Open-Source Observability · vladkens

macmon

macmon is a lightweight Rust-based system monitor for Apple Silicon Macs (M1–M5) that displays real-time CPU, GPU, and power metrics without requiring sudo. It offers three interfaces: a TUI with historical charts, JSON output for scripting, and an HTTP server for Prometheus/Grafana integration.

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Source: GitHub — github.com/vladkens/macmon

1.7k

GitHub stars

Forks

Rust

Primary language

MIT

License (OSI-approved)

Key facts

Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.

Field	Value
Repository	vladkens/macmon
Owner	vladkens
Primary language	Rust
License	MIT — OSI-approved
Stars	1.7k
Forks	69
Open issues	13
Latest release	v0.7.2 (2026-05-02)
Last updated	2026-06-09
Source	https://github.com/vladkens/macmon

What macmon is

Built in Rust using private macOS APIs (similar to powermetrics), macmon provides per-core CPU/GPU frequency-scaled usage ratios, active residency metrics, temperature, fan speeds, and power consumption (CPU/GPU/ANE/system/RAM). Deployable as a CLI tool, JSON pipe, or background HTTP service with launchd integration.

Quickstart

Get the macmon source

Clone the repository and explore it locally.

terminalbash

1git clone https://github.com/vladkens/macmon.git2cd macmon3# follow the project's README for install & configuration

Need it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.

Best use cases

Local LLM & AI model performance profiling

Monitor real-time power, temperature, and GPU utilization while testing or fine-tuning local models without sudo overhead.

Prometheus/Grafana dashboarding for Mac-based infrastructure

Run as a background service exporting Prometheus metrics for centralized monitoring of heterogeneous Mac clusters or CI/CD runners.

Developer laptop power analysis and optimization

Quick TUI inspection of CPU/GPU power draw and thermal state during development to identify energy-hungry workloads.

Implementation considerations

Relies on undocumented macOS private APIs; Apple updates may break functionality without warning.
HTTP server runs unencrypted by default; use firewall rules (--host 127.0.0.1) or reverse proxy for network exposure.
Launchd auto-start requires manual setup per machine; no centralized provisioning or config management templates provided.
Per-core active residency metrics marked experimental; validate accuracy against your workload before relying for optimization.
JSON schema and Prometheus metric names subject to change; version-pin and test upgrades in CI/CD pipelines.

When to avoid it — and what to weigh

Requires Intel Mac support — macmon is hardcoded for Apple Silicon (M1–M5); Intel Macs and older ARM Macs are not supported.
Need guaranteed historical data retention — Charts are in-memory only; stopping the process loses historical metrics unless explicitly piped to persistent storage.
Strict backward compatibility requirements — Project is young (~2 years old) with active development; breaking changes in JSON/metrics format or private API reliance pose integration risk.
Production monitoring without redundancy — Single-process HTTP server with no clustering, failover, or HA; unsuitable as sole source-of-truth for critical infrastructure metrics.

License & commercial use

Licensed under MIT (MIT License), a permissive OSI-approved license allowing commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions (attribution required, no warranty).

MIT license permits commercial use, redistribution, and bundling. No license fees or restrictions on proprietary derivatives. Attribution in license copy required. No SLA, vendor support, or legal indemnification provided; recommend internal risk assessment for production use.

DEV.co evaluation signals

Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.

Signal	Assessment
Maintenance	Active
Documentation	Strong
License clarity	Clear
Deployment complexity	Low
DEV.co fit	Good
Assessment confidence	High

Security considerations

Accesses private macOS kernel APIs; security posture depends on Apple's enforcement and bug-fix cadence. HTTP server unencrypted and unauthenticated by default—restrict to localhost or firewall. No input validation or rate-limiting documented. Code is Rust (memory-safe) but private API calls are opaque. Audit private API risks before production deployment in regulated environments.

Alternatives to consider

asitop

Similar TUI for Apple Silicon power metrics, but requires sudo and reads from powermetrics; less ergonomic and higher privilege.

iStat Menus / Stats

Commercial closed-source alternatives with native macOS UI, more features (network, disk, battery), but paid and no Prometheus integration.

Prometheus node_exporter + custom scripts

Generic approach using shell or Python wrappers around powermetrics; more flexibility but requires sudo, less maintained, higher operational overhead.

Software development agency

Build on macmon with DEV.co software developers

Integrate macmon into your dev workflow or infrastructure monitoring. Install via brew, export Prometheus metrics, or pipe JSON—all without elevated privileges.

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macmon FAQ

Does macmon require root or sudo?

No. It uses private macOS APIs that user-level code can access without elevated privileges—a key advantage over powermetrics/asitop.

Will macmon break after a macOS update?

Possibly. It relies on undocumented private APIs; Apple updates may change internal structures. Monitor releases and test in staging before upgrading production machines.

Can I use macmon in a Docker container or Kubernetes pod?

Not practically. macmon requires native macOS kernel access; containers run Linux. For CI/CD Macs (e.g., GitHub Actions runners), run as a launchd service on the host.

Is the Prometheus output stable?

Not guaranteed. Metric names and JSON schema are subject to change in minor releases. Pin versions and test upgrades before rolling out to Grafana dashboards.

Software developers & web developers for hire

DEV.co is a software development agency delivering custom software development services to companies building on open source. Our software developers and web developers design, integrate, and ship production systems — spanning web development, APIs, AI, data, and cloud. If macmon is part of your open-source observability roadmap, our team can implement, customize, migrate, and maintain it.

Monitor Your Mac's Performance Without Sudo

Integrate macmon into your dev workflow or infrastructure monitoring. Install via brew, export Prometheus metrics, or pipe JSON—all without elevated privileges.

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