#!/usr/bin/env bash
help_text="
NAME
find-kill - Find and kill processes interactively
USAGE
find-kill [options] <parameters>
OPTIONS
-h|--help
Show help text.
DESCRIPTION
This script finds processes matching a given name or pattern
and prompts the user to kill each one individually.
AUTHOR
mjnurse.github.io - 2026
"
help_line="Find and kill processes interactively"
web_desc_line="Find and kill processes interactively"
# set -x # for debugging
# Terminal Colours
cdef="\e[39m" # default colour
cbla="\e[30m"; cgra="\e[90m"; clgra="\e[37m"; cwhi="\e[97m"
cred="\e[31m"; cgre="\e[32m"; cyel="\e[33m"
cblu="\e[34m"; cmag="\e[35m"; ccya="\e[36m";
clred="\e[91m"; clgre="\e[92m"; clyel="\e[93m"
clblu="\e[94m"; clmag="\e[95m"; clcya="\e[96m"
function cecho {
color=c$1; shift
echo -e "${!color}$*${cdef}"
}
try="Try ${0##*/} -h for more information"
tmp="${help_text##*USAGE}"
usage=$(echo "Usage: ${tmp%%OPTIONS*}" | tr -d "\n" | sed "s/ */ /g")
if [[ "$1" == "" ]]; then
echo "${usage}"
echo "${try}"
exit 1
fi
while [[ "$1" != "" ]]; do
case $1 in
-h|--help)
echo "$help_text"
exit
;;
?*)
break
;;
esac
shift
done
ps -edf | grep "$1" | grep -v grep | grep -v "$0" > /tmp/$$.lst
if [[ ! -s /tmp/$$.lst ]]; then
cecho red "No processes found matching '$1'"
rm /tmp/$$.lst
exit 1
fi
cecho cya "Processes matching '$1':"
cat /tmp/$$.lst | \
sed 's/^\([^ ]* *[^ ]*\) *[^ ]* *[^ ]* *[^ ]* *[^ ]* *[^ ]* *\([^ ]*\).*/ \1 \2/' | \
grep --color "$1"
echo
while read -r line; do
pid=$(echo "$line" | awk '{print $2}')
pname=$(echo "$line" | awk '{print $8}')
printf "Kill PID ${pid} (${pname}) [yNq]? "
read -r yn </dev/tty
if [[ "${yn^}" == "Q" ]]; then
cecho yel "Quitting"
break
fi
if [[ "${yn^}" == "Y" ]]; then
cecho yel "Killing PID ${pid} (${pname})"
kill -9 "$pid"
fi
done < /tmp/$$.lst
rm /tmp/$$.lst