Tune l/Activity to your Mac and your taste

Steps

1. 01Step 1 of 7

   Step 1. Choose an appearance and a text size

   Open Settings with ⌘,. On General, the Appearance card has three small windows: System, Light and Dark. Click one. Under them, Text size makes every label larger: Standard, Larger (2 points more) or Largest (4 points more).

   SettingsMake l/Activity work the way you do.

   Search or jump to…⌘K

   Search settings

   GeneralDark · Dock and menu bar

   PermissionsFinder not checked

   MonitoringEvery 2 seconds

   History & Recording30 min live · 24 h max

   Storage & CacheEvery hour · 1.8 GB

   AlertsNotifications off

   About & PrivacyVersion 2.39

   Changes save automatically

   GeneralAppearance, menu bar and startup behavior.

   Appearance

   Color schemeAlways dark

   System

   Light

   Dark

   Text sizeBase text 13 pt

   StandardLargerLargest

   Start at login

   Start l/Activity at loginAutomatically open this copy of l/Activity when you sign in to your Mac.

   macOS: OffOpen Login Items

   Motion and lightHow each page is staged: its entrance, lighting and texture

   MotionReduced removes the entrance, rolling numerals, and easing on arcs and bars. Reduce Motion in macOS always wins.

   FullReduced

   Scene lighting follows loadThe page’s key light brightens with its main reading. Off keeps a steady light.

   Bloom on live marksA soft glow on arcs, lines and the newest sample. Dark appearance only.

   Film grainA static texture that prevents banding in dark gradients.

   Record letterboxBars frame the stage while a session records.

   None of these animate continuously. Motion plays once on entry or when a reading changes; a hidden or minimised window draws nothing.

   Menu bar and windowKeep resource readings available while you work

   Run l/ActivityShow l/Activity in the Dock and open its window at launch. Menu bar icons follow the choices below.

   Dock and menu bar

   Show Activity icon in the menu barOpen the shared popup on Overview. Resource readings remain available when this icon is hidden.

   Show Keep Awake in the menu barThe sun opens Keep Awake in the shared popup. Its tab is also available from any reading.

   Show resource use in the menu barTurning this off also turns off Keep monitoring when the window closes.

   Keep monitoring when the window closesl/Activity keeps sampling from the menu bar. Turning this on also shows resource readings.

   Menu bar readings6 of 8 selected

   CPUGPUMemoryNetworkPowerDiskTemperatureBattery

   Use compact layout

   Show in each item

   CompactValueGraphGraph + value

   Group menu panel leaders by appShow metric iconsShow strain warning

   Panel layoutListTiles

   Menu bar previewLive

   CPU24%GPU18%RAM21.4GiB↓1.6MB/s↑210KB/sPWR14.2WTEMP54°C

2. 02Step 2 of 7

   Step 2. Calm the motion, if you prefer

   Scroll down to Motion and light. Set Motion to Reduced and numbers stop rolling and bars stop easing. The four switches below it control the lighting of each page, the glow on live marks, the film grain and the bars that frame the stage while recording.

   Nothing in l/Activity animates continuously. Motion plays once when a page opens or a reading changes, then rests.

   SettingsMake l/Activity work the way you do.

   Search or jump to…⌘K

   Search settings

   GeneralDark · Dock and menu bar

   PermissionsFinder not checked

   MonitoringEvery 2 seconds

   History & Recording30 min live · 24 h max

   Storage & CacheEvery hour · 1.8 GB

   AlertsNotifications off

   About & PrivacyVersion 2.39

   Changes save automatically

   GeneralAppearance, menu bar and startup behavior.

   Motion and lightHow each page is staged: its entrance, lighting and texture

   MotionReduced removes the entrance, rolling numerals, and easing on arcs and bars. Reduce Motion in macOS always wins.

   FullReduced

   Scene lighting follows loadThe page’s key light brightens with its main reading. Off keeps a steady light.

   Bloom on live marksA soft glow on arcs, lines and the newest sample. Dark appearance only.

   Film grainA static texture that prevents banding in dark gradients.

