Kill Process Plugin

August 16, 2026 · View on GitHub

A plugin for lla that provides an interactive interface for managing and terminating system processes, inspired by Raycast's Kill Process command.

Features

  • Live Fuzzy Search: Real-time search that updates as you type - instantly filter 1000+ processes
  • Interactive Terminal UI: Full-screen interface with arrow key navigation
  • List Running Processes: Display all running processes with detailed information (PID, name, CPU%, memory usage)
  • Smart Ranking: Fuzzy matcher ranks results by relevance score
  • Multi-Select: Choose multiple processes to kill at once
  • Force Kill: Option to forcefully terminate unresponsive processes
  • Cross-Platform: Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows
  • Safety Confirmations: Asks for confirmation before terminating any process
  • Fast & Responsive: Handles large process lists efficiently

Available Actions

list

List all running processes with detailed information.

lla plugin run kill_process list

kill

Interactively select and kill a process with live fuzzy search.

lla plugin run kill_process kill

Features:

  • Real-time fuzzy search - Results update as you type!
  • Type to filter processes instantly (e.g., "chr" matches "Chrome")
  • Navigate with ↑↓ arrow keys
  • Shows up to 20 matching processes with PID, CPU%, and memory usage
  • Press Enter to proceed with filtered results
  • Press Escape to cancel
  • After filtering, interactive multi-select interface to choose processes
  • Confirmation dialog before killing

Example workflow:

  1. Start typing to filter processes in real-time (e.g., "firefox")
  2. Use arrow keys to browse filtered results
  3. Press Enter to select from filtered processes
  4. Choose which processes to kill using multi-select
  5. Confirm before killing

force-kill

Forcefully terminate a process with live fuzzy search (SIGKILL on Unix, /F flag on Windows).

lla plugin run kill_process force-kill

This is useful for unresponsive processes that don't respond to normal termination signals. Includes the same real-time fuzzy search filtering as the regular kill action.

kill-by-name

Kill processes matching a specific name pattern.

lla plugin run kill_process kill-by-name -- "chrome"

kill-by-pid

Kill a specific process by its PID.

lla plugin run kill_process kill-by-pid -- "1234"

help

Display help information about the plugin.

lla plugin run kill_process help

Platform-Specific Behavior

macOS

  • Uses kill -15 (SIGTERM) for normal termination
  • Uses kill -9 (SIGKILL) for force termination
  • May require sudo for system processes or force kill

Linux

  • Uses kill -15 (SIGTERM) for normal termination
  • Uses kill -9 (SIGKILL) for force termination
  • May require elevated privileges for processes owned by other users

Windows

  • Uses taskkill /PID for normal termination
  • Uses taskkill /F /PID for force termination
  • May require administrator privileges

Configuration

The plugin uses a configuration file located at ~/.config/lla/plugins/kill_process.toml.

Default Configuration

[colors]
success = "bright_green"
info = "bright_blue"
error = "bright_red"
warning = "bright_yellow"
process_name = "bright_cyan"
pid = "bright_magenta"

Safety Notes

  • Always double-check before killing processes, especially system processes
  • Force kill should be used as a last resort as it doesn't allow processes to clean up
  • Killing critical system processes may cause system instability
  • Some processes may require elevated privileges (sudo/admin) to terminate

Examples

Kill a specific application

lla plugin run kill_process kill-by-name -- "Firefox"

Force kill an unresponsive process

lla plugin run kill_process force-kill
# Then select the process from the interactive list

List all processes

lla plugin run kill_process list

Troubleshooting

"Permission denied" errors

  • On macOS/Linux: Try running with sudo or ensure you have permission to kill the process
  • On Windows: Run your terminal as Administrator

Process still running after kill

  • Some processes may take time to terminate
  • Try using force-kill for stubborn processes
  • Check if the process is a system-protected process

License

This plugin is part of the lla project and follows the same license.