Data and Privacy

powermonitor is local-first. It does not require a cloud account, daemon, telemetry service, or network connection for normal use.

Local storage

By default, readings are stored in SQLite at:

~/.powermonitor/powermonitor.db

You can change the location with [database].path in ~/.powermonitor/config.toml. See Configuration.

What is stored

Each power reading can include:

• Timestamp
• Actual watts
• Negotiated charger watts
• Voltage
• Amperage
• Current battery capacity
• Maximum battery capacity
• Battery percentage
• Charging state
• External power state
• Charger name
• Charger manufacturer

Sensor availability depends on Mac model, charger, and macOS version. Missing charger metadata is stored as empty or null values in exports.

Exports

Data leaves your machine only when you explicitly export it:

powermonitor export data.csv
powermonitor export data.json

CSV works well for spreadsheets and benchmark reports. JSON works well for scripts, notebooks, and downstream automation.

Cleanup

Delete old data by age:

powermonitor cleanup --days 30

Delete all readings after confirmation:

powermonitor cleanup --all

Cleanup is manual and explicit. powermonitor does not silently remove history.

Backups

To back up your history, copy the SQLite database while the TUI is not running, or export to CSV/JSON:

cp ~/.powermonitor/powermonitor.db ~/Documents/powermonitor-backup.db
powermonitor export ~/Documents/powermonitor-history.csv

Privacy checklist

• No cloud sync is required.
• No account is required.
• No root privileges are required.
• Exports are user-initiated.
• Database path is configurable.