Is Light Stats free and open source?

Yes. Light Stats is free and open source under the MIT License.

Does Light Stats send system metrics anywhere?

No. System metrics and process lists stay on the Mac. Exit-node lookup, AI usage requests, usage-window warmup, and automatic update checks are opt-in or user-initiated.

Which macOS versions does Light Stats support?

Light Stats supports macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon. Intel Macs are not supported.

What visual themes are available?

Light Stats includes Classic, Golden Hour, Amber, and Ink Night. Ink Night is selected on a clean install. Settings stays a system-white tool panel.

Free · Open source · macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon

Know if your Mac is actually struggling.

Live pressure signals folded into one health score, with optional AI, network, and Finder context.

Download Beta View on GitHub

MIT · macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon · no dependencies

The panel

Ink Night · Overview · Memory

Themes

Classic · Golden Hour · Amber · Ink Night

Light Stats Classic theme overview — Classic

Light Stats Golden Hour theme overview — Golden Hour

Light Stats Amber theme overview — Amber

Light Stats Ink Night theme overview — Ink Night

What it reads

11 signals · 1 score

Compute

CPU load %
Per-core usage P + E
GPU utilization %

Memory

Pressure level
Used / total GB
Swap ratio

Storage

Disk capacity GB
Read / write MB/s

Network

Up / down KB/s
Proxy state TUN
Exit node geo

Power

Battery %
Temperature °C
Fan RPM

Intelligence

AI quotas 15 providers
AI balances prepaid

01 / Health

One number for "is it sluggish right now"

The 0–100 score reads live pressure, not capacity. CPU saturation, memory pressure and swap, load average per core, temperature and thermal throttling, GPU. A Mac with 30 GB used and many apps open stays green if it isn't actually struggling. The score only drops when the system is.

A single saturated dimension caps the total, so the number tracks the bottleneck you feel, not a flattering average.

02 / Network

Differentiator

Network truth, not just speed

Throughput is the easy part. Light Stats also detects whether you are behind a proxy and, when you opt in, which exit node you are actually leaving through, with its geo-location and AS number.

Exit lookup is off by default, and the first time you enable it the app explains exactly what it sends. See the privacy policy for every optional network behavior.

03 / Agents

AI subscription usage for 15 providers

When enabled, Light Stats reads credentials stored locally by each provider's CLI, or an API token you paste in Settings, to request current quota windows and prepaid balances from that provider. Multi-window rows collapse to the tightest quota; balances never render as progress bars. Optional Claude and Codex warmup can send a minimal headless message after a rolling window resets; it has a separate switch and is off by default.

04 / Finder

Developer actions where the files are

The optional Finder extension can copy paths and names, create text, code, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, import your own templates, move or copy to favorite folders, open a chosen terminal or app, hide or unhide items, and start cmux windows or workspaces.

05 / Pointer

Find the pointer, then keep it visible

Record the trigger you prefer: keep the default left Control, choose a left or right modifier, use Fn or an F-key, press a regular key, or record a key combination. Double-tap it to spotlight the pointer; triple-tap it to toggle a persistent, click-through presentation halo.

Find My Mouse is off by default. Its Accessibility event tap starts only after you enable the feature and stops when you turn it off.

06 / Defaults

Nothing extra runs until you ask

Monitoring stays read-only. AI requests, exit-node lookup, update checks, the Beta update channel, Finder actions, Find My Mouse, window and scroll event taps, default input source, display brightness, and display keep-awake are all opt-in.

07 / Appearance

Four looks for the instrument, not the settings sheet

Ink Night is selected on a clean install. Classic uses system materials, Golden Hour uses warm brass over amber and coral light, Amber uses warm bar lamplight with a teal neon accent, and Ink Night uses cool charcoal grain. The three dynamic themes provide grain and light-dynamics controls. Settings stays a plain white tool panel.