   Record letterboxBars frame the stage while a session records.

   None of these animate continuously. Motion plays once on entry or when a reading changes; a hidden or minimised window draws nothing.

   UnitsDisplay choices leave recorded counters unchanged

   Temperature

   Celsius

   Network rates

   Bytes per second

   Pages and sectionsChoose what appears and its order

   Monitor sidebar

   Custom Overview grid

   Overview · charts

   Overview · context

   Custom Dashboard grid

   Dashboard · resources

   Dashboard · details

   Reset page and section layout

   GPU

   Neural Engine

   Temperature

   Battery

   Power

   Menu bar previewLive

   CPU24%GPU18%RAM21.4GiB↓1.6MB/s↑210KB/sPWR14.2WTEMP54°C

   Hover the preview for sample times. Readings, the Activity icon and the sun open the same popup. Click its current icon again to close it.

   l/Activity updatesSigned updates delivered from lslash.app

   Check for updates automaticallyChecks about once a day while l/Activity is running.

   Download and install updates on quitDownloads in the background. Your work finishes before the app is replaced.

   Last check: 13 Oct 2026 at 09:02Check for Updates…

   Updates replace the app only. Your settings, scans and recordings stay in their current data folder.

   Offline use until 20 Oct 2026 at 09:02Verify Version Now

   Read-only automation

   Allow local CLI and MCP reads

   Shares current resource readings, process names and recent diagnostic titles with tools you choose to run as your user. Off by default. No control commands, network listener, paths, arguments or environment values.

   Updates at most every 5 seconds while monitoring runs; pause, disable or quit revokes the snapshot. The CLI refuses data older than 20 seconds.

   Copy CLI commandCopy MCP configuration

   '/Applications/Activity.app/Contents/MacOS/lactivity' --root '/Users/sam/Library/Application Support/app.activity.desktop' snapshot

3. 03Step 3 of 7

   Step 3. Decide how often it measures

   Go to the Monitoring page and open Sampling mode. There are three:

   • Economy measures every 5 seconds. It does the least work, and short spikes can be missed.
   • Balanced measures every 2 seconds. This is the default.
   • Detailed measures every second.

   SettingsMake l/Activity work the way you do.

   Search or jump to…⌘K

   Search settings

   GeneralDark · Dock and menu bar

   PermissionsFinder not checked

   MonitoringEvery 2 seconds

   History & Recording30 min live · 24 h max

   Storage & CacheEvery hour · 1.8 GB

   AlertsNotifications off

   About & PrivacyVersion 2.39

   Changes save automatically

   MonitoringBalance fresh readings with background resource use.

   Live samplingReadings are collected locally on background workers

   Sampling mode

   Balanced · Every 2 seconds

   A middle ground between frequent updates and monitoring work. Brief changes have less detail than with one-second sampling.

   Sampling scheduleScheduled readings in one minute · each source keeps its own clock and worker

   CPU, memory, disk and processesEvery 2 seconds · refresh interval

   30 per minute

   Per-process networkEvery 5 seconds

   12 per minute

   GPU process accountingEvery 5 seconds

   12 per minute

   Apple silicon and Neural EngineEvery 5 seconds

   12 per minute

   GPU, battery and hardwareEvery 5 seconds · with sensors

   12 per minute

   0 s30 s60 s

   Extended readings

   Per-process networkOn

   Collect network traffic attributed to individual processes.

   Check every

   5 seconds

   GPU process accountingOn

   Collect available GPU counters attributed to individual processes.

   Check every

   5 seconds

   Apple silicon and Neural EngineOn

   Collect available power, frequency, Neural Engine activity and per-process Neural Engine memory.

   Check every

   5 seconds

   GPU, battery and hardware

   Device GPU activity and battery readings stay on. Temperature and fan sensors share this schedule when enabled.

   Check every

   5 seconds

   Temperature and fan sensorsOn · Collect available temperatures and fan speeds.

