PRpranshuparmar·Dec 28, 2025
Quick update, witr now supports macOS as well. You can install it using brew - https://github.com/pranshuparmar/witr?tab=readme-ov-file#81-...
In Show HN: Witr – Explain why a process is running on your Linux systempranshuparmar
witr
Go2025–2025
pranshuparmar / witr
witr
Why is this running? Trace any process, port, container, or file back to what started it - CLI + TUI.
4Distinct people
6Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
23KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Why is this running? Trace any process, port, container, or file back to what started it - CLI + TUI.
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use has been verified yet.
What people are saying
No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by 3-hour interval6 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2025-12-26 15:20:36 UTC to 2025-12-28 12:24:36 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 26, 15:00 | 2025-12-26 15:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-26 18:00:00 UTC | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Dec 26, 18:00 | 2025-12-26 18:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-26 21:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 26, 21:00 | 2025-12-26 21:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-27 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Dec 27, 00:00 | 2025-12-27 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-27 03:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 27, 03:00 | 2025-12-27 03:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-27 06:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 27, 06:00 | 2025-12-27 06:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-27 09:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 27, 09:00 | 2025-12-27 09:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-27 12:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 27, 12:00 | 2025-12-27 12:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-27 15:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dec 27, 15:00 | 2025-12-27 15:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-27 18:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dec 27, 18:00 | 2025-12-27 18:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-27 21:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 27, 21:00 | 2025-12-27 21:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-28 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 28, 00:00 | 2025-12-28 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-28 03:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 28, 03:00 | 2025-12-28 03:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-28 06:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 28, 06:00 | 2025-12-28 06:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-28 09:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 28, 09:00 | 2025-12-28 09:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-28 12:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 28, 12:00 | 2025-12-28 12:00:00 UTC | 2025-12-28 15:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
What Hacker News says
6 sourcesI'd not trust any app that parses /proc to obtain process information (for reasons [0]), specially if the machine has been compromised (unless by "incident", the author means another thing):
https://github.com/pranshuparmar/witr/tree/main/internal/lin...
It should be the last option.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46364057
In Show HN: Witr – Explain why a process is running on your Linux systemThank you, yes coming soon - https://github.com/pranshuparmar/witr/pull/9
In Show HN: Witr – Explain why a process is running on your Linux systemAlternatively you can use Nix! :P https://github.com/pranshuparmar/witr/pull/5
In Show HN: Witr – Explain why a process is running on your Linux systemIt appears to walk up from the process's working directory searching for a .git directory: https://github.com/pranshuparmar/witr/blob/1e47bdb8fde179b17...
In Show HN: Witr – Explain why a process is running on your Linux systemShow HN: Witr – Explain why a process is running on your Linux system
Hi HN,
I built a small Linux CLI tool called witr (Why Is This Running?).
The idea came from a situation most of us have hit: you log into a machine, see a process or port running, and immediately wonder why it exists, who started it, and what is keeping it alive right now.
witr traces a process, service, or port back to its origin and responsibility chain and explains it in a way that’s quick to read, especially when you’re debugging under pressure.
This is v0.1.0. It’s intentionally small and focused.
Feedback, criticism, and edge cases are very welcome.
Repo: https://github.com/pranshuparmar/witr
526 points · Open discussion