For 20 years, terminal tools have been around, yet no one could truly explain why a process was running. An independent developer from India has open‑sourced witr. In less than five months, it’s skyrocketed past 15,400+ GitHub Stars! One command in the terminal tells you the entire story of a process — from kernel to systemd unit, from an open port back to the process that bound it. This chain used to require manual piecing together.

• Suspicious processes, ports listening on public interfaces, and memory hogs that have been silently running for months — all are flagged automatically.
• Built‑in interactive TUI dashboard, no need to memorize command flags.
• Search by process name, PID, port, or file path. Output is in plain English, not a stream of cryptic technical jargon.

GitHub: https://github.com/pranshuparmar/witr
Supports Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, and other mainstream systems.
If you often take over unfamiliar servers or troubleshoot production issues, this is worth installing.

Purpose • Installation • ✨ TUI • Flags • Examples • Platforms
Goals • Core Concept • Output Behavior • Success Criteria • Sponsors

2. Installation

witr is distributed as a single static binary for Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, and Windows.

witr is also independently packaged and maintained across multiple operating systems and ecosystems. An up-to-date overview of packaging status is available on Repology (https://repology.org/project/witr/versions). Please note that community packages may lag GitHub releases due to independent review and validation.

If you use a package manager (Homebrew, Conda, Winget, etc.), we recommend installing via that for easier updates. Otherwise, the install script is the quickest way to get started.

2.2 Package Managers

Homebrew (macOS & Linux)
You can install witr using Homebrew (https://brew.sh/) on macOS or Linux:
bash brew install witr

Conda (macOS, Linux & Windows)
You can install witr using conda (https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/), mamba (https://mamba.readthedocs.io/en/latest/), or pixi (https://pixi.prefix.dev/latest/) on macOS, Linux, and Windows:
``bash
conda install -c conda-forge witr

alternatively using mamba

mamba install -c conda-forge witr

alternatively using pixi

pixi global install witr
``

Arch Linux (AUR)
On Arch Linux and derivatives, install from the AUR package (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/witr-bin):
``bash
yay -S witr-bin

alternatively using paru

paru -S witr-bin

or use your preferred AUR helper

``

Winget (Windows)
You can install witr via winget (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/):
powershell winget install -e --id PranshuParmar.witr

NPM (Cross-platform)
You can install witr using npm (https://www.npmjs.com/package/@pranshuparmar/witr):
bash npm install -g @pranshuparmar/witr

FreeBSD Ports
You can install witr on FreeBSD from the FreshPorts port (https://www.freshports.org/sysutils/witr/):
``bash
pkg install witr

or

pkg install sysutils/witr
Or build from Ports: bash
cd /usr/ports/sysutils/witr/
make install clean
``

Chocolatey (Windows)
You can install witr using Chocolatey (https://community.chocolatey.org):
powershell choco install witr

Scoop (Windows)
You can install witr using Scoop (https://scoop.sh):
powershell scoop install main/witr

AOSC OS
You can install witr from the AOSC OS repository (https://packages.aosc.io/packages/witr):
bash oma install witr

GNU Guix
You can install witr from the GNU Guix repository (https://packages.guix.gnu.org/packages/witr/):
bash guix install witr

Uniget (Linux)
You can install witr using uniget (https://uniget.dev/):
bash uniget install witr

Aqua (macOS, Linux & Windows)
You can install witr using aqua (https://aquaproj.github.io/):
``bash

Add package

aqua g -i pranshuparmar/witr

Install package

aqua i pranshuparmar/witr
``

Brioche (Linux)
You can install witr using brioche (https://brioche.dev/):
bash brioche install -r witr

Prebuilt Packages (deb, rpm, apk)
witr provides native packages for major Linux distributions. You can download the latest .deb, .rpm, or .apk package from the GitHub releases page (https://github.com/pranshuparmar/witr/releases/latest).

• Generic download command using curl:
  ``bash

Replace

curl -LO https://github.com/pranshuparmar/witr/releases/latest/download/
``

• Debian/Ubuntu (.deb):
  ``bash
  sudo dpkg -i ./witr-*.deb

Or, using apt for dependency resolution:

sudo apt install ./witr-*.deb
``

• Fedora/RHEL/CentOS (.rpm):
  bash sudo rpm -i ./witr-*.rpm

• Alpine Linux (.apk):
  bash sudo apk add --allow-untrusted ./witr-*.apk

2.4 Run Without Installation

Nix Flake
If you use Nix, you can build witr from source and run without installation:
bash nix run github:pranshuparmar/witr -- --help

Pixi
If you use pixi (https://pixi.prefix.dev/latest/), you can run without installation on Linux or macOS:
bash pixi exec witr --help

3. Interactive Mode (TUI)

Running witr without any arguments or with the -i flag launches the Interactive Mode (TUI). This provides a real-time, terminal-based dashboard for exploring processes and ports.

Key Features:

• Live Process List: Real-time view of all running processes with sorting and filtering.
• Port View: Explore open ports and immediately see which processes are holding them.
• Process Details: Deep-dive into a specific process to see its full ancestry tree, child processes, environment variables, working directory, and more.
• Process Actions: Send signals (Kill, Terminate, Pause, Resume) or Renice processes directly from the UI.
• Mouse Support: Navigate, sort columns, and click rows using your mouse.

5. Example Outputs

5.1 Name Based Query

bash witr node
Target : node Process : node (pid 14233) User : pm2 Command : node index.js Started : 2 days ago (Mon 2025-02-02 11:42:10 +05:30) Restarts : 1 Why It Exists : systemd (pid 1) → pm2 (pid 5034) → node (pid 14233) Source : pm2 Working Dir : /opt/apps/expense-manager Git Repo : expense-manager (main) Listening : 127.0.0.1:5001

5.3 Tree Output

bash witr --pid 143895 --tree
systemd (pid 1) └─ init-systemd(Ub (pid 2) └─ SessionLeader (pid 143858) └─ Relay(143860) (pid 143859) └─ bash (pid 143860) └─ sh (pid 143886) └─ node (pid 143895) ├─ node (pid 143930) ├─ node (pid 144189) └─ node (pid 144234)
Note: Tree view includes child processes (up to 10) and highlights the target process.

5.5 File Based Query

bash witr --file /var/lib/dpkg/lock
Explains the process holding a file open.

—– [port: 5432] —–
Target : postgres
Process : postgres (pid 891)
…
—– [pid: 1234] —–
Target : node
Process : node (pid 1234)
…
``
All target flags are repeatable and can be mixed. Results appear in the order you typed them. All output modes (--short, --tree, --json, --env, --warnings, --verbose) work with multiple inputs.

5.1 Feature Compatibility Matrix