Mac Performance Optimizer

Analyzes the current state of a macOS system and provides actionable optimization recommendations.

When to Use

• User asks to "check performance", "optimize my Mac", "why is my Mac slow"
• User wants to audit running processes, memory, or CPU usage
• User asks for system health check or resource analysis

How to Run

Run the analysis script (the path is relative to where this skill is installed):

bash "$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0" 2>/dev/null || echo "$HOME/.claude/skills/mac-optimizer")")/mac-optimize.sh"

Or if the skill is installed via npx skills add:

bash "$HOME/.claude/skills/mac-optimizer/mac-optimize.sh"

How to Analyze the Output

After running the script, analyze the output and provide recommendations organized by impact level (HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW).

Key Metrics to Evaluate

1. Memory Pressure — Check physical RAM vs used, swap usage, and compressor size.

   • Swap used > 50% of RAM = heavy pressure
   • Free memory < 500MB = critical
   • Compressor > 50% of RAM = system is struggling

2. Browser Bloat — Count browser processes and total RAM%.

   • 50 Chrome/Brave processes = too many tabs

   • Running multiple Chromium browsers = redundant RAM use
   • Recommend tab suspender extensions or closing tabs

3. Claude Code Sessions — Each session holds memory.

   • 3 idle sessions = recommend closing unused ones

4. Container Runtimes — Docker/OrbStack VMs consume significant RAM.

   • If not actively used, recommend stopping

5. Launch Daemons & Agents — Background services from unneeded apps.

   • Flag daemons for apps not actively used (TeamViewer, Zoom, unused updaters)
   • Flag duplicate functionality (e.g., two NTFS drivers)

6. Long-Running Processes — Processes with high accumulated CPU time.

   • May indicate memory leaks or runaway processes
   • Recommend restarting if uptime is excessive

7. Disk Space — Flag if < 20GB free.

8. System Uptime — If > 7 days, recommend a reboot to reclaim swap and reset compressor.

Response Format

Present findings as:

1. Summary table — key metrics with status indicators
2. Top consumers — ranked list of what's using the most resources
3. Recommendations — grouped by HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW impact
4. Quick wins — copy-pasteable commands the user can run immediately

Example Quick Win Commands

# Quit an app not in use
osascript -e 'quit app "AppName"'

# Purge inactive memory (temporary relief)
sudo purge

# Enable low power mode on battery
sudo pmset -b lowpowermode 1

# Disable a launch daemon (modern macOS — do NOT use launchctl unload)
sudo launchctl bootout system /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.example.plist
# Prevent it from loading on next boot
sudo launchctl disable system/com.example.service

# List and kill heavy processes
kill -TERM <PID>

Important: launchctl unload is deprecated and fails on modern macOS. Always use launchctl bootout / launchctl disable instead. These commands require sudo — tell the user to run them in their terminal directly.

Always warn the user before suggesting kill — prefer osascript -e 'quit app' for GUI apps.