Killdeer

A macOS menu bar app and command-line tool that finds CPU-heavy processes and disconnected Google Chrome helpers.

It doubles as a general load monitor, with the CPU use always visible in the menu bar. The item turns red when something is running away, and you can stop it from the menu.

brew install --cask cyberneura/tap/killdeer

Features

• The menu bar item is the bird with a meter by default, or a ring gauge, a bird that beats its wing faster the busier the machine is, one bar per core, and more
• The menu carries CPU use and a temperature, plus the top five busiest processes of any kind. Press twice to stop one
• Finds and cleans up disconnected Chrome helpers (killdeer clean-chrome), and lists running Chromium-family browsers (killdeer chrome)
• Command line (killdeer scan / top / kill) with a configurable CPU threshold and sampling interval
• Can start at login

Requirements & notes

• Requires macOS 14 or later. There is no Dock icon. The menu bar item is the whole interface.
• The Homebrew cask installs both the app and the killdeer command.
• No special permission is needed to inspect or signal processes owned by the same user.
• Open source under the MIT License.