TristamTech
Disclaimer: This repository documents the architecture and problem-solving approach behind systems independently designed and built by the author. It contains no proprietary source code, API keys, credentials, employer branding, or real user/organizational data. Screenshots are illustrative proof-of-concept only. Systems built using employer infrastructure (Jamf Pro) are documented here as a record of skill and handover-ready design, not a claim of personal ownership over the deployed instance.
🧹 System Optimiser — Interactive macOS Maintenance Utility
A native, zero-dependency “CleanMyMac” alternative — fully interactive, letting users choose exactly which maintenance tasks run before anything executes.
| 🛠️ Third-Party Tools | ✅ User Consent Required | 📊 Result Shown |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Yes, per-task | Actual MB/GB reclaimed |
📖 Executive Summary
A checkbox-driven maintenance tool built entirely from native macOS commands. No subscription, no telemetry, no bundled third-party binary. Users tick only the tasks they want, watch live per-task progress, and see a real number for storage reclaimed at the end — not a vague “optimized!” message.
🏗️ Two-Stage UX
Stage 1 — Selection: live computer name + free/total disk space, then a checkbox list of maintenance tasks — none pre-selected, by design; the tool never assumes consent.
Stage 2 — Dynamic execution: built as a bash array so only the tasks the user actually ticked appear in the progress UI:
dialogArgs=("--appearance" "dark" "--title" "Optimisation in Progress" ...)
[ "$runDNS" = true ] && dialogArgs+=("--listitem" "DNS & Network Reset")
[ "$runRAM" = true ] && dialogArgs+=("--listitem" "Purge Inactive Memory")
[ "$runTrash" = true ] && dialogArgs+=("--listitem" "Empty System Trash")
"$dialogApp" "${dialogArgs[@]}" &
🔍 What It Actually Does (all native)
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| DNS/network reset | dscacheutil -flushcache && killall -HUP mDNSResponder |
| Purge inactive RAM | purge |
| Empty user Trash | rm -rf "$userHome/.Trash/"* |
| Clear app caches | rm -rf "$userHome/Library/Caches/"* |
| Refresh Finder/Dock | killall Finder; killall Dock |
Dead ends that shaped the final design:
| Problem | What broke | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Capturing checkbox state | swiftDialog’s --output-file flag unreliable across versions |
Capture stdout directly instead — version-proof |
| Empty selection | Original build showed a warning-icon error | Softened to a friendly info dialog after user feedback that it felt punitive |
| “Storage reclaimed” needed to be real, not cosmetic | — | Weighs Trash + Caches with du -sm before deletion, sums only selected categories, formats dynamically as MB/GB |
🛠️ Tech Stack
SwiftDialog · bash · native macOS system commands
📂 Repository Structure
system-optimiser/
├── README.md
├── screenshots/
│ ├── Main_Screen.png
│ ├── Progress_Screen.png
│ └── System_Complete.png
└── scripts/
└── system_optimiser.sh