# Vitals 1.8: Vitals in your terminal, with Homebrew and a free trial

Canonical page: https://vitalsmac.com/changelog/1.8

By Atta Ur Rehman Shah, maker of Vitals. Published October 22, 2026.

**In short:** Vitals 1.8 adds the `vitals` command. What the app sees, the apps using your Mac, the ports and dev servers each project holds, your coding agents and what is left of your AI plans, is now an answer in Terminal, as a table you can read or JSON a script can parse. It comes with the app, or with Homebrew in one line. And anyone can now try every feature free for 3 days before buying.

## Turn it on

The command is inside Vitals, so there is nothing else to download.

1. Open Settings → Integrations and turn on **Let AI Assistants Ask Vitals**.
2. Vitals puts `vitals` in `/opt/homebrew/bin` or `/usr/local/bin`, with its manual page and tab completion, and the **Terminal** section there says where. If that folder needs your password, **Install** asks for it once.
3. Open Terminal and ask.

```sh
vitals version
```

## Or install it with Homebrew

One line installs the app and the command together, with the manual page and tab completion for zsh, bash and fish. Vitals updates itself, so `brew upgrade` leaves it alone.

```sh
brew install --cask foredotstudio/tap/vitals
```

To remove Vitals and everything it keeps, `brew uninstall --zap --cask vitals`.

## Ask your Mac

Every answer is the one the window would give: apps with their helpers counted in, projects with their ports, agents with what they started. Each one says when it was measured, and the command measures nothing itself, so asking costs your Mac almost nothing.

```sh
vitals status
vitals top cpu day
vitals ports
vitals agents
vitals limits
vitals whats-wrong
```

`vitals help` lists every command, and `man vitals` explains each one. The whole list is on the [command’s page](https://vitalsmac.com/features/cli#commands).

## For scripts and agents

Add `--json` to any command and it answers in JSON, the same answer the MCP server gives. `--csv` gives the main list for a spreadsheet, and `--watch` keeps the answer fresh every two seconds. In a pipe nothing is cut short, so a script or an agent with a shell reads every word.

```sh
vitals top --json | jq '.apps[0].name'
vitals ports --csv > ports.csv
vitals status --watch
```

## Stop what nobody is using

`vitals can-quit` gives a verdict first: safe, ask first, or leave it alone, with the reason and what would stop with it. `vitals quit` and `vitals stop` show that verdict and wait for your yes. What needs a person is refused without a terminal to ask on, even with `--yes`, so a script or an agent can’t wave it through.

```sh
vitals can-quit --port 3000
vitals stop --idle
```

Every quit and stop is written to the log in Settings → Integrations → Requests.

## Try it free for 3 days

A new copy of Vitals no longer asks for a key first. Choose **Try Free for 3 Days** on the welcome and everything works, the command included, with no account and no card. A card in the dropdown shows how long is left and the way to buy.

When the trial ends, Vitals asks for a key again, and what it recorded during the trial is still there once you enter one.

The download is on [vitalsmac.com/download](https://vitalsmac.com/download). The trial runs once per Mac.

## For your assistant, too

Claude, Codex and Cursor can ask Vitals what is left of each AI plan and when it resets, and whether a port is open to the network or to this Mac only.

- “Which of my AI plans runs out first?”
- “Is anything on my Mac open to the network?”
- “Stop the dev servers nobody is using.”

## Questions people ask

### Is 1.8 a free update?

Yes. In Vitals, choose Check for Updates. Everything in it, the command included, is part of every license.

### Do I need Homebrew?

No. The command is inside the app: turn on **Let AI Assistants Ask Vitals** in Settings → Integrations and it is on your PATH. Homebrew is only another way to install.

### Does Vitals have to be running?

Yes. The command asks the running app, which already keeps the readings and the history. If Vitals isn’t running, the command says so.

### Can an AI agent stop things with it?

Only what Vitals judges safe, and only after a yes. Without a terminal to ask on, anything that needs a person is refused, even with `--yes`.

### How long is the trial, and what happens after it?

3 days with every feature. After that, Vitals asks for a key; buy a license and paste it, and everything Vitals recorded during the trial is still there.

### Does reinstalling start the trial again?

No. The trial runs once per Mac.

### Where is the list of every command?

On the [command’s page](https://vitalsmac.com/features/cli#commands), and in Terminal with `vitals help` or `man vitals`.

## Everything in 1.8

- New: The vitals command. Everything Vitals sees, in Terminal: the whole Mac, the apps using the most, ports and dev servers by project, coding agents, what is left of your AI plans and up to a year of history, as a table or as JSON for scripts. Turn on Let AI Assistants Ask Vitals in Settings → Integrations, and Vitals puts the command on your PATH, with a manual page and tab completion for zsh, bash and fish.
- New: Install with Homebrew. `brew install --cask foredotstudio/tap/vitals` installs the app and the command together. Vitals keeps updating itself.
- New: A free trial. A new copy of Vitals can be tried for 3 days with every feature, without an account or a card: choose Try Free on the welcome. The dropdown shows how long is left and the way to buy, and what Vitals recorded during the trial stays when you do.
- New: Stopping things from Terminal, safely. `vitals can-quit` says whether something is safe to quit and what would stop with it. `vitals quit` and `vitals stop` show that verdict and wait for your yes, and `vitals stop --idle` stops every dev server nobody is using. What needs a person is refused without a terminal, so a script or an agent can't wave it through.
- Improved: Your AI plans, for assistants. Claude, Codex and Cursor can ask Vitals what is left of each AI plan, when each limit resets and whether it lasts at the rate you are going.
- Improved: Ports say who can reach them. `vitals ports`, and assistants asking Vitals, say whether each port is open to this Mac only or to the network.
- Improved: Activating is quicker. Enter License Key opens the welcome straight on the key field, and the screen Vitals shows before activating says what it does and offers the trial.