fast interactive process killer for linux

• /proc filesystem scanning
• matches command lines and resolved executable paths
• regex pattern matching (case-insensitive by default)
• multi-process selection (1 3 or 1,3 syntax)
• emergency mode — top 3 ram + top 3 cpu consumers at a glance
• system process warnings (uid=0 processes)
• permission filtering (only shows killable processes)
• race condition protection (verifies process before kill)
• protected pid safety (won't kill init/kthreadd)
• sigterm (default) or sigkill support

cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/gkill /usr/local/bin/

# search, select, confirm
gkill firefox

# find a binary
gkill target/release/appname

# select multiple processes at once
gkill python   # then enter: 1 3  or  1,3  at the prompt

# regex patterns
gkill --regex "chrom(e|ium)"
gkill --regex "python.*server"

# kill all matches (with confirmation)
gkill --all node

# force kill first match without confirmation (requires exactly one match)
gkill --force chrome

# use sigkill instead of sigterm
gkill firefox --sigkill
gkill firefox -9

# emergency mode — shows top 3 ram + top 3 cpu consumers
gkill -e

gkill -e scans all your processes and shows the top 6 resource consumers, labeled by why they appear:

top resource consumers:

   1. pid  1234  [me]      [ram+cpu]    3.8 gb   2:14:05  /usr/lib/firefox/firefox
   2. pid  5678  [me]      [ram    ]  512.0 mb   0:01:22  rustc
   3. pid  9012  [me]      [ram    ]  210.3 mb   0:00:04  cliapp
   4. pid  3456  [me]      [cpu    ]   45.0 mb   8:33:11  cargo build --release
   5. pid  7890  [me]      [cpu    ]   12.1 mb   3:02:44  make -j8

select one or more to kill, same as normal mode.

1. scans /proc for processes whose command line or executable path matches the search string (or all processes in -e mode)
2. filters to processes you can signal (permission check via kill(pid, 0))
3. displays numbered list with pid, ppid, owner, memory, cpu time, command line, and distinct executable path when available
4. prompts for selection (supports multi-select: 1 3 or 1,3)
5. warns if any selected process is owned by root
6. confirms before killing (unless --force)
7. verifies process didn't change between selection and kill (toctou protection)
8. sends sigterm or sigkill

• pids 0–2 (swapper, init, kthreadd) are never shown or killed
• only shows processes you own (unless running as root)
• warns before killing uid=0 processes
• start time verified immediately before kill to prevent pid reuse attacks
• confirmation required by default

use freely