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ProcessSpy Docs

Settings

General

Section titled “General”

Display

Section titled “Display”
  • Show aggregate values in hierarchy mode: When enabled, aggregate values for CPU %, Resident Memory and Threads columns are shown in Hierarchy view. These aggregate values represent the sum of the respective metrics for a process and all its child processes.
  • Show dotted guides in hierarchy mode: When enabled, indentation guides are shown in the Name column to visually represent the hierarchy depth of each process.
  • Enable quick search highlighting: When enabled, matching text in the quick-search results is highlighted in the main table.
  • Show mini cpu graph next to each process name: When enabled, a mini CPU usage graph is displayed next to each process name in the main table, showing CPU usage history over the last 30 seconds. Values are capped to 100%.
  • Show NEW badge for newly discovered processes: When enabled, a “NEW” badge is displayed next to processes that started less than 30 seconds ago.
  • Show secondary line in process name cell: When enabled, a secondary value is displayed below the process name in the main table. The secondary value can be selected from the following options:
    • Bundle ID (license only)
    • Command
    • Format (license only)
    • Signing Organization (license only)
    • Startup Entry (license only)
    • User
    • Version
  • Table alternate row backgrounds: When enabled, alternate rows in the main table have a different background color for better readability.
  • Cell vertical padding: Adjusts the vertical padding of cells in the main table.
  • Cell font size: Adjusts the font size of cells in the main table.

Behavior

Section titled “Behavior”
  • Refresh interval (seconds): Sets the interval at which process information is refreshed in the main table.
  • Case sensitive search: When enabled, quick-search filters are case-sensitive.
  • Show confirmation dialog before sending signal
  • Remember finished processes (minutes): Sets the duration for which finished processes are retained in the main table before being removed.
  • Automatically start recording matching processes - processes matching JS expression will automatically start recording history on startup or when they are discovered.

External tools

Section titled “External tools”
  • Path to vmmap: Specifies the path to the vmmap tool used to retrieve dynamic library information for processes. By default, the application uses the system’s vmmap located at /usr/bin/vmmap.
  • Search query format: Allows to customize the format of search queries when using the “Search Online” context menu. The string must containt placeholder for process name: [processName]. For example, to search on Google, use https://www.google.com/search?q=[processName].

Privileged helper

Section titled “Privileged helper”

Area for privileged helper tool installation and uninstallation.

  • Install helper: Installs the privileged helper tool to allow receiving data (CPU, Memory etc.) from system processes.
  • Waiting for approval: Indicates that the installation of the privileged helper tool is waiting for user approval in System Preferences - Login Items.
  • Remove: Uninstalls the privileged helper tool.

See Privileged Helper for more information.

Section titled “Menu Bar”

Allows to configure the Menu Bar popover behavior and appearance.

App Behavior

Section titled “App Behavior”
  • Show ProcessSpy in:
    • Menu Bar Only: When enabled, ProcessSpy will be shown in the macOS menu bar.
    • Dock Only: When enabled, ProcessSpy will be shown in the macOS Dock.
    • Menu Bar & Dock: When enabled, ProcessSpy will be shown in both the macOS Dock and the menu bar.
Section titled “Menu Bar Widgets”

Allows to configure which widgets are shown in the Menu Bar popover and the chart style.

Alerts

Section titled “Alerts”

Responsivness

Section titled “Responsivness”
  • App not responding: When enabled, the application will display an alert when a process is not responding.

Sustained usage

Section titled “Sustained usage”
  • High CPU - When enabled, the application will display an alert when a process is using high CPU for a sustained period of time and above the give threshold.
  • High GPU - When enabled, the application will display an alert when a process is using high GPU for a sustained period of time and above the give threshold.

Sustained throughput

Section titled “Sustained throughput”
  • High Disk throughput - When enabled, the application will display an alert when a process is using high disk throughput (threshold managed internally)
  • High Network throughput - When enabled, the application will display an alert when a process is using high network throughput (threshold managed internally)

Linger

Section titled “Linger”
  • Keep cleared alerts - When enabled, cleared alerts are kept in the alert list (triage dashboard in main window and menu bar popover) for given period of time.

Ignored processes

Section titled “Ignored processes”

Allows to define processes that will be ignored by the alert system.

Colors

Section titled “Colors”

Allows to highlight processes in the main table containing the specified string in their name or command, or both with custom colors.

Shortcuts

Section titled “Shortcuts”

Allows to define when a macOS Shortcut is triggered based the combination of:

  • Process Name (contains)
  • Process Event: Process Started or Process Finished

Shortcut is called with the following parameters: input=text&text=[processName] where [processName] is replaced with the name of the process triggering the shortcut.

Filters

Section titled “Filters”

Allows to define JavaScript filters used to filter processes in the main table. See JavaScript filters for more information.