Lucid translates cryptic process names like mds_stores, configd, and distnoted into human-readable descriptions — Spotlight Search Indexer, Configuration Daemon, Distributed Notification Service — so you actually know what's running on your Mac.
- Plain-English descriptions — 450+ macOS processes mapped to readable names
- Safety categories — Color-coded System (protected), User (your apps), or Unknown
- Real-time monitoring — CPU and memory usage with sparkline charts
- Port tracking — See which processes are listening on which ports
- Process termination — Kill processes with confirmation dialogs and system protection
- Liquid Glass design — Native macOS 26 Tahoe glass effects with Material fallbacks
- Pure Swift — Zero dependencies, only Apple frameworks
- Xcode 15+
- macOS Sonoma 14.0+
git clone https://github.com/your-username/lucid-task-manager.git
cd lucid-task-manager/Lucid
make app # Build Lucid.app
make run # Build and launchOr open Lucid/Package.swift in Xcode and press ⌘R.
Note
Lucid disables App Sandbox to access process information. Development builds sign automatically; distribution requires a Developer ID certificate.
- Launch Lucid
- Browse processes in the table — sorted by CPU by default
- Use the sidebar to filter by category (System, User, Unknown, or by port)
- Search by process name or description
- Right-click to kill processes, copy paths, or reveal in Finder
| Color | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 🟢 Green | System | Protected macOS processes — cannot be killed |
| 🟡 Yellow | User | Your applications — can be terminated safely |
| ⚪ Gray | Unknown | Unidentified processes |
Lucid/
├── LucidApp.swift # @main entry point
├── ContentView.swift # NavigationSplitView layout
├── Models/
│ ├── LucidProcess.swift # Process data model
│ └── Safety.swift # Safety enum
├── Services/
│ ├── ProcessMonitor.swift # @Observable state, polling loop
│ ├── DarwinProcess.swift # C interop for process APIs
│ ├── ProcessDictionary.swift # 450+ process mappings
│ └── PortScanner.swift # lsof-based port detection
├── Views/
│ ├── Sidebar/ # Filters + system overview
│ ├── Content/ # Process table + header
│ └── Dashboard/ # Metrics + sparklines
└── Theme/
└── GlassModifiers.swift # Liquid Glass effects
Key patterns:
@ObservableProcessMonitor as single source of truth- Timer polling every 2 seconds
- Darwin C APIs for process enumeration
Lucid uses Darwin C APIs for process monitoring:
| API | Purpose |
|---|---|
proc_listallpids() |
Enumerate all running processes |
proc_pidinfo() |
Get CPU time and resident memory |
proc_name() |
Get process name (max 16 chars) |
proc_pidpath() |
Get executable path |
NSWorkspace |
Get full GUI app names |
CPU percentage is computed from nanosecond deltas in pti_total_user and pti_total_system between samples.
Warning
Root processes appear with 0 CPU/memory without elevated privileges. App Sandbox is disabled for process visibility.
Why do some processes show 0% CPU or memory?
Root/sudo processes have limited visibility through Darwin APIs without elevated privileges.
Can I distribute this on the Mac App Store?
No. Lucid requires access to process information incompatible with App Sandbox. Distribution requires a Developer ID certificate and Apple notarization.
How does Lucid get full app names?
The proc_name API truncates at 16 characters. Lucid works around this using NSWorkspace.shared.runningApplications to get full application names for GUI apps.
cd Lucid
make test # Run unit tests
make app # Build Lucid.app
make run # Build and launchCI runs on macOS 14 via GitHub Actions: swift test + ./build-app.sh debug