port-killa

Kill any process occupying a given port. Cross-platform. Zero dependencies.

Stop fighting EADDRINUSE. Just kill it.

npx port-killa 3000

Features

• 🔍 Auto-detects your OS — Linux, macOS, and Windows
• ⚡ Zero dependencies — pure Node.js built-ins
• 🛡️ Safe by default — confirmation prompt before killing
• 💀 Force mode — --force for stubborn processes (SIGKILL / taskkill /F)
• 👀 Dry-run mode — see what would be killed without doing it
• 📦 npx-ready — no global install needed

Usage

# Kill whatever is on port 3000
npx port-killa 3000

# Force-kill (SIGKILL on Unix, /F on Windows)
npx port-killa 8080 --force

# See what's running without killing it
npx port-killa 5173 --dry-run

# Skip the confirmation prompt
npx port-killa 4000 --yes

Options

| Flag | Alias | Description | | ----------------- | ----- | ------------------------------------------- | | --force | -f | Force-kill (SIGKILL / taskkill /F) | | --dry-run | -dr | Show process info without killing | | --yes | -y | Skip confirmation prompt | | --help | -h | Show help | | --version | -v | Show version |

How It Works

| Platform | Detection | Kill | | -------- | ------------------ | ------------------- | | Linux | lsof → ss | kill -15 / -9 | | macOS | lsof | kill -15 / -9 | | Windows | netstat -ano | taskkill |

On Linux, lsof is tried first. If it's not available (e.g. minimal containers), ss is used as a fallback.

Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 16

License

MIT