1.9.6

23 Sep 2026 Get

Added

Window management, off by default: drag a window to a screen edge to snap halves, corners, and thirds, or use the layout island on the top edge for halves, thirds, quadrants, sixths, ninths, and stacks.
Per-action global shortcuts, an Fn modifier that targets the window under the pointer, and a choice of who owns drag-to-edge: the Light Stats engine or macOS' own tiling.
Dock-click collapse: click the frontmost app's Dock icon to put its windows away, click again to bring them back. Shake a dragged window instead to hide other apps, and shake again to restore.
A window-control menu in the menu bar, a pinned batch-quit group in Cleanup, and self-explaining support reports.
Find My Mouse's diamond presentation pointer, chosen from thumbnails in Settings.

Changed

An optional status-bar divider, aligned network speeds, and direction-coloured traffic numbers.
No fan or battery surfaces on machines that have neither; battery health switches between the design ratio and the system reading.
AI usage shows the quota window nearest its reset. A closed panel no longer redraws every frame.

Fixed

Battery health and temperature read from the nested battery layers, and one snap coordinate reference height on multi-display setups.
Status-bar traffic colours stay off until enabled.

1.9.5

14 Sep 2026 Get

Fixed

Updates that could crash on macOS 26 before the install finished, and the silent failure that followed. The window keeps a fixed size now.
Replacement no longer deletes the old bundle first: it keeps a backup, rolls back on failure, and aborts if the old app never exits.
One installer at a time across launches, no premature cleanup, and the actual version is verified after a restart with a clear failure message.

1.9.4

14 Sep 2026 Get

Fixed

Finder menu actions that appeared but did nothing, and saving an API token with no feedback.
An update install that could be lost when the window redrew before the replace script started.
Local builds that left an unsigned Finder extension behind.

1.9.3

14 Sep 2026 Get

Added

AI usage for 15 providers with one switch each, all off by default; API-token providers paste a token in Settings.
Overview quota rows collapse to the tightest window, tap to expand; balance-only providers sink to the bottom with no bars.
Finder menu: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint blanks, custom templates, move/copy to favorites, hide/show items.
Default input source after app switches, a global Cleanup shortcut at the pointer, and user-exportable diagnostic reports.

Changed

Window management prefers macOS' own tiling, then falls back. Cursor's primary window follows the auto percentage. Apple Silicon only.

Fixed

Instant quit is back; Grok no longer shows "—" at the weekly reset edge.

1.9.2

4 Sep 2026 Get

Added

Find My Mouse: record your trigger; double-tap spotlights the pointer, triple-tap toggles a presentation halo.
Offline activation codes and a lifetime Pro gift for anyone who launched during the gift period.
In-app updates read the Cloudflare R2 channel marker, with GitHub Releases as fallback.

Changed

Battery charge limiting and its privileged helper are gone; battery monitoring stays read-only.
Health score down-weights LoadAvg. Codex shows as ChatGPT.

1.9.1

25 Aug 2026 Get

Added

Four themes: Classic, Golden Hour, Amber, Ink Night. New installs use Ink Night. Settings stays a white tool panel.
Scroll reverse for trackpad and Magic Mouse, plus optional fixed-line wheel steps.
Keep-awake in the popover toolbar, with an optional virtual display for clamshell on AC power.
Optional hardware display brightness, 48-hour local performance logs, and three-hour trend lines.
Settings destinations: General, Monitoring, Input Devices, Window Management, AI Usage, Right-Click Menu.

Fixed

Scroll direction under Natural Scrolling, and restoring the scroll tap after sleep.
Updates that hung on verify or quit, and installers missing a notarization ticket.
Clicks through empty popover space, and titlebar swipes that snapped after you cancelled.

1.9.0

13 Jul 2026 Get

Added

Themed popover, About, Update, and permission prompts. Grain and light motion on Sun Gold and Ink Night.
Finder menu: terminal, cmux, typed new-file names. Stable or Beta update channel.
Local diagnostic logs. Automatic update checks off on a clean install.

