Evidence-based diagnostics
Why is my CPU high?
You've checked top. You've checked htop. The spike is real — users are noticing — but nothing points to a clear cause. And by the time you dig in, the evidence is already gone.
cpum.ai tells you exactly what's eating your CPU — which process, which thread, which cgroup — in plain English with evidence and a fix. The pre-trigger ring buffer captures the 30 seconds before a spike, so you always have something to investigate even after CPU returns to baseline.
What engineers say
“We cut our monitoring bill by 60% and finally got actual root-cause answers, not just dashboards.”
Sarah K.
Staff SRE · FinTech startup, 40 engineers
“Two-minute install wasn't marketing copy. Our first CPU spike got diagnosed before I finished my coffee.”
Marcus T.
Principal Engineer · E-commerce platform, 150 hosts
“The AI explanation told my team exactly which thread pool was saturated. Datadog just showed us a red line.”
Priya N.
Engineering Manager · SaaS B2B, Series B
See it in action
The pre-trigger ring buffer captures the 30 seconds before a spike — so you can investigate what caused it even after CPU returns to baseline.
Get that answer on your own server
One curl command. The agent starts returning plain-English root causes immediately.
curl -s https://cpum.ai/api/agent.sh | API_KEY=your_key bashno credit card required
Features
Public Status Pages
Share a live status page with your users. Auto-updated from your monitors — no manual incident posting.
Dashboards as Code
Define, version, and deploy dashboards from YAML. Promote the same config from staging to production.
MCP Server
Let AI agents investigate CPU and memory anomalies autonomously via the Model Context Protocol.
Problem Fixes
39 pagesWhy is CPU usage high?
Learn why CPU usage gets high, how to identify the real cause, and what to fix first.
CPU usage 100 percent fix
CPU stuck at 100 percent? Learn the fastest way to identify the hot process and underlying cause.
CPU high but nothing running
If CPU is high but no obvious app is active, the problem is often kernel work, hidden processes, or scheduler pressure.
Node high CPU usage
Diagnose high CPU in Node.js apps, from event loop abuse to JSON serialization and blocking work.
Node process 100 CPU fix
When a Node process hits 100% CPU, identify the hot path, blocking code, and next fix quickly.
Node server CPU spike
Find the real cause of Node server CPU spikes using process history, profiling, and bottleneck classification.
Python high CPU usage
Diagnose Python CPU issues caused by loops, parsing, data processing, workers, and blocking architecture.
Python script using 100 CPU
A Python script at 100% CPU usually indicates tight loops, repeated work, or heavy transforms. Here's how to diagnose it.
Python infinite loop CPU
Learn how Python infinite loops create CPU saturation and how to prove it quickly.
Java high CPU usage
Track down Java CPU issues from hot methods to GC pressure and excessive threading.
Java process 100 CPU fix
A Java process at 100% CPU needs classification: hot methods, lock contention, or GC pressure.
Postgres high CPU usage
Find out whether Postgres CPU is caused by queries, disk bottlenecks, memory pressure, or concurrency.
Concepts Explained
13 pagesWhat is iowait?
iowait measures how much time the CPU spends waiting for disk operations. Learn what it means and when it matters.
High iowait CPU meaning
When iowait is high and CPU follows, disk is usually the real bottleneck. Learn what to check and what to fix.
CPU high due to disk
Disk bottlenecks can cause high CPU by backing up threads and creating scheduling pressure.
CPU high due to memory
Memory pressure causes CPU to rise through swap activity, page faults, and GC overhead.
CPU high due to swap
Active swap means RAM is exhausted. The resulting disk IO and scheduling overhead makes CPU spike.
CPU high due to locking
Lock contention wastes CPU as threads spin or block waiting for shared resources.
CPU high due to threads
Too many threads can waste CPU through context switching, scheduling, and contention.
CPU high due to scheduling
When too many tasks compete for CPU cores, the scheduler itself becomes a source of overhead.
Context switching and high CPU
High context switching rates mean the CPU is spending time switching between tasks instead of executing them.
Disk bottleneck CPU symptoms
How to recognize when a disk bottleneck is the real cause behind high CPU readings.
What is load average
What is load average. Learn the common causes, what evidence to look for, and what to fix first.
What is context switching
What is context switching. Learn the common causes, what evidence to look for, and what to fix first.
What is cpu steal time
What is cpu steal time. Learn the common causes, what evidence to look for, and what to fix first.
Tool Comparisons
7 pageshtop vs top
Compare htop and top for CPU troubleshooting, readability, and workflow.
Netdata vs Grafana
Compare Netdata and Grafana on setup time, visibility, and diagnostics.
Glances vs Netdata
Compare Glances and Netdata for CPU monitoring, usability, and diagnostic depth.
perf vs top
Understand the difference between top and perf for CPU troubleshooting and root-cause analysis.
Best CPU monitoring tools
A practical comparison of CPU monitoring tools, profilers, and diagnostic layers.
Cpum vs netdata
Cpum vs netdata. Learn the common differences, what evidence to look for, and what to choose.
Iostat vs vmstat
Iostat vs vmstat. Learn the common differences, what evidence to look for, and what to choose.
Integrations
Browse all →Stop guessing. Start knowing.
The next spike won't catch you empty-handed.
cpum.ai runs in the background, watching every process. When something goes wrong, you get a plain-English explanation — cause, evidence, and a fix — not just a graph that says something happened.
Install the agent
curl -s https://cpum.ai/api/agent.sh | API_KEY=your_key bash