macos-process-tree

A native macOS process tree viewer built with Tauri 2. Browse, search, and manage system processes through an interactive hierarchical tree with real-time resource monitoring.

Problem

The built-in macOS Activity Monitor displays processes as a flat list, making it difficult to understand parent-child relationships between processes. It also lacks bulk process management -- killing multiple processes requires opening each one individually. This app presents a collapsible tree view with real-time sparkline charts, regex/fuzzy search, and multi-select bulk kill -- all rendered in a native macOS window.

Features

• Hierarchical process tree -- expand and collapse process groups to navigate the full process hierarchy
• Real-time sparkline charts -- inline CPU and memory usage graphs that update continuously
• Regex and fuzzy search -- filter processes by name using regular expressions or fuzzy matching (powered by Fuse.js)
• Multi-select with bulk kill -- select multiple processes and send SIGTERM or SIGKILL with a confirmation dialog
• Virtualized rendering -- handles thousands of processes smoothly using TanStack Virtual
• Native macOS title bar -- uses Tauri's window overlay for a seamless macOS look and feel

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Runtime	Tauri 2 (Rust backend)
System	sysinfo crate
Frontend	React 19 + TypeScript
Compiler	React Compiler (babel-plugin-react-compiler)
Styling	Tailwind CSS 4 + shadcn/ui
Data	TanStack Query / Table / Virtual
Bundler	Vite 7
Testing	Vitest
Package	pnpm

Installation

1. Download the latest .dmg from the Releases page.
2. Open the .dmg and drag macos-process-tree into your /Applications folder.
3. On first launch, macOS Gatekeeper may block the app because it is not notarized. To allow it:
   • Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
   • Scroll down to the Security section.
   • Click Open Anyway next to the blocked app message.
   • Alternatively, right-click the app in Finder, select Open, and confirm in the dialog.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• pnpm 9+
• Rust (install via rustup)
• Xcode Command Line Tools -- run xcode-select --install if not already installed

Installation

git clone https://github.com/doryski/macos-process-tree.git
cd macos-process-tree
pnpm install

Development

pnpm tauri dev

This starts the Vite dev server and opens the Tauri window with hot module replacement.

Build

pnpm tauri build

Produces a native .app bundle and .dmg installer in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Testing

pnpm vitest run

Project Structure

macos-process-tree/
  src/                    # React frontend
    components/           # UI components (ProcessTable, Toolbar, Sparkline, etc.)
    hooks/                # Custom hooks (useProcessTree, useSelection, useSparklineHistory)
    lib/                  # Utilities (tree-utils, filter, fuzzy-search, format)
    types/                # TypeScript type definitions
  src-tauri/              # Tauri / Rust backend
    src/
      commands.rs         # Tauri command handlers
      process_tree.rs     # Process tree construction via sysinfo
      types.rs            # Rust data structures
  tests/                  # Vitest unit tests

Platform Support

• macOS -- fully supported (primary target)
• Linux / Windows -- not supported. The app uses macOS-specific Tauri window features and targets macOS process semantics.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please read the Contributing Guide before opening a pull request.

License

MIT