yazeed/proc-cli
Semantic CLI tool for process management. Target by port, PID, name or path.
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yazeed/proc-cli repository overview
proc
Semantic CLI tool for process management. Target by port, process id (PID), name or path.
proc on :3000 # what's on port 3000?
proc for ./script.py # what's running this file?
proc by node --in . --min-cpu 5 # node in cwd using >5% CPU
proc kill :3000,:8080,node # kill mixed targets at once
proc info :3000,1234 # info for port + PID
Why proc?
| Task | proc | Without proc |
|---|---|---|
| What's on port 3000? | proc on :3000 | lsof -i :3000 -P -n |
| Kill it | proc kill :3000 | lsof -i :3000 -t | xargs kill -9 |
| Free port 3000 | proc free :3000 | lsof -i :3000 -t | xargs kill && sleep 1 && lsof -i :3000 |
| Why is port busy? | proc why :3000 | lsof -i :3000 + ps -o ppid= chain |
| Pause a process | proc freeze node | kill -STOP $(pgrep node) |
| Find orphans | proc orphans --in . | No standard tool |
| Wait for process | proc wait node | while ps aux | grep node | grep -v grep; do sleep 5; done |
| Ports used by node | proc on node | lsof -i -P -n | grep node |
| Node processes in cwd | proc by node --in . | ps aux | grep node + manual check |
| Kill mixed targets | proc kill :3000,:8080,node | Three separate commands |
| Watch in real-time | proc watch node | watch -n2 'ps aux | grep node' |
| What runs this file? | proc for ./app.js | lsof ./app.js or fuser ./app.js |
One syntax. One tool. Full comparison →
Install
| Platform | Command |
|---|---|
| macOS | brew install yazeed/proc/proc |
| Windows | scoop bucket add proc https://github.com/yazeed/scoop-bucket-proc && scoop install proc |
| Rust | cargo install proc-cli |
| npm/bun | npm install -g proc-cli |
| Nix | nix profile install github:yazeed/proc-cli |
| Docker | docker run --rm -it --pid=host --net=host yazeed/proc-cli |
| Shell | curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yazeed/proc-cli/main/install.sh | bash |
More options
| Platform | Method | Command |
|---|---|---|
| macOS/Linux | cargo-binstall | cargo binstall proc-cli |
| Arch Linux | AUR | yay -S proc (pending) |
Manual download:
# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/yazeed/proc-cli/releases/latest/download/proc-darwin-aarch64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv proc-darwin-aarch64 /usr/local/bin/proc
# macOS (Intel)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/yazeed/proc-cli/releases/latest/download/proc-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv proc-darwin-x86_64 /usr/local/bin/proc
# Linux (x86_64)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/yazeed/proc-cli/releases/latest/download/proc-linux-x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv proc-linux-x86_64 /usr/local/bin/proc
# Linux (ARM64)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/yazeed/proc-cli/releases/latest/download/proc-linux-aarch64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv proc-linux-aarch64 /usr/local/bin/proc
# Windows (PowerShell)
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://github.com/yazeed/proc-cli/releases/latest/download/proc-windows-x86_64.exe.zip -OutFile proc.zip
Expand-Archive proc.zip -DestinationPath .
Move-Item proc-windows-x86_64.exe C:\Windows\System32\proc.exe
Agent Skill
Teach your coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI and others) to use proc with structured JSON output:
npx skills add yazeed/proc-cli
In Claude Code you can also install it as a plugin:
/plugin marketplace add yazeed/proc-cli
/plugin install proc-cli@proc-cli
The skill lives in skills/proc-cli/ and follows the Agent Skills standard. What it teaches, how to update it, and prompts to try →
Quick Start
What's using port 3000?
proc on :3000
Kill it:
proc kill :3000
What's running this script?
proc for ./script.py
Find all node processes in current directory using >5% CPU:
proc by node --in . --min-cpu 5
Kill multiple targets at once:
proc kill :3000,:8080,node
Watch processes in real-time:
proc watch node --in .
