Ports Controller is a developer-friendly Windows desktop application designed to monitor and manage every open TCP/UDP port on your system. With real-time insights into which processes are using specific ports and the ability to terminate them directly from the UI, it simplifies network troubleshooting and resource management.
Key Features:
Live Port Monitoring: Real-time view of all active TCP/UDP connections, including local/remote addresses, state, PID, and process details.
Search & Filter: Quickly find ports or processes using search, segmented filters for TCP/UDP, state, and sortable columns.
**One-Click Kill Process:**Terminate processes directly from the UI with an inline confirmation to prevent accidental actions.
Process Details: Deep dive into process information, including exe path, command line, user, start time, memory usage, CPU load, and parent process.
**Watched Ports & Notifications:**Set up alerts for specific ports (e.g., 3000, 8080) with toast notifications when they are occupied or released.
**System Tray Accessibility:**Minimize to the system tray for continuous monitoring; right-click to view a quick glance of listening ports.
Target Audience and Benefits:
Ideal for developers, sysadmins, and IT professionals who need to manage network resources efficiently. It eliminates the hassle of command-line tools like netstat by providing a visual, interactive solution for port management and process termination.
Ports Controller is available via Winget, allowing seamless installation and deployment using the Winget command line. This tool integrates seamlessly into workflows, offering a user-friendly alternative to traditional network monitoring utilities while maintaining high performance and reliability.
README
Ports Controller
A glass, Apple-style Windows desktop app to see every open port, who's using it, and kill it in one click.
Ever hit EADDRINUSE: port 3000 already in use and had to dig through netstat -ano and taskkill? Ports Controller replaces that dance with a live, filterable table of every TCP/UDP socket on your machine — with the owning process next to it and a Kill button.
Features
Live port table — every TCP/UDP connection with local/remote address, state, PID and process name. Auto-refreshes (1s/2s/5s or paused); new connections flash green, closed ones fade out.
Search & filter — type a port, PID, process name or address; segmented TCP/UDP filter; state filter; sortable columns.
One-click kill — per-row Kill button with inline confirm. If Windows denies access, the app offers to restart itself as Administrator.
Process details — click any row: exe path, command line, user, start time, memory, CPU, parent process.
Watch & notify — pin ports you care about (3000, 8080, …). A Windows toast fires when something starts or stops using them. Watches persist across restarts.
System tray — closing the window hides to the tray. Right-click the tray icon for a live glance of listening ports (your dev ports first); click one to open the app filtered to it.
Glass UI — translucent acrylic window with a fast, minimal interface. ~10 MB portable exe, native performance (Tauri + Rust).
Install
One-liner (PowerShell)
Downloads the latest release and installs it per-user (no admin needed):
Scripted — clones, builds, and installs in one go, and offers to install any missing prerequisite (Git, Node.js, Rust) via winget:
git clone https://github.com/Magicianhax/ports-controller.git
cd ports-controller
.\install.ps1 -FromSource
Manual — requirements: Node.js 20+, Rust (MSVC toolchain), Windows 10/11:
git clone https://github.com/Magicianhax/ports-controller.git
cd ports-controller
npm install
npm run tauri build
Outputs land in src-tauri/target/release/ (portable exe) and src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/ (installer). For a dev build with hot reload, use npm run tauri dev.
Usage tips
Killing protected processes: the app runs unelevated by default. Killing a SYSTEM/service process shows an "Access denied" banner with a one-click Restart as Administrator option.
Quitting: the ✕ button hides to the tray (so port watching keeps working). To exit fully, right-click the tray icon → Quit.
Toast notifications are most reliable with the installer (Windows wants a Start Menu shortcut for toasts from portable exes).