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what is llamatop fr?

fragmede/llamatop — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

0SwiftAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

tl;dr

A terminal dashboard for Apple Silicon Macs that shows whether llama.cpp is actively using CPU, memory, and GPU resources.

vibe map

mindmap
  root((LlamaTop))
    What it does
      Tracks llama.cpp activity
      Shows CPU and GPU use
      Shows memory layout
    Tech stack
      Swift
      macOS libproc
      IOKit
    Use cases
      Check inference activity
      Monitor resource use
      Sort processes
    Audience
      Mac AI developers
      llama.cpp users

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what do people make with this?

VIBE 1

Check whether a llama.cpp model is actually generating output or stuck idle

VIBE 2

Monitor CPU, memory, and GPU usage of local AI inference on a Mac

VIBE 3

Track resident memory used by a large loaded model file

VIBE 4

Sort and filter running llama.cpp processes from a terminal dashboard

what's the stack?

SwiftmacOSlibprocIOKit

how it stacks up fr

fragmede/llamatopaiduckman/claudeusage_latest_may2026arnabau/thermalpulse
Stars000
LanguageSwiftSwiftSwift
Setup difficultyeasyeasymoderate
Complexity2/52/53/5
Audiencedevelopervibe coderdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

how do i run it?

Difficulty · easy time til it works · 5min

Requires an Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 13 or newer, and Xcode Command Line Tools to build from source.

in plain english

LlamaTop is a terminal dashboard for Mac computers with Apple Silicon chips that answers one question: is llama.cpp, a tool for running AI language models locally, actually doing any work right now. It runs like the classic Unix top command, but focused specifically on finding and tracking llama.cpp processes rather than every program on the system. Once running, it shows how much CPU and memory the matching llama.cpp processes are using, breaks down every CPU core individually, and reads Apple's GPU activity information to show how busy the graphics chip is. It also shows a full picture of system memory, including how much is wired, active, compressed, or free, since Apple Silicon Macs share one pool of memory between the CPU and GPU. All of this works without installing a background service, a kernel extension, or needing administrator access. The dashboard starts with a simple overview and expands with keyboard shortcuts, similar to pressing keys in top, to show more detail on CPU cores, GPU pipelines, or the full memory layout. Users can change the refresh rate, sort the process list by CPU or memory usage, and filter out idle processes. Unlike top, LlamaTop deliberately leaves out commands that could kill or change the priority of a running process, since the author did not want a monitoring typo to accidentally interrupt an AI model that is generating output. The README is careful to explain what each number actually measures and where it can be misleading, such as noting that GPU activity numbers include other apps using the graphics chip, not just llama.cpp, and that the GPU core display only shows how many cores exist rather than their real time activity. Building it requires a Mac with Apple Silicon, macOS 13 or newer, and Xcode's command line tools, after which it can be built and installed with a couple of terminal commands.

prompts (copy fr)

prompt 1
Help me build llamatop from source with swift build -c release
prompt 2
Explain what the GPU Device, Renderer, and Tiler numbers in LlamaTop actually mean
prompt 3
Show me how to use --match to track a renamed llama.cpp inference binary
prompt 4
What does the BUSY, IDLE, and WARMING UP status mean in LlamaTop's process view

Frequently asked questions

what is llamatop fr?

A terminal dashboard for Apple Silicon Macs that shows whether llama.cpp is actively using CPU, memory, and GPU resources.

What language is llamatop written in?

Mainly Swift. The stack also includes Swift, macOS, libproc.

How hard is llamatop to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is llamatop for?

Mainly developer.

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