   Economy · Every 5 seconds

   Balanced · Every 2 seconds

   Detailed · Every second

4. 04Step 4 of 7

   Step 4. Turn off readings you never look at

   Further down, Extended readings has a switch for each extra source: per-process network, GPU by process, Apple silicon and Neural Engine power, and temperature and fan sensors. A source you turn off shows Off in the app. Readings already collected stay available.

   SettingsMake l/Activity work the way you do.

   Search or jump to…⌘K

   Search settings

   GeneralDark · Dock and menu bar

   PermissionsFinder not checked

   MonitoringEvery 2 seconds

   History & Recording30 min live · 24 h max

   Storage & CacheEvery hour · 1.8 GB

   AlertsNotifications off

   About & PrivacyVersion 2.39

   Changes save automatically

   MonitoringBalance fresh readings with background resource use.

   Live samplingReadings are collected locally on background workers

   Sampling mode

   Balanced · Every 2 seconds

   A middle ground between frequent updates and monitoring work. Brief changes have less detail than with one-second sampling.

   Sampling scheduleScheduled readings in one minute · each source keeps its own clock and worker

   CPU, memory, disk and processesEvery 2 seconds · refresh interval

   30 per minute

   Per-process networkEvery 5 seconds

   12 per minute

   GPU process accountingEvery 5 seconds

   12 per minute

   Apple silicon and Neural EngineEvery 5 seconds

   12 per minute

   GPU, battery and hardwareEvery 5 seconds · with sensors

   12 per minute

   0 s30 s60 s

   Extended readings

   Per-process networkOn

   Collect network traffic attributed to individual processes.

   Check every

   5 seconds

   GPU process accountingOn

   Collect available GPU counters attributed to individual processes.

   Check every

   5 seconds

   Apple silicon and Neural EngineOn

   Collect available power, frequency, Neural Engine activity and per-process Neural Engine memory.

   Check every

   5 seconds

   GPU, battery and hardware

   Device GPU activity and battery readings stay on. Temperature and fan sensors share this schedule when enabled.

   Check every

   5 seconds

   Temperature and fan sensorsOn · Collect available temperatures and fan speeds.

5. 05Step 5 of 7

   Step 5. Stop measuring altogether when you want quiet

   The switch beside Monitor at the top of the sidebar turns off all measuring, history, diagnostics and recording in one go. What was saved before is kept. The disk tools and the This Mac tools go on working.

   OverviewUnderstand what your Mac is doing, and what is using its resources.

   SummaryDashboardSearch or jump to…⌘KPauseRecord

   Live10:42:18

   No warning in assessed readings.

   Lumen Edit uses 212.4% CPU across 6 processes, where 100% is one core.

   Pressure NormalThermal Nominal

   486 processes · 3,912 threadsUp 4d 3h · swap 0 bytes

   Export Visual Snapshot…

   Apple M4 Prosystem on chip · 14 CPU cores · 48 GB unified memory

   CPUwhole Mac · every 2s

   24%

   User17.6%System6.4%Idle76.0%

   GPUevery 5s

   18%

   Renderer16%

   Tiler9%

   Neural Engine

   0.42W

   power, not utilizationpeak 2.31 W · 120 s

   Unified memoryshared by CPU, GPU and Neural Engine

   21.4GBestimated used of 48 GB · 44.6%

   App14.2 GBWired4.1 GBCompressed3.1 GB

   Cache12.8 GBFree13.8 GB

   Component power

   14.2Wpeak 31.6 W

   CPU 9.6 · GPU 4.2 · ANE 0.42 W

   Diskevery 2s

   Read2.1 MB/s

   Write1.1 MB/s

   Networkevery 2s

   Received1.6 MB/s

   Sent210 KB/s

   Live timelineLatest 120 seconds on one clock · hover to rewind the stage, click to pin · gaps stay visible

