PowerKit includes native macOS binaries for efficient metric collection. These binaries use Apple's private frameworks and APIs to gather system information that would be slow or impossible to obtain through shell commands.

Shell-based approaches for these metrics have significant limitations on macOS:

Binaries are not included in the repository - they are downloaded on-demand from GitHub Releases when you enable a plugin that requires them.

How it works:

1. PowerKit detects which binaries are missing during startup
2. A single popup appears listing all missing binaries
3. You can choose to:
   • [Y]es: Download all binaries
   • [S]elect: Choose which binaries to download individually
   • [N]o: Skip (won't prompt again for 24h)
4. Downloaded binaries are stored in bin/ directory
5. Your decision is cached for 24 hours

No manual installation required!

If you declined to download binaries and want to be prompted again:

# Clear all binary decisions
rm -f ~/.cache/tmux-powerkit/data/binary_decision_*

# Clear tracking files
rm -f /tmp/powerkit_missing_binaries /tmp/powerkit_binary_pending_all

# Reload tmux to trigger prompt
tmux source ~/.tmux.conf

Or run the prompt manually:

~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-powerkit/bin/powerkit-binary-prompt \
    "powerkit-gpu:gpu powerkit-temperature:temperature"

If automatic download fails, you can manually download binaries from:

https://github.com/fabioluciano/tmux-powerkit/releases/latest

Download the appropriate binary for your architecture:

• powerkit-*-darwin-arm64 for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)
• powerkit-*-darwin-amd64 for Intel Macs

Place in ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-powerkit/bin/ and make executable:

chmod +x ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-powerkit/bin/powerkit-*

Source code is available in src/native/macos/:

cd ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-powerkit/src/native/macos

# Build all binaries
make all

# Build specific binary
make powerkit-temperature
make powerkit-gpu
make powerkit-microphone
make powerkit-nowplaying
make powerkit-brightness

# Clean build artifacts
make clean

# Copy to bin directory
cp powerkit-* ../../bin/

• Xcode Command Line Tools
• macOS SDK 10.15+

# Install Xcode Command Line Tools
xcode-select --install

Reads CPU and GPU temperatures from the System Management Controller (SMC).

Source: src/native/macos/powerkit-temperature.m

Frameworks:

• Foundation
• IOKit

Usage:

./powerkit-temperature [source]

Arguments:

Output:

45.2

SMC Keys:

Example:

# Auto-detect
./powerkit-temperature
# Output: 48.5

# CPU specific
./powerkit-temperature cpu
# Output: 52.1

# GPU specific
./powerkit-temperature gpu
# Output: 45.8

Reads GPU utilization metrics using IOKit.

Source: src/native/macos/powerkit-gpu.m

Frameworks:

• Foundation
• IOKit

Usage:

./powerkit-gpu

Output:

Device Utilization %:42

Notes:

• Works with both integrated and discrete GPUs
• On Apple Silicon, reports unified GPU utilization
• On Intel Macs with discrete GPU, reports discrete GPU when active

Example:

./powerkit-gpu
# Output: Device Utilization %:42

Detects microphone mute status using CoreAudio.

Source: src/native/macos/powerkit-microphone.m

Frameworks:

• Foundation
• CoreAudio
• AudioToolbox

Usage:

./powerkit-microphone

Output:

muted

or

unmuted

Notes:

• Checks the system-wide default input device
• Returns "muted" if input volume is 0 or mute is enabled
• Returns "unmuted" otherwise

Example:

./powerkit-microphone
# Output: unmuted

Gets currently playing media information using ScriptingBridge.

Source: src/native/macos/powerkit-nowplaying.m

Frameworks:

• Foundation
• ScriptingBridge

Usage:

./powerkit-nowplaying

Output:

artist|||track|||album

Fields are separated by ||| delimiter.

Supported Applications:

• Apple Music
• Spotify
• Other apps that support macOS Media Player APIs

Notes:

• Returns empty fields if no media is playing
• Handles special characters in track/artist names
• Falls back gracefully if music apps aren't running

Example:

./powerkit-nowplaying
# Output: The Beatles|||Hey Jude|||Past Masters

# No music playing:
# Output: ||||||

Each plugin has fallback behavior when native binaries are unavailable:

Plugins without fallbacks will prompt you to download the binary when first used.

chmod +x ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-powerkit/bin/powerkit-*

1. Check macOS version compatibility
2. Rebuild from source:

   cd ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-powerkit/src/native/macos
   make clean && make all
   cp powerkit-* ../../bin/

Some binaries may require additional permissions:

1. Temperature: May need Full Disk Access on some systems
2. Microphone: May trigger microphone access prompt

If you see "bad CPU type" errors:

# Check binary architecture
file ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-powerkit/bin/powerkit-temperature

# Rebuild for your architecture
cd ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-powerkit/src/native/macos
make clean && make all
cp powerkit-* ../../bin/

If automatic download fails:

1. Check your internet connection
2. Verify GitHub releases are accessible:

   curl -I https://github.com/fabioluciano/tmux-powerkit/releases/latest

3. Try manual download from releases page
4. Or build from source (see above)

If the download popup doesn't appear:

# Clear any stale state
rm -f /tmp/powerkit_missing_binaries /tmp/powerkit_binary_pending_all
rm -f ~/.cache/tmux-powerkit/data/binary_decision_*

# Ensure binaries are missing
rm -f ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-powerkit/bin/powerkit-{gpu,temperature,microphone,nowplaying,brightness}

# Reload tmux
tmux source ~/.tmux.conf

If you closed the popup with Ctrl+C before making a choice:

• The popup should appear again on next tmux refresh (no decision was saved)
• If it doesn't, clear the tracking files as shown above

On some systems, SMC access may be restricted:

1. Check System Integrity Protection (SIP) status:

   csrutil status

2. The binary uses documented IOKit APIs and should work with SIP enabled

The pre-built binaries are unsigned. macOS Gatekeeper may block them on first run:

1. Right-click the binary and select "Open"
2. Or allow in System Preferences → Security & Privacy

All source code is available in src/native/macos/ for review:

• powerkit-temperature.m
• powerkit-gpu.m
• powerkit-microphone.m
• powerkit-nowplaying.m
• powerkit-brightness.m

For maximum security, build the binaries yourself:

cd ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-powerkit/src/native/macos
make clean && make all
cp powerkit-* ../../bin/

1. Create source file in src/native/macos/:

   // powerkit-example.m
   #import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
   
   int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
       @autoreleasepool {
           // Your code here
           printf("result\n");
       }
       return 0;
   }

2. Add to src/native/macos/Makefile:

   powerkit-example: powerkit-example.m
   	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -framework Foundation -o $@ $<

3. Build:

   cd src/native/macos
   make powerkit-example
   cp powerkit-example ../../bin/

4. Update .releaserc to include in GitHub releases

cd bin

# Test each binary
./powerkit-temperature
./powerkit-gpu
./powerkit-microphone
./powerkit-nowplaying
./powerkit-brightness

• PluginTemperature - Temperature monitoring
• PluginGpu - GPU utilization
• PluginMicrophone - Microphone status
• PluginNowplaying - Now playing media
• Troubleshooting - General troubleshooting