procs — A Modern Replacement for ps Written in Rust

Introduction

ps aux is ubiquitous but its columns, flags, and BSD/SysV dialects are a minefield. procs offers a single, consistent, colorized view of running processes with sensible defaults: human-readable CPU/RAM, hostname resolution for TCP sockets, Docker container mapping, and a keyword filter that actually works.

What procs Does

• Lists processes with default columns: PID, user, RSS/VSZ, CPU, command.
• Filters by keyword, user, or PID range.
• Shows tree view with --tree.
• Inserts optional columns for TCP/UDP ports, Docker container, cgroup, ctxsw.
• Works on Linux, macOS, Windows.

Architecture Overview

procs reads /proc on Linux, sysctl on macOS, and the Windows management APIs. Columns are declarative via ~/.config/procs/config.toml, and the rendering pipeline tokenizes, sorts, and paints with termcolor. A single Rust binary means no Python/Perl runtime required.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Install via brew, cargo, apt, dnf, scoop, winget.
• ~/.config/procs/config.toml customizes columns, colors, themes.
• Pager integration via PAGER=less or built-in --pager.
• JSON output for dashboards: procs --json.
• Works inside containers if /proc is mounted.

Key Features

• Multi-OS (Linux, macOS, Windows) with consistent UX.
• Rich filters and sorting.
• Optional TCP/UDP port, Docker, cgroup columns.
• Tree view for parent/child exploration.
• Pager, watch mode (--watch), JSON export.

Comparison with Similar Tools

• ps — POSIX classic; cryptic flags.
• htop — interactive TUI with CPU bars; heavier.
• btop — even fancier TUI; same interactive niche.
• pgrep/pkill — purpose-built; procs covers both plus display.
• glances — Python monitor; slower startup.

FAQ

Q: Can it show Docker containers? A: Yes — --insert docker adds the container column.

Q: Does it work in restricted containers? A: Requires /proc access; privileged containers or hostPID=true.

Q: Watch mode rate? A: --watch-interval 1 seconds.

Q: Windows support? A: Yes — columns adapt to NT APIs.

Sources

• https://github.com/dalance/procs