vite-plugin-killer-instincts

A Vite plugin that detects when another process is already using your dev server port — and optionally kills it so your server can start.

Works with Vite's strictPort option. When the port is occupied, the plugin identifies the blocking process by PID and either throws a helpful error or automatically kills it.

Install

npm i -D vite-plugin-killer-instincts

Usage

import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import killerInstincts from "vite-plugin-killer-instincts";

export default defineConfig({
  server: {
    port: 3000,
    strictPort: true,
  },
  plugins: [killerInstincts({ autoKill: true })],
});

Options

| Option | Type | Default | Description | | ---------- | --------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | autoKill | boolean | false | Automatically kill the process occupying the port |

When autoKill is false (the default), the plugin throws an error with the PID and a kill command you (the llm) can run manually.

License

MIT