   CPUevery 2s

   24%User 17.6% · System 6.4%

   100%0

   GPUevery 5s

   18%Renderer 16% · Tiler 9%

   100%0

   Neural Engineevery 5s

   0.42 Wpower, not utilization

   2.5 W0

   Memoryevery 2s

   21.4 GBPressure Normal

   48 GB0

   Diskevery 2s

   3.2 MB/sRead 2.1 · Write 1.1 MB/s

   ↑ 20 MB/s↓ 20 MB/s

   Networkevery 2s

   1.8 MB/sReceived 1.6 MB/s · Sent 210 KB/s

   ↑ 5 MB/s↓ 5 MB/s

   Apps using CPUApp helpers are included · 100% means one busy core

   L

   Lumen Edit6 processes

   212.4%

   K

   Kite Browser23 processes

   38.6%

   F

   Forge IDE14 processes

   24.9%

   H

   Harbor9 processes

   18.2%

   R

   Roundtable5 processes

   9.8%

   Sample 10:42:18Explore all processes

   What the numbers meanObservations from the displayed sample

   Info

   Lumen Edit leads measured CPU usageIt uses 212.4% CPU across 6 processes, where 100% is one core.

   Info

   Memory pressure is normalmacOS is meeting demand without heavy compression or swap.

6. 06Step 6 of 7

   Step 6. Rearrange Overview and the sidebar

   Back on General, the card Pages and sections has a list for the Monitor pages in the sidebar, and lists for the sections of Overview and Dashboard. Click a list to open it, then hide or reorder what is inside. Tick Custom Overview grid to set each section's width yourself. Reset page and section layout puts everything back.

   SettingsMake l/Activity work the way you do.

   Search or jump to…⌘K

   Search settings

   GeneralDark · Dock and menu bar

   PermissionsFinder not checked

   MonitoringEvery 2 seconds

   History & Recording30 min live · 24 h max

   Storage & CacheEvery hour · 1.8 GB

   AlertsNotifications off

   About & PrivacyVersion 2.39

   Changes save automatically

   GeneralAppearance, menu bar and startup behavior.

   Motion and lightHow each page is staged: its entrance, lighting and texture

   MotionReduced removes the entrance, rolling numerals, and easing on arcs and bars. Reduce Motion in macOS always wins.

   FullReduced

   Scene lighting follows loadThe page’s key light brightens with its main reading. Off keeps a steady light.

   Bloom on live marksA soft glow on arcs, lines and the newest sample. Dark appearance only.

   Film grainA static texture that prevents banding in dark gradients.

   Record letterboxBars frame the stage while a session records.

   None of these animate continuously. Motion plays once on entry or when a reading changes; a hidden or minimised window draws nothing.

   UnitsDisplay choices leave recorded counters unchanged

   Temperature

   Celsius

   Network rates

   Bytes per second

   Pages and sectionsChoose what appears and its order

   Monitor sidebar

   Custom Overview grid

   Overview · charts

   Overview · context

   Custom Dashboard grid

   Dashboard · resources

   Dashboard · details

   Reset page and section layout

   GPU

   Neural Engine

   Temperature

   Battery

   Power

   Menu bar previewLive

   CPU24%GPU18%RAM21.4GiB↓1.6MB/s↑210KB/sPWR14.2WTEMP54°C

   Hover the preview for sample times. Readings, the Activity icon and the sun open the same popup. Click its current icon again to close it.

   l/Activity updatesSigned updates delivered from lslash.app

   Check for updates automaticallyChecks about once a day while l/Activity is running.

   Download and install updates on quitDownloads in the background. Your work finishes before the app is replaced.

   Last check: 13 Oct 2026 at 09:02Check for Updates…

   Updates replace the app only. Your settings, scans and recordings stay in their current data folder.

   Offline use until 20 Oct 2026 at 09:02Verify Version Now

   Read-only automation

   Allow local CLI and MCP reads

   Shares current resource readings, process names and recent diagnostic titles with tools you choose to run as your user. Off by default. No control commands, network listener, paths, arguments or environment values.

   Updates at most every 5 seconds while monitoring runs; pause, disable or quit revokes the snapshot. The CLI refuses data older than 20 seconds.