Fixed

Finder pickers fighting scroll and window gestures. Cleaning mode now also blocks media keys.
Laptop detection, AC-plugged-not-charging, disk decimals, and pnpm-installed Codex paths.

1.8.0

28 Jun 2026 GitHub

Optional Finder right-click menu, file templates, and Claude/Codex usage-window warmup.
Optional keep-display-awake. Settings, About, and Update use system glass.

1.7.0

27 Jun 2026 GitHub

Window management is one master switch. Launch at login.
Short trend lines on the overview. Settings grouped by concern.

1.6.0

21 Jun 2026 GitHub

Cleaning mode locks the keyboard. Window snap, global shortcuts, and titlebar swipe.
Mouse scroll reverse, spinning fan icon, toast, and a dedicated update window.
UI language changes apply without a restart.

1.5.2

17 Jun 2026 GitHub

Reads CLI credentials without a Keychain permission dialog.
No AppKit focus rings on settings controls.

1.5.1

16 Jun 2026 GitHub

Maintenance build.

1.5.0

16 Jun 2026 GitHub

Gemini CLI usage. Claude and Codex usage retries when a fetch goes stale.
Health dimensions as text with live color. Calmer settings layout.

1.4.3

16 Jun 2026 GitHub

Korean localization.

1.4.2

16 Jun 2026 GitHub

Status bar can show the app icon. Process memory scanning starts only when needed.

1.4.1

16 Jun 2026 GitHub

Health score uses swap page rate. Monitor list uses color. Provider logos for AI usage.

1.4.0

15 Jun 2026 GitHub

Built-in updater: check, download, verify signature and notarization, then replace the app.

1.3.0

15 Jun 2026 GitHub

Health score from live pressure, with optional dimensions. macOS 26 system glass.

1.2.2

12 Jun 2026 GitHub

Stops repeated Keychain permission dialogs. SMC sensor connection stays open.

1.2.1

10 Jun 2026 GitHub

AI usage stays off until you enable it. No battery row on desktops.

1.2.0

10 Jun 2026 GitHub

Claude Code and Codex subscription usage in the panel.

1.0.3

7 Jun 2026 GitHub

Health score, battery, disk I/O, local proxy, and optional exit-node lookup.

1.0.2

3 May 2026 GitHub

Menu bar panel as a proper window. About window. Memory cleanup improvements.

1.0.1

9 Mar 2026 GitHub

Menu bar icon artwork and Chinese documentation.

1.0.0

9 Mar 2026 GitHub

First public release: menu bar readings, process list, and memory cleanup.

GitHub Releases

Light Stats reads system data locally and shows it on your device. Optional features contact only the service needed to perform the action described below.

Data collection

Light Stats does not collect or send data to the developer. System metrics are read locally and shown on your device. The app reads, for display or user-requested actions:

CPU load and per-core utilization
GPU utilization (supported Macs)
Memory pressure, used, available, swap
Disk capacity and disk I/O throughput
Network up/down throughput and local proxy configuration
Battery, temperature, and fan RPM (supported Macs)
Running applications and their memory footprint (Memory tab)
Credentials and local state already stored by each AI provider's CLI, or an API token pasted in Settings, only when the matching AI provider is enabled
Selected Finder paths and Finder-menu preferences, only when the Finder extension is enabled

Local processing

Metric sampling and scoring happen on your device through macOS system APIs (Mach, IOKit, SMC, CFNetwork, Network). App preferences and Finder-menu configuration are stored locally in UserDefaults and the app group. The app does not upload system metrics or process lists.

Exit-node detection

When enabled, this feature sends a request to a public geo-IP service and caches the result briefly to avoid repeated lookups. It transmits no personal data beyond the network request itself, which necessarily reveals your IP to that service, the same as visiting any website. Disable it and no such request is ever made.

