What is this?
LeftOpen is a native macOS menu bar app and CLI that shows what is listening on localhost, identifies which project or process owns each port, and lets you gently close them.
LeftOpen is a native macOS menu bar app and CLI that shows what is listening on localhost, identifies which project or process owns each port, and lets you gently close them.Is this just a GUI, or do I also get a command-line tool?Both: a SwiftUI menu bar app (MenuBarExtra, no Dock icon) and a bundled 'leftopen' CLI with the same inference and safety rules.
Both: a SwiftUI menu bar app (MenuBarExtra, no Dock icon) and a bundled 'leftopen' CLI with the same inference and safety rules.Do I need Homebrew or anything else before trying it?It requires macOS Sonoma (14.0+) on Apple Silicon or Intel; Homebrew is the recommended install path but a manual zip download also works.
It requires macOS Sonoma (14.0+) on Apple Silicon or Intel; Homebrew is the recommended install path but a manual zip download also works.How does it decide when to force-kill a process?It always tries SIGTERM first and re-checks process identity; if the process is still listening after five seconds, closing it again within two minutes escalates to SIGKILL as a deliberate second action.
It always tries SIGTERM first and re-checks process identity; if the process is still listening after five seconds, closing it again within two minutes escalates to SIGKILL as a deliberate second action.Does it work on Intel Macs too, or only Apple Silicon?Yes, it's a universal binary that runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, as long as they're on macOS Sonoma or later.
Yes, it's a universal binary that runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, as long as they're on macOS Sonoma or later.Does it phone home or track anything?No telemetry and no background service by default; the only outbound request is a daily check for the latest GitHub release, which can be disabled in Settings.
No telemetry and no background service by default; the only outbound request is a daily check for the latest GitHub release, which can be disabled in Settings.How does it figure out which project a port belongs to?It walks up from the process's working directory looking for .git, package.json, pyproject.toml, Cargo.toml or go.mod, or resolves the owning .app; it also names global npm/python modules and standalone services like Redis, Postgres or Ollama.
It walks up from the process's working directory looking for .git, package.json, pyproject.toml, Cargo.toml or go.mod, or resolves the owning .app; it also names global npm/python modules and standalone services like Redis, Postgres or Ollama.How is this different from lsof or kill-port?Those tools only report raw PIDs or ambiguous process names, while LeftOpen tracks working directory and project root to show full context, and uses graceful SIGTERM with identity re-verification instead of a blunt kill -9.
Those tools only report raw PIDs or ambiguous process names, while LeftOpen tracks working directory and project root to show full context, and uses graceful SIGTERM with identity re-verification instead of a blunt kill -9.What is the fixed project addresses feature?Powered by a bundled copy of Portless, it gives a dev server a stable local HTTPS URL that stays the same even as its underlying port changes between restarts.
Powered by a bundled copy of Portless, it gives a dev server a stable local HTTPS URL that stays the same even as its underlying port changes between restarts.Can it tell if a port is exposed to my local network?Yes, it distinguishes ports bound only to 127.0.0.1 (local only) from ones on 0.0.0.0 or a LAN address, so you can spot accidental network exposure.
Yes, it distinguishes ports bound only to 127.0.0.1 (local only) from ones on 0.0.0.0 or a LAN address, so you can spot accidental network exposure.What are similar projects?OpenYoink, PureMac, macspace-releases, macos-sysdata, Mole, whatcable, dimble, RemoveMacAI
OpenYoink, PureMac, macspace-releases, macos-sysdata, Mole, whatcable, dimble, RemoveMacAIWhich topics is it in?developer-productivity, localhost, menubar-app, mac, swiftui, macos-app, homebrew, apple-silicon, swift, monitoring, utility, networking
developer-productivity, localhost, menubar-app, mac, swiftui, macos-app, homebrew, apple-silicon, swift, monitoring, utility, networking