ProcessReaper

A native macOS menu bar app that monitors for stale/orphaned development processes and helps you safely kill them.

The Problem

Development tools like tsserver, node, next dev, vite, and others frequently leave orphaned processes that:

• Consume CPU and RAM
• Cause system lag
• Accumulate over time
• Are tedious to find and kill manually

The Solution

ProcessReaper runs silently in your menu bar and:

• Monitors for stale dev processes every 30 seconds (configurable)
• Detects orphaned processes, long-running tasks, and high resource usage
• Protects active sessions (like attached tmux sessions) from accidental termination
• Notifies you when issues are detected
• Kills processes safely with SIGTERM → SIGKILL cascade

Features

Process Monitoring

• Identifies tsserver, Node.js dev servers (Next.js, Vite, Turbo), OpenCode, tmux, and generic Node processes
• Shows CPU usage, memory, runtime, and child process count
• Color-coded safety indicators

Detailed Process Info

Click the chevron on any process to see full details:

• Parent chain showing process hierarchy
• Full command line
• Kill individual process or entire process tree

Smart Protection

• Tmux-aware: Automatically protects processes running in attached tmux sessions
• Safety levels: Green (safe), Yellow (caution), Red (protected)
• Won't let you accidentally kill active sessions

Configurable Settings

• Enable/disable specific process types
• Adjust staleness thresholds per process type
• Configure CPU/memory warning levels
• Notification preferences
• Launch at login

Installation

Download

1. Download ProcessReaper-1.0.0.zip from Releases
2. Unzip and drag ProcessReaper.app to /Applications
3. Launch ProcessReaper

Note: On first launch, macOS may show a security warning. Right-click the app → "Open" → "Open" to bypass Gatekeeper.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/mansoorsiddiqui/ProcessReaper.git
cd ProcessReaper
xcodebuild -scheme ProcessReaper -configuration Release build

The built app will be in ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/ProcessReaper-*/Build/Products/Release/

Usage

1. ProcessReaper appears in your menu bar with a scythe icon
2. Click to see monitored processes
3. Badge shows count of processes needing attention
4. Click a process row's chevron (▼) to see details
5. Click "Kill" to terminate a process
6. Click the gear icon for settings

Menu Bar Icon States

Icon	Meaning
Scythe (no badge)	All clear - no stale processes
Scythe + yellow badge	1-3 processes need attention
Scythe + red badge	4+ processes or high resource usage

Safety Levels

Color	Meaning
🟢 Green	Safe to kill (orphaned dev tools)
🟡 Yellow	Caution - may have unsaved state
🔴 Red	Protected - cannot kill (system process or active session)

Requirements

• macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later
• Apple Silicon or Intel Mac

License

MIT License - feel free to use, modify, and distribute.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome!