macmon — the free, open-source Mac cleaner & system monitor for developers

A terminal-native macOS system monitor, cleaner and optimizer — a free, private, open-source CCleaner alternative built for developers. 100% local, zero telemetry.

Install • Quick Start • Screenshots • Sentinel • Features • Commands • SoClose

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What is macmon?

macmon is a free, open-source Mac system monitor and cleaner that runs entirely in your terminal. Think CCleaner Pro + Activity Monitor + Security Scanner + Docker Manager, reimagined as one fast CLI with a live TUI dashboard — purpose-built for developers who live in the shell.

If you have ever searched for "how to clean my Mac", "free CCleaner alternative for macOS", "free up disk space on Mac", "why is my Mac slow", or "macOS system monitor CLI" — this is the tool, and it never phones home.

30 commands · 18 modules · Live dashboard · MACMON-SENTINEL always-on watchdog · Keyboard shortcuts that execute real actions · Autopilot daemon · Thermal management · Security & malware scanner · Docker manager · 100% local, zero telemetry

Why developers pick macmon

• Free & open source (MIT) — no license, no account, no upsell, no cloud.
• Private by design — everything runs locally; nothing is uploaded, ever.
• Developer-first cleanup — reclaims node_modules, stale venvs, Docker cache, Xcode/DerivedData, npm/pip/brew caches with safety guards.
• Safe deletes — moves to Trash by default and never silently escalates to permanent deletion.
• One binary of a habit — monitor, clean, secure and keep your Mac fast from a single CLI.

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Platform support

macmon is macOS-first (that is where every feature works), with a cross-platform core so the portable tools also run on Windows and Linux. On other platforms, macOS-only commands degrade gracefully with a clear "requires macOS" message instead of crashing.

This is not a claim -- it is enforced. CI runs on macOS, Ubuntu and Windows (Python 3.11 and 3.13) on every push: it imports all 18 modules, smoke-tests the portable commands, and asserts that every macOS-only command exits cleanly with a "requires macOS" notice off-mac.

Feature	macOS	Windows	Linux
ps / kill / suspend / nice (processes)	✅	✅	✅
disk / bigfiles / dupes	✅	✅	✅
clean (temp / cache / logs / dev caches) 1	✅	✅	✅
gc (node_modules, venvs, docker, caches) 2	✅	✅	✅
network / flush-dns	✅	✅	✅
docker management	✅	✅	✅
health score	✅	✅ (core checks)	✅ (core checks)
sentinel monitor + auto-remediation	✅	✅ (schtasks)	✅ (cron)
Live dashboard (TUI)	✅	✅	✅
security (pf, SIP, FileVault, Gatekeeper)	✅	--	--
privacy / startup / uninstall / auto / focus	✅	--	--

¹ Core paths only (temp, caches, logs, dev caches) route through the cross-platform layer. clean --browsers still uses macOS browser-profile paths (~/Library/...), so it finds nothing on Windows/Linux today.

² Core scanning (node_modules, venvs, __pycache__, Docker, npm / pnpm / yarn / bun) is cross-platform. The pip cache path is macOS-only today, so that one category comes back empty elsewhere.

On Windows/Linux install by cloning + pip install -r requirements.txt, then python macmon.py. The macOS install.sh sets up the macmon shortcut on macOS/Linux.

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Screenshots

System health, scored /100	One-pass junk & cache cleaner
Security & malware audit	Categorized process monitor

Above: the MACMON-SENTINEL tactical console (top of page). All output is real, rendered live — no mockups.

