# Port Watcher

> A free, open-source macOS menu bar app that lists every TCP listener on your Mac — port, command, PID, uptime, and working directory — and lets you kill the ones you don't recognize. Built for developers who juggle local dev servers.

Port Watcher is a focused, zero-config replacement for `lsof -iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN` and `kill -9`. It runs in the macOS menu bar with no Dock icon, refreshes every 5 seconds, and notices when ports change in the background — flashing the icon on port changes and turning orange when a process you've never seen before starts listening.

## What makes it different

- **Background monitoring** — the icon flashes on port changes and turns orange when an unfamiliar command starts listening
- **Working directory column** — see which project launched each process, not just `node, PID 47823`
- **Acknowledge list** — one click marks the new processes as "I know about these now"
- **Dev Servers filter** — hides system noise, shows only common dev-server port ranges (3000s, 4000s, 5000s, 8000s, 9000s)
- **Ignore list** — hide always-listening processes (VPN, Spotify, syncthing)
- **Right-click actions** — Kill (SIGTERM), Force Kill (SIGKILL), Open in Browser, Copy URL, Reveal in Finder

## Install

- Homebrew: `brew install --cask greenflux/tap/port-watcher`
- Direct download: [latest release](https://github.com/greenflux/port-watcher/releases/latest)
- Build from source: `git clone https://github.com/greenflux/port-watcher && make install`

## Tech

- **Platform:** macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later
- **Architecture:** Universal binary — Apple Silicon and Intel
- **Language:** Swift 6, SwiftUI, `MenuBarExtra`
- **Process detection:** `lsof -iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN -n -P`, scoped to the current UID
- **Refresh:** 5 seconds, async background loop
- **License:** MIT
- **Network usage:** none
- **Telemetry:** none
- **Code signing:** Developer ID Application — GreenFlux, LLC
- **Notarization:** Notarized and stapled by Apple

## Links

- [Homepage](https://portwatcher.app/)
- [GitHub repository](https://github.com/greenflux/port-watcher)
- [Latest release](https://github.com/greenflux/port-watcher/releases/latest)
- [Homebrew tap](https://github.com/greenflux/homebrew-tap)
- [Publisher: GreenFlux, LLC](https://greenflux.us)
- Contact: support@greenflux.us

## Author

Built by GreenFlux, LLC (Joseph Petty). The GitHub build is and will always be MIT-licensed and free. A paid Mac App Store version may be offered later for one-time-purchase convenience — same app, App Store auto-updates.