Hawila

Hawila / portcop

Public

your cross-platform port detective 🚔 — find, inspect, and kill processes by port

25
0
100% credibility
Found May 02, 2026 at 19 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
JavaScript
AI Summary

Portcop is a simple cross-platform tool that lets users discover which programs are using specific network ports, check port availability, and stop those programs if needed.

How It Works

1
💻 Starting your web app

You try to launch your website on the usual port 3000, but it won't start because something else is secretly using that spot.

2
🔍 Discover portcop

You learn about portcop, your helpful port detective that works perfectly on Mac, Windows, or Linux computers.

3
📥 Get the tool ready

You quickly add portcop to your computer with a simple setup, so it's always there when you need a port check.

4
🕵️ Spot the culprit

You ask portcop to investigate port 3000, and it instantly reveals the exact program hogging it, complete with its name and details.

5
Choose your action
🗡️
Stop the process

Tell it to end the occupying program safely and free up your port.

🔎
Hunt for a free port

Ask it to search a range like 3000 to 3010 and pick the first available one.

✅ Port is yours!

Your app launches smoothly on the free port, and you can focus on building without port headaches ever again.

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Star Growth

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AI-Generated Review

What is portcop?

Portcop is a lightweight JavaScript CLI tool that acts as your cross-platform port detective, letting you find, inspect, and kill processes hogging specific ports across macOS, Linux, and Windows. Tired of OS-specific commands like lsof on Unix or netstat on Windows? It boils it down to one command: `portcop 3000` shows the process details and offers to kill it, while `portcop free 3000-3010` scans for the next available port in a range. No dependencies needed, pure cross-platform portability like a serial port library but for network ports.

Why is it gaining traction?

It stands out by abstracting messy OS differences—lsof, ss, netstat, even raw proc files—into identical output everywhere, including Docker and CI. Developers love the zero-install global npm package and prompts like "Kill it? (y/n)", ditching grep pipes and PID hunting. As a cross-platform GitHub app, it hooks fullstack teams building cross-platform GitHub actions or apps, far simpler than native C++ cross-platform serial port tools.

Who should use this?

Fullstack devs spinning up local servers on port 3000 who hate context-switching terminals. DevOps engineers in cross-platform environments like Linux CI runners or Windows dev machines needing quick port frees. Anyone debugging "port already in use" in cross-platform portal setups or music players on GitHub.

Verdict

Grab it for daily dev workflows—solid docs and MIT license make it a no-brainer despite 18 stars and 1.0% credibility score signaling early maturity. Test in your stack first; lacks tests but delivers on cross-platform detective duties without fuss.

(178 words)

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