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Features

Live Dashboard Full-screen TUI with real-time monitoring: CPU per-core with sparkline history RAM / Swap / Wired / Active breakdown Disk I/O rates & Network sparklines Thermal monitoring (CPU temp, fan RPM, throttle detection) Security score & Docker containers live panels Process list with category icons Alerts & smart suggestions

Interactive Keyboard Shortcuts Execute real actions directly from the dashboard: Key Action S Sweep: kill zombies, orphans, stale locks P Purge inactive RAM C Full system clean (junk, caches, browsers) G Dev garbage collector (node_modules, venvs) H Health check + auto-fix K Full security audit D Docker overview F Focus mode (quit apps, DND) 1-9 Kill process #N from the list Q Quit

System Cleaner System junk (temp, logs, crash reports) 8 browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Arc, Brave, Opera, Edge, Chromium) App caches (Xcode, VSCode, Cursor, Slack, Spotify, JetBrains...) Clipboard & recent items clear Schedule via launchd	Dev Garbage Collector npm / pnpm / yarn / bun caches Stale node_modules and venvs __pycache__, .DS_Store Homebrew, Docker, Xcode DerivedData iOS Simulators, Go, Cargo	Security Scanner Security score /100 Firewall, SIP, Gatekeeper, FileVault Suspicious port detection (Metasploit, IRC, backdoors) Remote tool detection (TeamViewer, AnyDesk, VNC) Malware indicators & crypto miners IP blocking via pf & process quarantine
Process Manager Category detection (IDE, browser, Docker, Node, Python...) Kill / suspend / resume / renice / quit / restart Zombie & orphan sweep Port manager with lsof fallback	Docker Manager Container / image / volume / network listing Full prune, stop-all, restart, logs, live stats Compose project listing Security scan (privileged, host network, root, public ports)	Autopilot Daemon Background rules engine: RAM critical → purge CPU runaway → renice Thermal management → auto-throttle Security monitoring → alerts Browser RAM hog → notification Low disk & weekly clean reminders
Privacy Cleaner Recent items, Finder, QuickLook cache Shell history (zsh/bash/fish) REPL history (Python/Node/SQLite/IRB) Spotlight, SSH known_hosts, Siri	Health Check 13+ system checks with score /100 Auto-fix for safe issues Report saving & history	More Tools Startup Manager — LaunchAgents, daemons, cron App Uninstaller — full leftover detection Duplicate Finder — 3-phase xxhash + SHA-256 Disk Analyzer — big files, categorization Focus Mode — quit apps, DND, restore

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Installation

git clone https://github.com/SoCloseSociety/macmon.git
cd macmon
bash install.sh

This will:

1. Check Python 3.11+
2. Create a venv at ~/.macmon/venv
3. Install dependencies (rich, psutil, typer, send2trash, xxhash)
4. Create /usr/local/bin/macmon wrapper
5. Initialize config at ~/.macmon/config.toml

Build DMG (optional)

bash build_dmg.sh
open dist/macmon.dmg

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Quick Start

# Launch the live dashboard
macmon

# Full system clean
macmon clean --all -y

# Dev garbage collector
macmon gc --all -y

# Security audit
macmon security

# Health check + auto-fix
macmon health --fix

# Kill zombies & orphans
macmon sweep -y

# Purge RAM
macmon purge

# Start autopilot daemon
macmon auto --start

# Focus mode
macmon focus

# All commands
macmon --help

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Command Reference

Command	Description
macmon	Live dashboard
macmon ps	Process list with categories
macmon kill <target>	Kill process
macmon suspend / resume <target>	Suspend / resume process
macmon nice <target> <val>	Renice process
macmon quit / restart <app>	Graceful quit / restart app
macmon sweep	Kill zombies, orphans, stale locks
macmon ports	Port manager
macmon clean --scan	Preview cleanable junk
macmon clean --all -y	Full system clean
macmon clean --browsers	Browser cleaner
macmon gc --scan	Preview dev garbage
macmon gc --all -y	Full dev GC
macmon privacy --scan	Preview privacy traces
macmon privacy --full -y	Wipe all traces
macmon health	Health check /100
macmon health --fix	Auto-fix safe issues
macmon startup --list	List startup items
macmon startup --audit	Audit suspicious items
macmon uninstall <app>	Uninstall + leftover cleanup
macmon dupes <path>	Find duplicate files
macmon bigfiles	Find large files
macmon disk	Disk usage analyzer
macmon network	Network connections
macmon flush-dns	Flush DNS cache
macmon security	Security audit /100
macmon security --block-ip <ip>	Block IP via pf firewall
macmon security --quarantine <proc>	Kill + block process
macmon docker	Docker overview
macmon docker --prune -y	Docker full cleanup
macmon docker --scan	Docker security audit
macmon auto --start / --stop	Start / stop autopilot daemon
macmon focus / restore	Focus mode on / off
macmon purge	Purge inactive RAM
macmon report	Session report
macmon config --show / --edit	View / edit config
macmon sentinel --install	Arm the always-on light monitor
macmon sentinel	Tactical console snapshot
macmon sentinel --watch	Live tactical console
macmon sentinel --force-clean	Manual override: scan then clean
macmon sentinel --test-notify	Test notification (shows the macmon icon)
macmon sentinel --enable-auto	Enable safe auto-remediation (unload idle ollama models + RAM purge)
macmon sentinel --enable-auto --aggressive	Also auto-close idle AI sessions
macmon sentinel --disable-auto	Disable all auto-remediation (back to notify-only)
macmon sentinel --trim	Close idle AI sessions now
macmon sentinel --unload-ollama	Unload idle ollama models now (they reload on demand)
macmon sentinel --setup-purge	Grant passwordless purge via sudoers so auto-purge runs unattended

