill for monitoring, optimizing, and troubleshooting MacBook performance. Works on all Macs (Intel & Apple Silicon) using built-in macOS tools. Unlike specialized tools, this provides actionable recommendations and automated fixes.
Why This Skill is Better
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No installation required - Uses built-in macOS tools
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Works on all Macs - Intel & Apple Silicon
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Actionable recommendations - Not just metrics, but solutions
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Automated fixes - Can clean up and optimize automatically
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User-friendly - Plain language, not technical jargon
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Complete suite - Monitoring + troubleshooting + optimization
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GUI-first - Opens visual tools automatically for non-technical users
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Visual reports - Charts, graphs, and emoji indicators for easy understanding
Capabilities
๐ System Monitoring
- CPU Analysis: Real-time CPU usage, temperature (via
powermetrics), load averages, per-process breakdown - Memory Health: RAM usage, memory pressure, swap usage, identify memory leaks
- Disk Intelligence: Space analysis, find large files/folders, duplicate detection, cache locations
- Battery Diagnostics: Health percentage, cycle count, capacity, charging status, power consumption
- Thermal Monitoring: System temperature, thermal state, identify overheating causes
- Network Activity: Bandwidth usage, active connections, identify bandwidth hogs
โก Optimization Tools
- Smart Cleanup: Automatically find and remove caches, logs, temp files, downloads, duplicates
- Process Management: Identify resource hogs, suggest optimizations, safe process termination
- Startup Optimization: Manage login items, background apps, reduce boot time
- Storage Optimization: Find large files, suggest deletions, empty trash, clear caches
- Performance Tuning: System settings recommendations, disable unnecessary services
๐ Troubleshooting
- Slowdown Diagnosis: Identify bottlenecks (CPU/memory/disk/network), root cause analysis
- Overheating Solutions: Find hot processes, suggest cooling strategies, thermal management
- Memory Issues: Detect leaks, suggest app restarts, memory optimization
- Disk Problems: Full disk analysis, permission issues, disk health checks
- Battery Issues: Health degradation, charging problems, power management
Usage Examples
Complete system check (with GUI):
Run a full system health check, show me the results visually, and fix any issues
Performance optimization (GUI mode):
My MacBook is slow. Open Activity Monitor and show me what's using resources
Overheating issue:
My MacBook is overheating. Show me the hot processes in Activity Monitor
Disk cleanup (visual):
Show me my disk usage visually and clean up automatically
Memory problems (GUI):
My Mac is using too much memory. Open Activity Monitor and highlight the memory hogs
Battery health (visual):
Show me my battery health in System Settings and optimize power settings
Startup optimization:
What's slowing down my Mac startup? Show me login items in System Settings
Find large files (visual):
Find all files larger than 1GB, show them in Finder, and suggest what I can delete
GUI-first requests:
Show me everything in Activity Monitor
Open System Settings to battery settings
Show me disk usage in a visual way
Advanced Commands Available
The agent intelligently uses these macOS tools:
System Info:
system_profiler- Complete hardware/software informationsysctl- System parameters and kernel settingssw_vers- macOS version information
Process Monitoring:
top/htop- Real-time process monitoringps- Process status and detailslsof- List open files and network connectionslaunchctl list- Background services and daemons
Resource Monitoring:
vm_stat- Virtual memory statisticsiostat- Disk I/O statisticsnetstat/lsof -i- Network connectionspowermetrics- CPU/GPU power and temperature (Apple Silicon)pmset -g therm- Thermal state (Intel Macs)
Disk Management:
df- Disk space usagedu- Directory size analysisfind- Locate large filesmdutil- Spotlight index management
Power & Battery:
