GitHub - SteveC/kill_contactsd: Kill MacOS contactsd when it's using insane amounts of CPU

kill_contactsd

Kill MacOS contactsd when it's using insane amounts of CPU.

contactsd will regularly use large amounts of CPU and battery doing something weird. This is apparently related to if you have Google accounts set to sync on your Mac. This has apparently been going on for years: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254322136?sortBy=rank

This script will kill contactsd if it's using a lot of CPU while while on battery power.

Description

This script monitors the CPU usage of the contactsd process on macOS. It's designed to run primarily when the system is operating on battery power. If contactsd's CPU usage exceeds a predefined threshold (default 50%), the script will terminate the process.

The script can be run in two modes:

Continuous Monitoring: Runs indefinitely, checking the contactsd process at regular intervals (default 60 seconds) while on battery power.
Run Once: Performs a single check of the contactsd process (if on battery) and then exits. This is useful for scheduled tasks (e.g., cron jobs).

Installation

Make the script executable:

cd <your local path to this repo>
chmod +x kill_contactsd.sh

Create symlink to the script in a directory in your PATH. A common choice is ~/bin:
```
mkdir -p ~/bin
ln -s `pwd`/kill_contactsd.sh ~/bin
```

Updating

Pull the fresh version from this repo. The symlink will follow the latest version of the script
```
cd <your local path to this repo>
git pull
```

Adding ~/bin to your Zsh PATH

If ~/bin is not already in your PATH, you need to add it. Edit your Zsh configuration file (~/.zshrc) and add the following line:

export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"

Save the file and reload your Zsh configuration:

You should now be able to run the script directly by typing kill_contactsd.sh in your terminal.

Usage

Continuous Monitoring (only checks when on battery):
-o, --run_once
- Single Run of the script
```
kill_contactsd.sh --run-once
```
-i <seconds>, --interval <seconds>
- Set interval for checks
```
kill_contactsd.sh --interval 10
```
-a, -run_always
- By default script only checks usage when on battery. Use this option if you experience high CPU usage, and unwanted system freezes on AC line too.
-t, --cpu_threshold
- By default script uses threshold = 50%. Use this option if you want to finetune this value.
```
kill_contactsd.sh -t 60.5
```

Options could be combined with each other

Scheduling with Cron (Run Once per Minute)

To run the script automatically every minute using cron, you can add the following line to your crontab.

Open your crontab for editing:
Add the following line. Make sure to replace /Users/your_username/bin/kill_contactsd.sh with the actual path to the script on your system:
```
* * * * * /Users/your_username/bin/kill_contactsd.sh --run-once
```
(Note: You might need to use the full path to kill_contactsd.sh depending on how cron's environment is configured)
Save and close the editor. Cron will now execute the script once every minute using the --run-once flag.

Sample Output

Here is an example of the script running in continuous monitoring mode:

% ./kill_contactsd.sh  
Starting contactsd monitor. Checking every 60 seconds while on battery.
Fri Apr 11 11:04:57 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 742) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:04:57 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 851) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:05:57 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 742) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:05:57 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 851) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:06:58 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 742) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:06:58 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 851) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:07:58 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 742) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:07:58 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 851) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:08:58 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 742) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:08:58 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 851) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:09:58 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 742) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:09:58 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 851) is using 0.0% CPU; within limits.
Fri Apr 11 11:10:58 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 742) is using 79.9% CPU. Killing it...
Fri Apr 11 11:10:58 MDT 2025: Process contactsd (PID: 851) is using 7.3% CPU; within limits.

Explanation:

The script starts in monitoring mode, checking every 60 seconds.
It identifies two contactsd processes (PIDs 742 and 851).
For several minutes, both processes are using minimal CPU, remaining within the limits.
At 11:10:58, process 742's CPU usage jumps to 79.9%, exceeding the 50% threshold.
The script kills process 742.
Process 851 remains running as its CPU usage (7.3%) is within limits.