Bosun is a native macOS menu bar app that shows you everything your Mac has open to the network, right when you need it, with no Terminal digging required.
It runs lsof in the background to list every listening port, then goes further than a simple port scanner: it maps each port to the process actually holding it, and adds context most tools miss.
What it shows you:
- Every listening port, grouped by process, with PID, binary path, and working directory
- Active ngrok and Cloudflare tunnels (named + quick), with the public URL inline
- Native macOS VPN connection status
- Docker containers, mapped by container name and image instead of a generic docker-proxy PID
- SSH -L port forwards, parsed automatically
- Per-process CPU, memory, and uptime on demand
- Persistent port history with configurable retention
What it lets you do:
- Kill any process with one click (graceful SIGTERM, SIGKILL fallback if it lingers)
- Kill All with confirmation, for clearing out a cluttered dev environment fast
- Copy localhost:PORT or open it in the browser instantly
- Toggle everything from a configurable global hotkey
Bosun is built for developers running local dev servers, Docker containers, and tunnels day to day, who need to know instantly what's bound to which port, what's exposing their machine to the network, and what's safe to kill.
Pure Swift, no Electron, no third-party dependencies beyond Sparkle for auto-updates. One-time purchase, 14-day free trial, no subscription.
Port Scanning
Detects all listening TCP/UDP ports in real time via lsof, no manual terminal digging.
One Click Kill
Terminate any process by port with SIGTERMโSIGKILL fallback; Kill All with confirmation.
Menubar Native App
Lives in the macOS menu bar, zero dock clutter, instant popover access.
Port Range Filtering
Monitor custom ranges (e.g. 3000-9999) and exclude noisy system ports.
Tunnel Detection
Auto-detects ngrok and Cloudflare tunnels (named + quick), shows public URL inline.
Docker Awareness
Maps docker-proxy PIDs to container name + image instead of generic process names.
VPN Status Indicator
Shows active native macOS VPN connections (IKEv2/L2TP/IPSec) at a glance.
SSH Tunnel Detection
Identifies -L port-forwarding rules and displays the remote target.
Port History
Logs first-seen/last-seen per port with configurable retention.
Process Info Panel
CPU, memory, uptime, full command args per process on expand.
Global hotkey
Configurable shortcut to toggle the popover from anywhere.
New Port Notifications
System alert when a new port opens (skips the first scan).
Copy and Open
One click to copy localhost:PORT or open it in the browser.
Auto updates
Sparkle-based updates, EdDSA-signed, no manual reinstalls.
Swift 5.9+, SwiftUI + AppKit (NSStatusItem), lsof for port scanning, Sparkle for auto-updates, Polar for licensing/payments. No Electron, no third-party dependencies beyond Sparkle.
Developers who run local dev servers, Docker containers, and tunnels (ngrok/Cloudflare) daily and need instant visibility into what's bound to which port, without opening Terminal or Activity Monitor.
Bosun is the only menu bar tool that unifies port scanning with network context: it maps ngrok/Cloudflare tunnels, native VPN status, Docker containers, and SSH -L forwards to the process actually holding each port, then lets you kill it in one click. Most alternatives only do one of those things.
iStat Menus monitors the system but not tunnels or containers. Little Snitch blocks connections but doesn't show you what's already running. Seeports comes closest (port scanning for Docker/K8s/dev servers) but lacks tunnel and VPN detection. Bosun covers all of it natively, with zero third-party dependencies, no Electron overhead, and a one-time price instead of a subscription.
Built out of a personal need: constantly losing track of which local dev server, Docker container, or forgotten tunnel was holding a port, and resorting to lsof in Terminal every time. Bosun turns that into a native, always-visible menu bar view.
Bosun is a solid, mature open-source monitoring and alerting system built by Stack Exchange, offering powerful and flexible alert definitions, but it has a steep learning curve and has seen slower development activity in recent years compared to newer observability tools.
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