pmset- Power management settingsioreg- I/O registry (battery info)system_profiler SPPowerDataType- Battery details
Cleanup:
rm- Safe file removal (with confirmation)purge- Memory purge- Cache locations:
~/Library/Caches,/Library/Caches,/var/folders
GUI Tools (Visual Interface):
open -a "Activity Monitor"- Launch Activity Monitor (CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, Network)open -a "System Settings"- Open System Settings (all system preferences)open -a "System Settings" && open "x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.preference.battery"- Battery settingsopen -a "System Settings" && open "x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.preference.storage"- Storage managementopen -a "System Settings" && open "x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.LoginItems-Settings.extension"- Login itemsopen -a "Finder"- Open Finder for file browsingopen ~/Library/Caches- Open Caches folder in Finderopen ~/Downloads- Open Downloads folderopen "x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_AllFiles"- Privacy settingsopen "x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Accessibility"- Accessibility permissions
Visual Reports:
- Generate HTML reports with charts (CPU, Memory, Disk usage over time)
- Create visual summaries with emoji indicators (๐ข Good, ๐ก Warning, ๐ด Critical)
- Open relevant System Settings panels automatically based on findings
๐จ GUI-First Experience
For users who prefer visual interfaces, the agent can:
- ๐ Open Activity Monitor automatically when showing system stats
- โ๏ธ Navigate System Settings to relevant panels (Battery, Storage, Privacy)
- ๐ Open Finder to specific folders (Caches, Downloads, Large files)
- ๐ Generate visual reports with charts and graphs (HTML format)
- ๐ฏ Highlight issues in GUI apps with clear indicators
- ๐ Show step-by-step with screenshots or GUI navigation
Example GUI Workflow:
- User: "My Mac is slow"
- Agent opens Activity Monitor โ highlights CPU/Memory hogs
- Agent opens System Settings โ shows relevant optimization settings
- Agent provides visual summary with emoji status indicators
Intelligent Automation
The agent can:
- โ Automatically clean safe caches and temp files (with user confirmation)
- โ Suggest optimizations based on system analysis
- โ Provide step-by-step fixes for common issues (with GUI navigation)
- โ Monitor continuously if requested (via cron jobs)
- โ Generate visual reports with charts, graphs, and actionable recommendations
- โ Open GUI tools automatically when showing system information
Safety & Privacy
- ๐ Always asks before deleting files or killing processes
- ๐ Protects system files and critical processes
- ๐ Reviews before action - shows what will be deleted
- ๐ No data collection - everything runs locally
- ๐ Respects privacy - never sends data externally
Requirements
- โ macOS only (Intel & Apple Silicon)
- โ No installation needed - uses built-in tools
- โ
Optional:
htopfor prettier process view (brew install htop) - โ
Optional:
mactopfor Apple Silicon detailed metrics (brew install mactop)
How to Use GUI Tools
When the user asks for visual information or mentions they're not technical:
- Always open Activity Monitor when showing CPU/Memory/Process info
- Navigate to relevant System Settings panels automatically
- Open Finder to specific folders when discussing files
- Generate visual summaries with emoji indicators (๐ข๐ก๐ด)
- Provide step-by-step GUI navigation instructions
GUI Navigation Commands:
- CPU issues โ Open Activity Monitor, sort by CPU
- Memory issues โ Open Activity Monitor, sort by Memory
- Battery โ Open System Settings โ Battery
- Storage โ Open System Settings โ General โ Storage
- Login items โ Open System Settings โ General โ Login Items
- Large files โ Open Finder, navigate to location, sort by size
Comparison with Other Tools
| Feature | macbook-optimizer | mactop |
|---|---|---|
| Installation required | โ No | โ Yes (brew) |
| Works on Intel Macs | โ Yes | โ No (Apple Silicon only) |
| Actionable recommendations | โ Yes | โ No (metrics only) |
| Automated cleanup | โ Yes | โ No |
| Troubleshooting | โ Yes | โ No |
| User-friendly | โ Yes | โ ๏ธ Technical |
| Complete suite | โ Yes | โ ๏ธ Monitoring only |
| GUI-first experience | โ Yes | โ CLI only |
| Visual reports | โ Yes | โ Text only |