What does Witr do that ps and top cannot?

Witr traces the causal chain explaining WHY a process is running, what started it, and what is keeping it alive. ps and top only show WHAT is running.

How many stars does Witr have on GitHub?

17,823 stars as of June 2026, started December 2025.

What platforms does Witr support?

Linux (full features), macOS, Windows, and FreeBSD, shipped as a single static binary.

What is the TUI interface like?

Four tabs: processes, ports, containers, and file locks. Real-time dashboard via the -i flag.

Is there a gap to build on top of Witr?

No cloud/SaaS layer for team-wide snapshots or audit trails. No integration with observability platforms. Single-developer project.

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clawsmith.com/signal/witr-linux-process-causality-explainer

⚠ IssueUnderserveddev_tool_cliLive

Linux has no built-in way to explain WHY a process is running or what started it

ps, top, lsof, and ss show what is running but not the causal chain (what started it, what is keeping it alive, which port it holds). Developers SSH into machines and waste 10-30 min tracing service genealogy manually. Witr maps PIDs to causal ancestry chains in a TUI. 526 HN points and 17.8k GitHub stars show the gap is real and persistent.

Product Idea from this Signal

A CLI tool that explains why any Linux process is running, what started it, and which ports and containers it owns

19.0k ▲

When a developer SSH into a server they didn't configure, figuring out why a given process is alive takes 10 to 30 minutes of manual ps, pstree, lsof, and systemctl chasing. The built-in Unix tools tell you what is running but give no causal chain: who launched this, what is keeping it alive, which socket does it hold, is it a container child or a systemd unit or a cron job. This CLI tool maps any PID to its full ancestry chain, launch origin, held ports, container context, and dependent services in one command, outputting a structured tree that gives a developer instant situational awareness on any unfamiliar Linux machine.

LINUXDEVTOOLSSREPROCESS-INSPECTORCLIDEBUGGINGDEVEX

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