Automated summary
This skill guides the agent in using htop and complementary CLI tools (free, uptime, iostat, iotop, nethogs, ss) to monitor server resources and diagnose system bottlenecks.
Strengths
- Covers a broad surface: CPU, memory, disk, network and listening ports
- Documents htop's essential keyboard shortcuts (tree view, sort, kill, search)
- Ships a ready-to-copy quick diagnostics script covering load, memory, disk and top processes
- Offers concrete interpretation rules, such as comparing load average against core count
Limitations
- Sticks to classic Linux tooling: several listed commands (iotop, nethogs, iftop, ss) are missing or partial on macOS
- Handles only real-time observation, not historical monitoring
- Assumes the companion tools are already installed on the machine
Use it when a user wants to know why a server is slow, find a CPU- or memory-hungry process, or check disk and network usage in real time.
Skip it when the need is continuous monitoring with alerts and history, which belongs to Prometheus, Grafana or Netdata instead.
Security analysis
SafeThe skill only documents read-only system monitoring commands such as htop, free, uptime, iostat, ss, and ps. It does not instruct destructive actions, credential exfiltration, obfuscated payloads, or safety-disabling behavior.
No concerns found
How this analysis is madeExamples
Mon serveur web répond lentement depuis ce matin. Peux-tu vérifier l'utilisation CPU et mémoire, et me dire quels processus consomment le plus ?Lance htop et aide-moi à identifier le processus qui sature la mémoire, puis explique-moi comment le tuer proprement.Je veux savoir quel processus consomme le plus de bande passante réseau sur cette machine Linux — montre-moi comment utiliser nethogs et ss.name: htop description: >- Monitor system resources with htop and related tools. Use when a user asks to check CPU/memory usage, find resource-hungry processes, monitor server performance, or diagnose system bottlenecks. license: Apache-2.0 compatibility: 'Linux, macOS' metadata: author: terminal-skills version: 1.0.0 category: devops tags: - htop - monitoring - processes - performance - linux
htop / System Monitoring
Overview
htop is an interactive process viewer for Linux. Combined with other CLI tools (top, vmstat, iostat, iotop, nethogs), it provides comprehensive real-time system monitoring without installing external agents.
Instructions
Step 1: Process Monitoring
htop # interactive process viewer
htop -u deploy # filter by user
htop -p 1234,5678 # monitor specific PIDs
# Inside htop:
# F5 = tree view (parent/child processes)
# F6 = sort by column
# F9 = kill process
# / = search
# Space = tag process
Step 2: Resource Analysis
# CPU and memory overview
free -h # memory usage (human-readable)
uptime # load average (1, 5, 15 min)
nproc # number of CPU cores
# Disk I/O
iostat -x 1 # disk I/O stats, 1 second interval
iotop # top for disk I/O (shows which process reads/writes)
# Network
nethogs # bandwidth per process
ss -tulnp # listening ports with process names
iftop # bandwidth per connection
Step 3: Quick Diagnostics Script
#!/bin/bash
# scripts/server-status.sh — Quick health check
echo "=== CPU Load ==="
uptime
echo -e "\n=== Memory ==="
free -h
echo -e "\n=== Disk ==="
df -h /
echo -e "\n=== Top 5 CPU Processes ==="
ps aux --sort=-%cpu | head -6
echo -e "\n=== Top 5 Memory Processes ==="
ps aux --sort=-%mem | head -6
echo -e "\n=== Listening Ports ==="
ss -tulnp | grep LISTEN
Guidelines
- Load average > number of CPU cores = system is overloaded.
free -h: look at "available" column, not "free" (Linux uses free RAM for cache).- Use
dstatfor combined CPU/disk/net stats in one view. - For historical monitoring, pair with Prometheus + Grafana or Netdata.
From the file to a first result
The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.
View the source and supporting filesThis download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.
1. Download the file
Download SKILL.mdFrom the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.
Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.
mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/download' --output '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md'2. Check prerequisites
Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.
Environment declared by the author: Linux, macOS
No recognized prerequisites section in this file. This does not mean it is self-contained: libraries, tools and access requirements may be mentioned elsewhere in the content or source repository.
The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.
3. Load the skill
After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.
Claude Code
test -f '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/htop' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k' '.claude/skills/htop'Cursor
test -f '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.cursor/skills' && test ! -e '.cursor/skills/htop' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k' '.cursor/skills/htop'Codex
test -f '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.agents/skills' && test ! -e '.agents/skills/htop' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k' '.agents/skills/htop'OpenSkills
OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.
Official OpenSkills installationopenskills install './.skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k'openskills read 'system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k'Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.
For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.
openskills syncManual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.
4. Try a first task
Use a short, synthetic input: an API endpoint, a small document or an interface brief. In a new conversation, attach the file or give the agent its path, then adapt this request:
Read .skill-downloads/system-monitoring-with-htop-ms47vp7k/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.
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