mactop

name	mactop
description	Retrieve real-time hardware metrics from Apple Silicon Macs using mactop's TOON format. Provides CPU, RAM, GPU, power, thermal, network, disk I/O, and Thunderbolt bus information. Use when the user wants system stats, hardware monitoring, or performance metrics on Apple Silicon Macs.

Mactop Skill

Execute mactop in headless TOON mode and parse the output for hardware metrics.

Prerequisites

• mactop installed: brew install mactop
• PATH includes /usr/sbin: Required for sysctl access

Usage

Get Full Metrics

mactop --format toon --headless --count 1

Parse Key Metrics

CPU Usage:

mactop --format toon --headless --count 1 | grep "^cpu_usage:" | awk '{print $2}'

RAM (used/total GB):

mactop --format toon --headless --count 1 | grep -E "^  (Used|Total):" | awk '{printf "%.1f", $2/1073741824}'

GPU Usage:

mactop --format toon --headless --count 1 | grep "^gpu_usage:" | awk '{print $2}'

Power (total/CPU/GPU):

mactop --format toon --headless --count 1 | grep -E "^  (TotalPower|CPUPower|GPUPower):" | awk '{print $2}'

Thermal State:

mactop --format toon --headless --count 1 | grep "^thermal_state:" | awk '{print $2}'

Temperature:

mactop --format toon --headless --count 1 | grep "^  SocTemp:" | awk '{print $2}'

Chip Info:

mactop --format toon --headless --count 1 | grep "^  Name:" | awk '{print $2}'

Network I/O (bytes/sec):

mactop --format toon --headless --count 1 | grep -E "^(  InBytesPerSec|  OutBytesPerSec):" | awk '{print $2}'

Thunderbolt Buses:

mactop --format toon --headless --count 1 | grep "^    Name:" | awk '{print $2}'

Options

Option	Description
--count N	Number of samples (default: 1)
--interval MS	Sample interval in milliseconds (default: 1000)

TOON Format

timestamp: "2026-01-25T20:00:00-07:00"
soc_metrics:
  CPUPower: 0.15
  GPUPower: 0.02
  TotalPower: 8.5
  SocTemp: 42.3
memory:
  Total: 25769803776
  Used: 14852408320
  Available: 10917395456
cpu_usage: 5.2
gpu_usage: 1.8
thermal_state: Normal
system_info:
  Name: Apple M4 Pro
  CoreCount: 12

Response Example

Format metrics in a readable box:

┌─ Apple M4 Pro ──────────────────────┐
│ CPU:   5.2%  |  RAM: 13.8/24.0 GB  │
│ GPU:   1.8%  |  Power: 8.5W total  │
│ Thermal: Normal  |  SoC: 42.3°C    │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Troubleshooting

• "sysctl not found" → Add /usr/sbin to PATH
• No output → Verify mactop is installed: which mactop