AI usage and optional warmup

When an AI provider is enabled, Light Stats contacts that provider's own usage endpoint using credentials already stored by its CLI or an API token pasted in Settings. Claude Code and Codex also have separate, off-by-default warmup switches; after a rolling window resets, warmup sends the minimal headless prompt “ok” through the selected provider's CLI, discards normal output, and uses a temporary empty working directory. Gemini has no warmup.

Update checks

A manual update check, or the off-by-default automatic update setting, reads the Cloudflare R2 channel marker and falls back to GitHub Releases. The update channel can be Stable (final releases only) or Beta (also considers prereleases such as v1.9.0-beta.N); Beta is off by default. Downloaded updates must pass SHA-256 (R2), codesign, notarization, and Team ID verification before installation.

Local diagnostic journal

A structured fault journal is always written locally under the app's support directory (and to Unified Logging). There is no Off / Errors / Full switch. Continuous metrics are time-throttled; capability and probe records write on first observation and on change. You can export a diagnostic ZIP (system context, hardware probes, 7 days of logs, 50 MB cap). Serial numbers, credentials, usernames, and home paths are redacted. Logs are never uploaded to the Light Stats developer.

Performance recording

A separate, off-by-default 48-hour session records this app's CPU, memory, wakeup, and disk plus companion system load. It uses its own schema and directory, is never mixed into the diagnostic journal, and is not included in the exported report.

Third parties

Depending on the switches you enable, requests may go to the selected geo-IP service, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Cloudflare R2, or GitHub. Credentials are never sent to a different provider or to the Light Stats developer.

Open source

The full source is on GitHub. You can inspect exactly what the app does, including every network call.

Changes

Any change to this policy will appear here and in the app's release notes. Data handling will never change silently.

Last updated: September 13, 2026

Light Stats is an open source project. Here is how to get help, report issues, or contribute.

Report a bug or request a feature

File an issue on GitHub. Include your macOS version, Mac model, and steps to reproduce. A screenshot of the panel helps.

→ github.com/EvilIrving/light-stats/issues

Email

For security concerns or private inquiries, email directly. Response within 2–3 business days.

→ jescain2024@gmail.com

Changelog

Stable release notes, with a download for each listed build.

→ Changelog

Frequently asked

Is Light Stats free and open source?: Yes. Light Stats is free and open source under the MIT License.
Which macOS versions does Light Stats support?: Light Stats supports macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon. Intel Macs are not supported.
Does Light Stats send system metrics anywhere?: No. System metrics and process lists stay on the Mac. Exit-node lookup, AI usage requests, usage-window warmup, and automatic update checks are opt-in or user-initiated.
How do Find My Mouse and Presentation Pointer work?: Enable Find My Mouse and record the trigger you prefer. Double-tap it to spotlight the pointer; triple-tap it to toggle a persistent, click-through halo. The tool is off by default and requests Accessibility access only when enabled.
How do I change what shows in the menu bar?: Click the ellipsis (…) in the panel to open Settings, then toggle items under Status Bar Items. You can also choose which dimensions feed the health score.
What are the visual themes?: Settings → General → Theme. Choose Classic, Golden Hour, Amber, or Ink Night. Ink Night is selected on a clean install. The Settings window stays white and does not follow the panel theme.
Does exit-node detection cost me privacy?: Only if you turn it on. It is off by default and shows a disclosure before its first lookup. Other optional network features are documented in the Privacy tab and are also off by default.
Why do some readings show N/A?: GPU, fan, and battery require supported hardware. A desktop Mac with no battery, or a Mac without those sensors, shows N/A and drops that dimension from the score.
Does it affect battery life?: The default refresh is 2 seconds. You can choose a 5-second interval in Settings to reduce sampling frequency.
Is force-quitting safe?: Force quit bypasses an app's normal shutdown and can lose unsaved work. The app confirms first. Prefer a normal quit when you can.