   Copy CLI commandCopy MCP configuration

   '/Applications/Activity.app/Contents/MacOS/lactivity' --root '/Users/sam/Library/Application Support/app.activity.desktop' snapshot

7. 07Step 7 of 7

   Step 7. Learn the two shortcuts worth knowing

   ⌘K opens Search or jump to…. Type a few letters of a page, a command, a running process or a file name from your saved scan, then press Return.

   ⌃⌘S folds the sidebar into a narrow rail of icons with their readings underneath. Press it again to bring the labels back. The full list is on the keyboard shortcuts page.

   Processes

   Apps & helpersAll processesProcess treeProjectsSearch or jump to…⌘KPauseRecord

   LiveRows sampled 10:42:18

   Lumen Edit leads CPU in this sample.

   GPU time sampled 10:42:14 · every 5sNetwork sampled 10:42:13 · Includes local and VPN traffic

   Top CPU / core

   212.4%

   Lumen Edit · 6 processes

   100% = one core

   Top GPU time

   46.2%

   Lumen Edit · 6 processes

   not device GPU %

   Top memory

   6.8GB

   Lumen Edit · 6 processes

   can overlap shared pages

   Unavailable

   3processes

   no memory or disk reading

   shown as —, never as zero

   My processesPinnedName, PID, owner, or path

   Columns & Views312 workloads from 486 processes

   Mac CPU charts are 0–100% of the whole Mac. CPU / core uses 100% for one core. GPU time is not device GPU %. Network columns include local and VPN traffic. — means no reading. * is a partial total.

   NameCPU / coreGPU timeMemoryDisk readDisk writeReceived/sSent/sProcesses

   LLumen Edit212.4%46.2%6.8 GB6.2 MB/s12.2 MB/s0 B/s0 B/s6

   KKite Browser38.6%6.1%4.2 GB36 KB/s84 KB/s1.4 MB/s86 KB/s23

   FForge IDE24.9%1.2%3.1 GB1.4 MB/s820 KB/s12 KB/s4 KB/s14

   HHarbor18.2%0.0%5.6 GB210 KB/s430 KB/s220 KB/s180 KB/s9

   WindowServer11.4%14.8%1.2 GB0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s1

   RRoundtable9.8%8.4%920 MB0 B/s24 KB/s310 KB/s290 KB/s5

   NNorthwind Sync6.1%0.0%410 MB3.9 MB/s700 KB/s64 KB/s1.1 MB/s3

   kernel_task4.2%—2.4 GB——0 B/s0 B/s1

   TTessel Design3.7%2.6%1.9 GB0 B/s0 B/s2 KB/s1 KB/s4

   mds_stores2.9%—380 MB940 KB/s260 KB/s0 B/s0 B/s1

   TTempo Player1.8%0.4%340 MB0 B/s0 B/s96 KB/s2 KB/s2

   BBrightline Mail1.1%0.0%520 MB2 KB/s6 KB/s6 KB/s3 KB/s3

   QQuill Notes0.6%0.0%290 MB0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s2

   Finder0.4%0.0%210 MB0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s1

   Control Center0.3%0.1%148 MB0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s1

   Dock0.3%0.0%112 MB0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s1

   coreaudiod0.2%—46 MB0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s1

   launchd0.2%—28 MB0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s1

   bluetoothd0.1%—34 MB0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s1

   loginwindow0.1%0.0%71 MB0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s0 B/s1

   Select a workload to understand its resource use.Memory uses physical footprint where available, with resident memory as a fallback. App helpers share their containing app or nearest app ancestor.

   stoesc

   Pages

   StorageFind large files and folders, see cleanup suggestions, and review what to remove.

   ⇧⌘D

   HistoryFind the workloads behind an earlier resource spike.

   ⌘7

   Running now · this sample

   mds_storesPID 512 · 2.9% CPU / core · 380 MB

   Processes

   Saved Storage scan

   Coastal stock footage/Users/sam/Movies

   Locate

   Storyboard draft 3.pdf/Users/sam/Documents/Lighthouse film

   Locate

   Find “sto” in LocateAll matches, with filters, sorting and the basket

   ⇧⌘L

   ↑ ↓ to choose · Return to openEverything opens in its one home