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MACMON-SENTINEL (always-on monitor)

An ultra-light watchdog that keeps the Mac operational without you watching it.

• Near-zero cost: a single-shot sampler fires every 60s via a LaunchAgent, measures in ~0.5s, appends one compact JSON line, then exits. No resident process between samples (~0.1% average CPU, ~20 MB peak per sample).
• Precise: tracks CPU, RAM, swap, load, disk, network RTT, the top CPU process, and the AI-agent fleet (Claude Code / codex / MCP counts + RSS) so forgotten sessions are surfaced, not rediscovered in a crisis.
• Hidden RAM hogs, surfaced: it also tracks the two big ones nothing else shows you -- loaded ollama models (ollama ps, multi-GB and easy to forget) and the Docker/Colima VM footprint. The VM is notify-only: the Sentinel warns above vm_gb and never stops it on its own.
• Auto-interaction: threshold alerts fire native macOS notifications (swap high, memory pressure, runaway process, network saturated, low disk, AI fleet too large), each with a cooldown.
• Auto-remediation (safe escalation): nothing is automatic until you opt in. Remediation only fires when memory pressure is genuinely critical (RAM above ram_critical and swap above swap_critical_gb), and the Sentinel always notifies what it did:
  • Level 1a -- auto_unload_ollama (non-destructive): unloads idle ollama models when RAM is critical and they hold at least ollama_gb. Never touches a model mid-inference (a busy runner is detected and skipped), and models reload automatically on the next request. Turned ON by --enable-auto.
  • Level 1b -- auto_purge (non-destructive, macOS only): frees inactive RAM via purge. Turned ON by --enable-auto.
  • Level 2 -- auto_trim_fleet (opt-in): closes idle AI coding sessions (Claude Code) beyond a configurable minimum (fleet_keep), protecting the most recently active ones so the session you are using is never touched. A session must be idle for idle_samples samples (~10 min) first, and sessions are resumable (--resume). Requires macmon sentinel --enable-auto --aggressive.
  • Turn everything back off with macmon sentinel --disable-auto (notify-only).
  • Manual levers any time: macmon sentinel --trim closes idle sessions now, macmon sentinel --unload-ollama unloads idle ollama models now.

Heads-up: --enable-auto enables levels 1a and 1b. That means once RAM is critical, macmon may unload your loaded ollama models without asking. It is non-destructive (they reload on demand, and never mid-inference), but if you want notifications only, do not run --enable-auto.

