---
name: witr-process-inspector
description: CLI and TUI tool that explains why processes, services, and ports are running by tracing causality chains across supervisors, containers, and shells.
triggers:
  - "why is this process running"
  - "inspect running processes with witr"
  - "trace process causality"
  - "find what started a service"
  - "witr TUI dashboard"
  - "check what's listening on a port"
  - "use witr to debug running services"
  - "explain process chain with witr"
---

# witr — Why Is This Running?

> Skill by [ara.so](https://ara.so) — Daily 2026 Skills collection.

**witr** is a Go CLI/TUI tool that answers "why is this running?" for any process, service, or port. Instead of leaving you to correlate `ps`, `lsof`, `ss`, `systemctl`, and `docker ps` manually, witr makes the causality chain explicit — showing where a running thing came from, how it was started, and what chain of supervisors/containers/shells is responsible.

---

## Installation

### Quickest (Unix)
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pranshuparmar/witr/main/install.sh | bash
```

### Quickest (Windows PowerShell)
```powershell
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pranshuparmar/witr/main/install.ps1 | iex
```

### Package Managers
```bash
# Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
brew install witr

# Conda
conda install -c conda-forge witr

# Arch Linux (AUR)
yay -S witr-bin

# Windows winget
winget install -e --id PranshuParmar.witr

# Windows Scoop
scoop install main/witr

# Alpine / apk
sudo apk add --allow-untrusted ./witr-*.apk

# Go source install
go install github.com/pranshuparmar/witr/cmd/witr@latest
```

---

## Key Commands & Flags

### Basic Usage
```bash
# Inspect a process by PID
witr <pid>

# Inspect by process name (substring match)
witr <name>

# Inspect what's bound to a port
witr --port <port>
witr -p <port>

# Launch interactive TUI dashboard
witr --interactive
witr -i

# Show all running processes with causality info
witr --all
witr -a

# Output as JSON (for scripting)
witr --json <pid>

# Follow/watch mode — refresh automatically
witr --watch <pid>
witr -w <pid>

# Verbose output — show full environment and metadata
witr --verbose <pid>
witr -v <pid>

# Filter processes by user
witr --user <username>

# Show version
witr --version
```

### Common Flag Reference
| Flag | Short | Description |
|------|-------|-------------|
| `--port` | `-p` | Inspect by port number |
| `--interactive` | `-i` | Launch TUI dashboard |
| `--all` | `-a` | Show all processes |
| `--json` | | Output as JSON |
| `--watch` | `-w` | Auto-refresh/follow |
| `--verbose` | `-v` | Full metadata output |
| `--user` | | Filter by OS user |
| `--version` | | Print version |

---

## Interactive TUI Mode

Launch the full dashboard:
```bash
witr -i
# or
witr --interactive
```

**TUI Keybindings:**
| Key | Action |
|-----|--------|
| `↑` / `↓` | Navigate process list |
| `Enter` | Expand process detail / causality chain |
| `f` | Filter/search processes |
| `s` | Sort by column |
| `r` | Refresh |
| `j` | Toggle JSON view |
| `q` / `Ctrl+C` | Quit |

---

## Example Outputs

### Inspect a PID
```bash
witr 1234
```
```
PID: 1234
Name: node
Binary: /usr/local/bin/node
Started: 2026-03-18 09:12:44
User: ubuntu

Why is this running?
  └─ Started by: npm (PID 1200)
       └─ Started by: bash (PID 1180)
            └─ Started by: sshd (PID 980)
                 └─ Started by: systemd (PID 1) [service: sshd.service]
```

### Inspect by Port
```bash
witr --port 8080
```
```
Port: 8080 (TCP, LISTEN)
Process: python3 (PID 4512)
Binary: /usr/bin/python3
User: deploy

