zkill - Kill zombie processes blocking your ports

Why zkill?

Every developer faces port conflicts. We built zkill to solve this once and for all.

🎯

One Command

Instead of memorizing different commands for each OS, just run zkill 3000

🌍

Cross-Platform

Works identically on macOS, Linux, and Windows. No more platform-specific commands.

🔒

Safe Mode

Asks for confirmation before killing. Warns about system processes. You're always in control.

🧠

Project Aware

Remembers which ports belong to which projects. Automatically cleans up when you switch.

⚡

Fast

Less than 100ms to detect and kill processes. Pure TypeScript with zero external dependencies.

🎨

Beautiful CLI

Color-coded output, loading spinners, and clear messages. A joy to use.

Quick Start

Installation

npm install -g zombie-port-killer

Or use yarn or pnpm:

yarn global add zombie-port-killer
pnpm add -g zombie-port-killer

Usage

Kill a process on a specific port:

zkill 3000

Kill without confirmation:

zkill 3000 --force

List all active ports:

zkill scan

Show system information:

zkill info

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about zkill's security, usage, and features.

🔒 Is zkill secure? Can I trust it?

Yes! zkill is 100% safe and transparent.

Open Source: Every line of code is public on GitHub. You can audit it yourself.
Zero Telemetry: No tracking, no analytics, no data collection. Nothing leaves your machine.
No Network Requests: zkill runs entirely offline. You can verify this with network monitoring.
Minimal Dependencies: Only 4 trusted npm packages (chalk, commander, inquirer, ora) - all extremely popular.
Standard Commands: Uses the same OS commands you'd run manually (lsof, ps, kill, etc.)
Safe by Default: Always asks for confirmation before killing processes.

Want proof? Clone the repo and read the source code. It's only ~2,000 lines of TypeScript. View on GitHub →

⚙️ How does zkill work?

zkill finds and kills processes using a cross-platform approach:

macOS: Uses lsof to find processes
Linux: Uses ss or netstat
Windows: Uses netstat and taskkill

These are the same commands you'd run manually - zkill just makes it easier and cross-platform.

💻 Does it work on Windows/Linux/macOS?

Yes! zkill works on all three platforms:

✅ macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon)
✅ Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, etc.)
✅ Windows (PowerShell, CMD, Git Bash)

The same command works identically everywhere: zkill 3000

⚠️ Will zkill accidentally kill my database or important services?

No, it's safe:

zkill asks for confirmation before killing any process
It shows you details about what process will be killed
It warns you if the process looks like a system service
You must explicitly target a specific port - it won't randomly kill things

Pro tip: Use zkill scan first to see what's running before killing anything.

🔑 Do I need sudo/admin privileges?

Usually not. For your own development servers (the most common case), no special privileges needed.

You only need elevated privileges for:

Processes owned by other users
System services (like databases running as system user)
Ports below 1024 on some systems

🏭 Can I use zkill in production?

zkill is designed for local development, not production servers.

For production environments, use proper process managers:

PM2, systemd, or supervisord for Node.js apps
Kubernetes for containerized apps
Docker Compose for multi-container setups

zkill is perfect for fixing "Port 3000 already in use" errors during development!

💰 Is zkill free?

Yes! 100% free and open source.

MIT License - use it anywhere, for anything
No paid tiers, no premium features
No ads, no tracking, no upsells
Free forever

If you find it useful, consider giving it a ⭐ star on GitHub!

🎯 Can I kill multiple ports at once?

Not yet, but it's coming in v1.1!

Planned features:

zkill 3000 8000 5432 - Multiple ports
zkill --range 3000-3010 - Port ranges
zkill --name node - Kill by process name

For now, run zkill multiple times for multiple ports.

Still have questions?

Ask on GitHub Issues

🧟 zkill