Target Syntax
All commands accept the same target syntax:
| Target | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Port | :3000 | Process listening on port 3000 |
| PID | 1234 | Process with ID 1234 |
| Name | node | All processes named "node" |
| Multi | :3000,:8080,node | Comma-separated targets |
Commands
Discovery
| Command | Alias | Description |
|---|---|---|
on <target> | : | Bidirectional port/process lookup |
for <file> | f | Find processes by file path |
by <name> | b | Filter processes by name |
in <path> | Filter processes by working directory | |
list | l, ps | List all processes |
info <target> | i, inspect | Detailed process information |
ports | p | List all listening ports |
tree | t | Process hierarchy |
watch | w, top | Real-time process monitoring |
why <target> | Trace process ancestry (why is this port busy?) | |
orphans | o | Find orphaned processes |
stuck | x | Find hung processes |
Lifecycle
| Command | Alias | Description |
|---|---|---|
kill <target> | k | Force kill (SIGKILL) |
stop <target> | s | Graceful stop (SIGTERM, --signal for custom) |
freeze <target> | Pause process (SIGSTOP) | |
thaw <target> | Resume frozen process (SIGCONT) | |
free <:port> | Kill process and verify port freed | |
wait <target> | Block until process(es) exit | |
unstick | u | Recover stuck processes |
Filters
Filters can be combined with discovery and lifecycle commands:
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
--in <path> | Filter by working directory |
--by <name> | Filter by process name |
--path <path> | Filter by executable path (list) |
--min-cpu <n> | Processes using >n% CPU |
--min-mem <n> | Processes using >n MB memory |
--min-uptime <s> | Processes running longer than s seconds |
--parent <pid> | Children of a specific parent PID |
--status <s> | Filter by status: running, sleeping, stopped, zombie |
--exposed | Only network-exposed ports (ports) |
--local | Only localhost ports (ports) |
--range <s-e> | Filter ports by range (e.g., 3000-9000) |
--sort/-s <key> | Sort by: cpu, mem, pid, name |
--limit/-n <n> | Limit number of results |
--ancestors/-a | Show ancestry path to root (tree) |
--depth/-d <n> | Maximum tree depth (default: 10) |
--compact/-C | Show PIDs only in compact view (tree) |
--timeout/-t <s> | Seconds before considered stuck (default: 300) |
Options
| Option | Short | Description |
|---|---|---|
--json | -j | JSON output |
--verbose | -v | Show paths, cwd, full commands |
--yes | -y | Skip confirmation |
--dry-run | Preview without executing | |
--force | -f | Force termination if recovery fails (unstick) |
--graceful | -g | Send SIGTERM instead of SIGKILL (kill) |
--signal | -S | Custom signal: HUP, INT, USR1, etc. (stop) |
--kill | -k | Kill found processes (stuck, orphans) |
--wait | Max seconds to wait for port to free (free) | |
--interval | -n | Poll/refresh interval in seconds (wait, watch) |
--timeout | -t | Max seconds to wait before giving up (wait, stop) |
--quiet | -q | Suppress periodic status messages (wait) |
Scripting
With --json, every command prints one JSON document with action (the command name) and success. proc watch --json streams one per refresh. Errors, including invalid flags, are JSON too: {"action", "success": false, "error", "exit_code"}.
| Exit code | Meaning |
|---|---|
0 | Success |
1 | Error, or not fully successful: a process failed, a port stayed busy, wait timed out |
2 | Process or port not found |
3 | Permission denied |
4 | Invalid input (unknown flag, bad argument, invalid signal) |
"success": false always comes with a non-zero exit code. Full schemas: skills/proc-cli/reference.md.
Examples
# What's on port 3000?
proc on :3000
# What ports is node using?
proc on node
# What's running this file?
proc for ./script.py
# What has this file open?
proc for /var/log/app.log
# Node processes in current directory
proc by node --in .
# Processes using >10% CPU
proc list --min-cpu 10
# Kill everything on ports 3000 and 8080
proc kill :3000,:8080
# Kill only node processes in current directory
proc kill node --in . --dry-run
# Process tree filtered by CPU usage
proc tree --min-cpu 5
# Watch all processes sorted by CPU (alias: proc top)
proc watch
# Watch node processes with 1s refresh
proc watch node -n 1
# Watch process on port 3000
proc watch :3000
# Watch processes in cwd sorted by memory
proc watch --in . --sort mem
# Freeze/thaw (pause and resume)
proc freeze node # Pause all node processes
proc thaw node # Resume them
# Free a port (kill + verify available)
proc free :3000 # Kill and confirm port 3000 is free
proc free :3000,:8080 --yes # Free multiple ports
# Why is port 3000 busy?
proc why :3000 # Show ancestry chain with port context
# Find orphaned processes
proc orphans # List orphans
proc orphans --in . --kill # Kill orphans in current directory
# Wait for processes to exit
proc wait node # Block until all node processes exit
proc wait :3000 --timeout 60 # Wait up to 60s for port process to exit
proc wait node -n 10 -q # Check every 10s, quiet mode
# Send custom signal
proc stop nginx --signal HUP # Reload config (SIGHUP)
# Find and recover stuck processes
proc stuck
proc unstick --force
Platform Support
| Platform | Architecture | Status |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | Apple Silicon (ARM64) | ✅ |
| macOS | Intel (x86_64) | ✅ |
| Linux | x86_64 | ✅ |
| Linux | ARM64 | ✅ |
| Windows | x86_64 | ✅ |
| Docker | linux/amd64, linux/arm64 | ✅ |
The Linux binaries are statically linked (musl) and need no particular glibc version, so they also run on Alpine and on older releases such as Debian 10, Ubuntu 20.04 and Amazon Linux 2.
Shell Completions
Generate completions for your shell:
# Bash
proc completions bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/proc
# Zsh
proc completions zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_proc
# Fish
proc completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/proc.fish
Man Page
Generate and install the man page:
proc manpage | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man1/proc.1 > /dev/null
Building from Source
git clone https://github.com/yazeed/proc-cli
cd proc-cli
cargo build --release
The binary will be at target/release/proc.
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md.
License
MIT
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