Why is this running?
  └─ Started by: gunicorn (PID 4490)
       └─ Started by: systemd (PID 1) [service: myapp.service]
            Unit file: /etc/systemd/system/myapp.service
            ExecStart: /usr/bin/gunicorn app:app --bind 0.0.0.0:8080
```

### JSON Output (for scripting)
```bash
witr --json 4512
```
```json
{
  "pid": 4512,
  "name": "python3",
  "binary": "/usr/bin/python3",
  "user": "deploy",
  "started_at": "2026-03-18T09:00:00Z",
  "causality_chain": [
    {"pid": 4490, "name": "gunicorn", "type": "parent"},
    {"pid": 1,    "name": "systemd",  "type": "supervisor", "service": "myapp.service"}
  ]
}
```

### Watch/Follow a Process
```bash
# Refresh every 2 seconds
witr --watch 4512
```

---

## Common Patterns

### Find Who Started a Port Listener
```bash
# Quick check: who owns port 5432 (Postgres)?
witr --port 5432

# Get machine-readable output for automation
witr --json --port 5432 | jq '.causality_chain[-1].service'
```

### Audit All Running Services
```bash
# List everything with causality, pipe to less
witr --all | less

# Export full audit to JSON
witr --all --json > audit.json
```

### Inspect a Docker/Container Process
```bash
# witr understands container boundaries
witr <pid-of-containerized-process>
# Output will show: container → container runtime → systemd chain
```

### Use in a Shell Script
```bash
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Check if port 8080 is in use and why
if witr --json --port 8080 > /tmp/witr_out.json 2>/dev/null; then
  SERVICE=$(jq -r '.causality_chain[-1].service // "unknown"' /tmp/witr_out.json)
  echo "Port 8080 is owned by service: $SERVICE"
else
  echo "Port 8080 is not in use"
fi
```

### Filter Processes by User
```bash
# Show only processes owned by www-data and why they're running
witr --all --user www-data
```

---

## Platform Support

| Platform | Architectures | Notes |
|----------|--------------|-------|
| Linux | amd64, arm64 | Full support |
| macOS | amd64, arm64 (Apple Silicon) | Full support |
| Windows | amd64 | Full support |
| FreeBSD | amd64, arm64 | Full support |

---

## Go Integration (Embedding witr Logic)

If you want to use witr programmatically in a Go project:

```bash
go get github.com/pranshuparmar/witr
```

```go
package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "github.com/pranshuparmar/witr/pkg/inspector"
)

func main() {
    // Inspect a process by PID
    result, err := inspector.InspectPID(1234)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Printf("Process: %s\n", result.Name)
    for _, link := range result.CausalityChain {
        fmt.Printf("  └─ %s (PID %d)\n", link.Name, link.PID)
    }
}
```

```go
// Inspect by port
result, err := inspector.InspectPort(8080, "tcp")
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}
fmt.Printf("Port 8080 owned by PID %d (%s)\n", result.PID, result.Name)
```

---

## Troubleshooting

### Permission Denied on Some PIDs
```bash
# witr needs read access to /proc (Linux) or equivalent
# Run with sudo for system-level processes
sudo witr <pid>
sudo witr --port 80
```

### Binary Not Found After Install
```bash
# Ensure install location is in PATH
export PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin"   # Unix default install
# or for Go installs:
export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"
```

### Port Not Found / No Output
```bash
# Confirm port is actually listening first
ss -tlnp | grep <port>       # Linux
netstat -an | grep <port>    # macOS/Windows

# Then retry
witr --port <port>
```

### TUI Not Rendering Correctly
```bash
# Ensure terminal supports 256 colors
export TERM=xterm-256color
witr --interactive

# If on Windows, use Windows Terminal for best TUI experience
```

### Process Exited Before Inspection
```bash
# witr can only inspect currently running processes
# Use --watch on a long-running process to monitor it
witr --watch <pid>
```

### macOS: Requires Elevated Access for Some Processes
```bash
# System Integrity Protection may restrict some process metadata
sudo witr <pid>
```

---

## Quick Reference Card

```
witr <pid>              # Why is PID X running?
witr <name>            # Why is process "nginx" running?
witr -p <port>         # What's on port 8080 and why?
witr -i                # Interactive TUI dashboard
witr -a                # Show all processes + causality
witr --json <pid>      # Machine-readable output
witr -w <pid>          # Watch/follow a process
witr -v <pid>          # Verbose: full env + metadata
witr --user <user>     # Filter by OS user
```