Port janitor · v1.1.2

Your ports have squatters.Kick them out.

Kickoutchi shows which process owns each open TCP/UDP port, lets you inspect the family around it, then terminates stale port-owning processes safely — from a guided TUI or a script-friendly CLI.

Install Kickoutchi Read the docs GitHub ↗

linux · macos · windowstwo binaries: kickoutchi & kickMIT

SCAN

KICK

INSPECT

◆kick inspect --port 3000◆SQUATTER FOUND◆kick kill --pid 18422 --tree◆SIGTERM → 3 procs◆port :3000 free ✓◆exit 0◆kick list --json◆no guessed PIDs◆PID 1 is off-limits◆tree scope: opt-in◆kick kill --port 5173◆confirmed, always

01 · Inspect first

See the whole family before you swing the boot.

A stale dev server is rarely one process. kick inspectshows ancestors, descendants, and the process group — read-only — then tells you the exact command for the scope you choose. Nothing dies until you type it.

01Inspect the PID or port — who spawned it, what it spawned.
02Pick a scope: one process, the tree, or the Unix process group.
03Type the scope word to confirm. Kickoutchi verifies the port is really free.

kick • clearing a dev-server tree

$ kick inspect --port 3000
Target: PID 18422 (node)
  Ports: TCP 127.0.0.1:3000
  Process group: 18400
Ancestors (nearest first):
  PID 18190 (pnpm) — pnpm dev
Tree (3 processes):
  PID 18422 (node) [TCP 127.0.0.1:3000]
    PID 18431 (vite)
    PID 18444 (esbuild)
To terminate this tree: kick kill --pid 18422 --tree
$ kick kill --pid 18422 --tree
Terminate process tree from PID 18422 (node)
Scope: tree (3 processes)
Ports: TCP 127.0.0.1:3000
  PID 18422 (node)
    PID 18431 (vite)
    PID 18444 (esbuild)
Type tree to terminate all 3 processes, or press Enter to cancel: tree
sent SIGTERM to 3 process(es) in the tree rooted at PID 18422 (node)
confirmed target ports are no longer visible

02 · Two ways in

Two ways to clear the swamp

Open the TUI when you want to look around. Reach for the CLI when you already know the target.

The swamp tour

Guided TUI

Run either binary with no command to open the terminal UI. Browse, search, sort, inspect details, and use x/X for one PID or t/T for Linux/macOS tree cleanup.

shell

kickoutchi

Explore the TUI

The swamp shortcut

Scriptable CLI

Print ports as a table or stable JSON, inspect process families, and choose process, tree, or Unix group scope with a fixed exit-code contract.

shell

kick list --json

Explore the CLI

03 · The arsenal

A small tool that takes ports seriously

Practical first, playful second. Everything here is real behaviour.

See every open port

Lists listening TCP sockets and bound UDP sockets using native collectors • no scraping ss, netstat, or lsof.

Know what owns it

Shows PID, process name, parent, path, command line, bind scope, and permission status whenever the OS lets it through.

Tree and group cleanup

Opt in to --tree for descendants when a stale dev stack has more than one PID. POSIX process-group cleanup stays Linux/macOS-only.

Inspect before you kick

Read-only inspect shows ancestors, descendants, siblings, command lines, ports, and scoped kill hints. Linux/macOS also show process groups.

TUI or CLI

Open the guided terminal UI for a tour of open ports, or drive the script-friendly CLI when you already know the target.

Safe by default

Every termination is confirmed. Unix scoped kills freeze and verify; Windows tree kill contains via Job Objects; ambiguous ports are never guessed.

Linux, macOS, Windows

Native collection per OS. Linux/macOS support tree and group scope; Windows supports inspect and CLI tree kill, with --group unavailable.

Docker-aware

Explains Docker-owned or partial-metadata ports in details when the Docker CLI is available. Docker owners are protected by default; Docker itself is optional.

Filters & sorting

Narrow the table with port:, proto:, scope:, protected:, and parent: filters, then sort by port, pid, protocol, process, parent, or scope.

Built for scripts

Stable JSON, fixed exit codes, --yes gates that re-check fresh scope, and explicit CLI-only inspect/group commands make automation predictable.

04 · Guardrails

Safe by default

Terminating the wrong process is the scary part. Kickoutchi treats it that way: lots of guardrails, no silent surprises.

How termination stays safe

00Every termination is confirmed — and --yes still prints the banner, warnings, and fresh-scan refusals.
01PID 0, PID 1, Kickoutchi's own PID, and Windows PID 4 are blocked outright.
02kill --port refuses ambiguous ports instead of guessing which PID to hit.
03Protected processes, including Docker owners, require typing the PID or process name to confirm.
04Tree scope is opt-in, typed, and bounded; group scope stays Linux/macOS-only.
05Unix scoped kills freeze first; Windows tree kill uses Job Object containment.
06Names, paths, and status text are sanitized against control, ANSI, bidi, and zero-width tricks.

05 · Get it

Install in one line

Linux, macOS, and Windows get installers, archives, inspect, and explicit tree cleanup. Group scope stays Unix-only.

Linux & macOS

$ curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf \
    https://github.com/nuggocto/kickoutchi/releases/latest/download/kickoutchi-installer.sh \
    | sh

All install methods

Platforms & packages

Honest status, kept compact.

Linux

Native /proc collection with pidfd-backed tree/group kill and inspect.

macOS

Native libproc / sysctl collection with tree/group kill and inspect.

Windows

Native IP Helper listing, inspect, single-process kill, and CLI tree kill via Job Objects.

AvailableInstaller, Release archives, Cargo, Nix flake, Homebrew, ScoopPausedAUR

CLEAR THE SWAMP.

Install Kickoutchi, run it once with no arguments, and see the processes and process families using your local ports.

Install Kickoutchi Star on GitHub

$ kickoutchi