fkill

Run without arguments to use the interactive interface

$ fkill

$ fkill [pid|name|:port]

fkill [pid|name|port] … [options]

-a, --all
    Kill all processes (like killall5 9)

-i, --interactive
    Force interactive selection (default: true unless PID given)

-t, --terminal
    Skip processes in current terminal session (default: true)

fkill is a user-friendly, interactive command-line tool for killing processes in Linux and other Unix-like systems. Developed as an npm package, it offers a more intuitive alternative to traditional tools like kill or pkill. When invoked without arguments, fkill launches an interactive mode powered by Inquirer.js, displaying a searchable list of running processes. Users can fuzzy-search by PID, process name, or port, then select one or more with arrow keys, spacebar, or enter to terminate them.

It sends SIGTERM by default for graceful shutdowns, escalating to SIGKILL if needed. This makes it ideal for developers managing servers, browsers, or dev tools without memorizing PIDs. For non-interactive use, specify PID, name, or port directly (e.g., fkill 1234 or fkill :3000). Multiple targets are supported.

Unlike coreutils, fkill requires Node.js (≥10). It's lightweight, cross-platform, and widely used in modern workflows for its speed and simplicity. Install via npm i -g fkill-cli. Caution: interactive mode lists all processes, so review selections carefully to avoid killing system services.

Requires Node.js/npm; not a standard distro package. May list/kill unintended processes in interactive mode. Defaults to SIGTERM, but -a uses SIGKILL forcefully.

npm install --global fkill-cli
Requires Node.js ≥14.

fkill → Interactive all processes.
fkill node → Kill Node.js interactively.
fkill :3000 → Kill port 3000.
fkill -a → Kill everything.

Created by Sindre Sorhus in 2015 as fkill-cli on npm. Evolved from his ecosystem of polished CLI tools (e.g., ava, eslint). Reached 1M+ weekly downloads by 2023; version 8+ supports Node 18+.

kill(1), pkill(1), killall(1), ps(1), htop(1)