Witr – Explain why a process is running on your Linux system

In plain words

Witr is a Linux command-line tool that traces running processes and ports back to their origins, showing who started them and what keeps them running. Designed for system administrators and developers troubleshooting production systems, it presents the responsibility chain in a readable format suitable for debugging under time pressure. The tool is intentionally minimal and focused, currently at version 0.1.0.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

ps, top and lsof tell you what is running. witr tells you why. Point it at a process, PID, port, container or file and it traces the chain that explains it - systemd, supervisor, shell or cron - plus who started it, when, from where, and the warnings worth knowing. Run it bare for an interactive TUI with Processes, Ports, Containers and Locks tabs. Or script it: --short for a one-line chain, --json with real exit codes. One static Go binary for Linux, macOS, Windows and BSD.

Why is this running? Trace any process, port, container, or file back to what started it - CLI + TUI. - GitHub - pranshuparmar/witr: Why is this running? Trace any process, port, container, or file back to what started it - CLI + TUI.

In the maker’s words, at launch

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…

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