free - Memory Usage Reporting

The free module enhances the standard memory reporting tool by adding structured data support (CSV/TSV) and providing a native implementation for macOS users who typically lack the free command.

When to Activate

• When monitoring total, used, and free system memory.
• When performing memory usage analysis in scripts using CSV/TSV formats.
• When checking memory compression details on macOS.
• When needing periodic memory reporting (polling).

Core Principles & Rules

• Cross-Platform: Provides a consistent interface for memory stats on both Linux and macOS.
• Automation-Ready: Supports --csv and --tsv for easy parsing without headers.
• Real-Time Polling: Use -s and -c to repeat the output at intervals.

Patterns & Examples

Human-Readable View

# Display system memory usage in a clear format
x free

Export for Scripting

# Get memory data as a single-line CSV without headers
x free --csv --no-header

Periodic Monitoring

# Refresh memory stats every 2 seconds for 10 iterations
x free -s 2 -c 10

Checklist

• Verify if the output needs to be structured (CSV/TSV) for a script.
• Confirm if headers should be included or omitted.
• Ensure the correct polling interval is set if monitoring over time.