Passwordless purge (--setup-purge)

purge requires root, so unattended auto_purge needs sudo without a password prompt. macmon sentinel --setup-purge sets that up explicitly, and only that:

• It writes /etc/sudoers.d/macmon-purge containing exactly one line: <your-user> ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/sbin/purge
• The snippet is validated with visudo -c before being installed (a malformed sudoers file would break sudo system-wide), then installed 0440.
• The grant is scoped to that single binary -- /usr/sbin/purge and nothing else. It is not blanket passwordless sudo.
• Without it, auto_purge is simply skipped and notifications still fire. It is optional.
• Revoke at any time: sudo rm /etc/sudoers.d/macmon-purge
• Manual override: force levers when you must push the system -- --force-purge, --force-clean, --force-focus, --pause / --resume.
• Branded notifications: alerts pop up carrying the macmon icon (not the generic Script Editor icon) via a tiny bundled notifier app. Try it with macmon sentinel --test-notify.

macmon sentinel --install     # arm it (LaunchAgent, 60s sampler)
macmon sentinel               # tactical snapshot with gauges + sparklines
macmon sentinel --watch       # live console
macmon sentinel --status      # agent + config status
macmon sentinel --log         # recent alerts

Sentinel config

Config lives in ~/.macmon/sentinel.conf (JSON). Any key you omit falls back to the default below.

Key	Default	Meaning
swap_used_gb	6.0	Alert when swap usage exceeds this many GB
ram_pct	92.0	Alert when RAM usage exceeds this percentage
proc_cpu	95.0	Alert when a single process exceeds this CPU% (runaway)
rtt_ms	400.0	Alert when network round-trip time exceeds this
disk_free_gb	15.0	Alert when free disk space drops below this
ai_fleet	12	Alert when the AI-agent fleet exceeds this many processes
ping_every	5	Ping only every Nth sample (spares a metered link)
ollama_gb	2.0	Warn when idle ollama models hold more than this
vm_gb	4.0	Warn when a Docker/Colima VM holds more than this (notify-only)
auto_purge	false	Level 1b: purge inactive RAM when critical (macOS only)
auto_unload_ollama	false	Level 1a: unload idle ollama models when critical
auto_trim_fleet	false	Level 2: close idle AI sessions when critical
fleet_keep	4	Always keep at least this many AI sessions alive
ram_critical	90.0	Remediation triggers above this RAM% ...
swap_critical_gb	8.0	... and above this swap usage, never on one alone
idle_samples	10	A session must be idle this many samples (~10 min) before trimming

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Architecture

macmon.py                CLI router (typer, 30 commands)
modules/
  dashboard.py           Live TUI (rich) — 12 panels, keyboard shortcuts
  sentinel.py            MACMON-SENTINEL: 60s sampler, alerts, auto-remediation
  processes.py           Process manager, sweep, ports
  cleaner.py             System cleaner (junk, browsers, apps)
  gc.py                  Dev garbage collector
  security.py            Security scanner & IP blocking
  docker_mgr.py          Docker container/image/volume management
  autopilot.py           Daemon, thermal rules, security rules, focus mode
  health.py              Health check /100 & reports
  privacy.py             Privacy traces wiper
  startup.py             Startup/login items manager
  uninstaller.py         App uninstaller with leftover detection
  duplicates.py          Duplicate file finder (xxhash + SHA-256)
  disk.py                Disk analyzer & big file finder
  network.py             Network monitor
  config.py              TOML config manager
  platform_compat.py     Cross-platform layer (macOS / Windows / Linux paths, require_os)
  utils.py               Shared utilities, SQLite DB, logging

Tech Stack

Config

Config lives at ~/.macmon/config.toml:

macmon config --edit

Key sections: dashboard, thresholds, cleaner, privacy, gc, focus_mode, notifications, autopilot.

License

MIT — see LICENSE. Free forever, for any use.

FAQ

Is macmon really free? Yes — MIT licensed, no account, no telemetry, no paid tier.

Does it send my data anywhere? No. Everything runs locally on your Mac. There is zero network telemetry.

Is it a CCleaner alternative for Mac? Yes — it covers the same ground (caches, logs, temp, browser data, privacy traces) plus developer-specific cleanup (node_modules, venvs, Docker, Xcode) and safe Trash-first deletes.

Will it delete something important? Deletes move to the Trash by default and never silently escalate to permanent removal. Destructive categories are opt-in.

Which macOS versions? macOS 12 (Monterey) and newer, on Apple Silicon and Intel. Python 3.11+.

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_{Built with purpose by SoClose — Digital Innovation Through Automation & AI}