macos-services

name	macos-services
description	Manage macOS services and daemons using launchctl, plus system info and maintenance
user-invocable	true
os	["darwin"]
navig-commands	["navig run \"launchctl list\"","navig run \"launchctl kickstart system/{service}\"","navig run \"system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType\"","navig run \"top -l 1 -n 0 | head -10\""]
examples	["What services are running on the Mac?","Check macOS system info","Restart a service on macOS","How much memory is the Mac using?","Show Mac system info"]

macOS Service & System Management

Manage services, check system health, and perform maintenance on macOS machines.

System Info

Quick System Overview

User says: "Show Mac system info"

sw_vers
sysctl -n hw.memsize | awk '{print $0/1073741824 " GB RAM"}'
sysctl -n hw.ncpu
uptime

Response format:

🍎 macOS System Info:

OS: macOS 15.2 Sequoia
Model: MacBook Pro (M3 Pro)
CPU: 12 cores
RAM: 36 GB
Uptime: 5 days, 3 hours

Memory Usage

top -l 1 -n 0 | head -12

Or more readable:

memory_pressure

Disk Space

df -h / | tail -1

Service Management (launchctl)

macOS uses launchd instead of systemd. Services are called "launch agents" (user) and "launch daemons" (system).

List Running Services

launchctl list | head -30

Check Specific Service

launchctl list | grep {service}

Start a Service

# System service
sudo launchctl kickstart system/{service}

# User service
launchctl kickstart gui/$(id -u)/{service}

Stop a Service

sudo launchctl kill SIGTERM system/{service}

Load/Unload a Service

# Load (enable)
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/{service}.plist

# Unload (disable)
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/{service}.plist

Homebrew Services (Preferred)

For services installed via Homebrew, prefer brew services (much simpler):

brew services list                    # List all
brew services start {service}         # Start
brew services stop {service}          # Stop
brew services restart {service}       # Restart

See the homebrew skill for details.

Common macOS Admin Tasks

Flush DNS Cache

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache && sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Check Open Ports

lsof -iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN -n -P

Response format:

🌐 Open Ports on Mac:

• :3000 - node (PID: 1234)
• :5432 - postgres (PID: 5678)
• :6379 - redis (PID: 9012)
• :8080 - java (PID: 3456)

Kill Process by Port

lsof -ti:8080 | xargs kill -9

Check Battery Health (Laptops)

system_profiler SPPowerDataType | grep -A5 "Health"

Check Storage Breakdown

du -sh ~/Library/Caches ~/Library/Logs ~/Downloads 2>/dev/null

Empty Trash from Terminal

rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

Rebuild Spotlight Index

sudo mdutil -E /

macOS vs Linux Reference

Task	Linux	macOS
Service status	systemctl status x	launchctl list | grep x
Start service	systemctl start x	launchctl kickstart system/x
Stop service	systemctl stop x	launchctl kill SIGTERM system/x
Package install	apt install x	brew install x
Firewall	ufw	pfctl
Process viewer	htop	htop or top -o cpu
Open ports	ss -tlnp	lsof -iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN

Safety Rules

• Safe: launchctl list, sw_vers, top, df (read-only)
• Confirm: brew services start/stop, killall, kill
• Double confirm: launchctl unload, rm -rf, mdutil -E

Error Handling

• Permission denied: "This requires sudo. Try with admin privileges."
• Service not found: "Service '{name}' not found. Check with launchctl list | grep {name}"
• SIP restriction: "System Integrity Protection prevents this action. Some system services can't be modified."