Documentation

User Guide

Everything you need to set up SNMP Taskbar, configure your devices, and get live traffic data in the menu bar.

What SNMP Taskbar does

SNMP Taskbar polls 64-bit interface counters from the network devices you configure, calculates upload and download rates, and displays those rates in the macOS menu bar. A hover graph shows a smooth scrolling chart of recent traffic, and a detail window provides current, peak, average, and total transferred values for every monitored interface.

The app runs entirely on your Mac. It communicates only with the SNMP devices you have configured. There is no cloud service, no account, and no remote data collection.

Requirements

  • macOS 15 or later.
  • A network device with SNMPv2c enabled.
  • Network access from your Mac to UDP port 161 on the device.
  • An SNMP community string with read permission on the interface tables.

SNMP Taskbar reads standard interface counters:

  • ifName — for interface discovery.
  • ifHCInOctets and ifHCOutOctets — 64-bit traffic counters.

Any SNMPv2c-capable device that implements these standard OIDs is supported. Tested devices include MikroTik RouterOS routers, but the protocol is widely implemented across enterprise networking gear.

Quick start

  1. Launch SNMP Taskbar. On first launch, Settings opens automatically.
  2. Click + in the router list to add a device.
  3. Enter the device Host — an IP address such as 10.16.1.250 or a DNS name.
  4. Enter the SNMP Community string (often public by default, but use whatever your device is configured with).
  5. Click Discover Interfaces to read the device's interface table.
  6. Select the interfaces you want to monitor from the list that appears.
  7. Give each interface a clear Display name and choose an Icon.
  8. Click Save.

The menu bar display appears once SNMP Taskbar has collected enough samples to calculate a rate — usually within a few polling cycles.

Router settings

Field What to enter Notes
Host IP address or DNS name Example: 10.16.1.250. The device must be reachable from your Mac.
Community SNMPv2c community string Matches your router's SNMP configuration. Treat it like a password — use a restricted community string where possible.
Discover Interfaces Button Reads the device's interface table. If this shows No response, check the host, community string, firewall rules, and SNMP access list.

Interface settings

Each selected interface has its own display and alerting settings.

Setting What it controls
Display name Friendly name shown in the menu bar, hover graph, and detail window.
Icon SF Symbol shown beside the interface. Choose something that helps you identify the link at a glance.
Invert direction Swaps upload and download when the router reports traffic from the opposite perspective (e.g., measuring from the LAN side).
Show in menu bar Controls whether the interface appears in the compact menu bar display. Hidden interfaces still appear in the detail window and continue to be monitored.
Smoothing Averages recent samples to reduce flicker. Higher values are calmer; lower values react faster to spikes. Range: 1–60 seconds.
Alert threshold Posts a local macOS notification when upload or download crosses the configured Mbps value. Set to 0 to disable.

The order of interfaces in the Selected Interfaces list controls the order in the menu bar and detail window. Drag to reorder.

Reading the menu bar

The menu bar display is intentionally compact:

  • Upload rate is shown on the top row; download rate on the bottom row.
  • Values use fixed-width formatting so the display does not jump as traffic changes.
  • Dimmed values mean the interface is idle or does not yet have a calculated sample.
  • A warning badge on the menu bar item means one or more routers have missed repeated SNMP polls.

SNMP Taskbar reconnects individual routers automatically. One stale router does not prevent others from continuing to update.

Hover over the menu bar item to see a 15-minute history graph. Click Show Detail to open the detail window.

Detail window

The detail window shows every monitored interface, including those hidden from the menu bar. For each interface it shows:

  • Current upload and download rate.
  • Peak rate within the current history window.
  • Average rate within the current history window.
  • Total data transferred while SNMP Taskbar has been monitoring this session.
  • A larger live graph with time and value axes.

Notifications

When you configure an alert threshold for an interface, SNMP Taskbar posts a standard macOS notification when traffic crosses that threshold. Notifications are delivered by macOS — SNMP Taskbar does not communicate with any notification service or cloud endpoint to send them.

To enable notifications, configure an alert threshold greater than 0 in the interface settings. macOS must have notifications enabled for SNMP Taskbar in System Settings → Notifications.

Launch at login & Dock icon

In Settings you can enable:

  • Launch at Login — starts SNMP Taskbar automatically when you sign in.
  • Show in Dock — makes SNMP Taskbar appear in the Dock and app switcher if you prefer that over a menu-bar-only utility.

By default, SNMP Taskbar behaves as a standard menu bar utility and does not appear in the Dock.

Demo mode

Choose Explore Demo Mode from the SNMP Taskbar menu to load deterministic traffic for three sample interfaces. The detail window opens immediately, and the menu bar display and hover graph continue updating once per second.

Demo mode uses no network access, does not change your saved routers, and does not request notification permission. Choose Exit Demo Mode from the same menu to return to your configured devices.

Diagnostics

Router-specific reconnect and polling failures are written to Apple's Unified Logging system under the subsystem ca.slepp.snmp-taskbar. These logs remain on your Mac and are not sent anywhere automatically.

To collect recent diagnostics, run this command in Terminal:

log show --last 30m \
  --predicate 'subsystem == "ca.slepp.snmp-taskbar"' \
  --info --debug

You can also open the logs in Console.app by filtering on the same subsystem string. If you need to share logs with support, copy the relevant output and share it through the support contact.

Troubleshooting

No interfaces found after clicking Discover Interfaces

Check that:

  • SNMP is enabled on the device.
  • The community string is correct and has read permission.
  • The device's SNMP access list allows requests from your Mac's IP address.
  • Your Mac can reach UDP port 161 on the device (no firewall blocking).
  • VPN or routing rules are not redirecting or blocking the traffic.

Host check says "No response"

Verify the IP address or DNS name, community string, router firewall, local macOS firewall, VPN routing, and SNMP access list. You can test UDP port 161 with snmpwalk if available on your Mac.

Rates look reversed

Enable Invert direction for that interface in Settings. This swaps which counter is treated as upload versus download.

The menu bar is too wide

Disable Show in menu bar for lower-priority interfaces. They continue to be monitored and remain available in the detail window.

A router shows a warning badge

The router has missed repeated SNMP polls. SNMP Taskbar will attempt to reconnect automatically. If the badge persists, check network reachability and confirm the device's SNMP service is running.

Rates seem too low or too high

Check the rate unit setting (Mbps, Kbps, MB/s, etc.) and the smoothing window. A wide smoothing window averages out peaks; a short one reacts immediately to spikes.

RouterOS example

On MikroTik RouterOS, enable SNMP and restrict the community to your local network:

/snmp set enabled=yes
/snmp community set public addresses=10.16.1.0/24

Replace 10.16.1.0/24 with the subnet containing your Mac. Consider creating a dedicated read-only SNMP community string rather than using the default public.

Tip: SNMP Taskbar reads ifHCInOctets and ifHCOutOctets (64-bit counters). If your device only exposes the 32-bit ifInOctets / ifOutOctets counters, high-speed interfaces may appear to roll over unexpectedly. Use 64-bit counters where available.