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>log in to commentI built aimon to keep an eye on AI coding agents that leave orphaned processes behind. It shows a TUI tree, warns when memory pressure rises, and automatically kills those stray workers while logging each action. Let me know if the UI or the auto‑kill policy needs tweaking
aimon is a tiny TUI that monitors AI coding agents, warns of memory pressure, and safely kills orphaned processes.
- for
- Developers using terminal-based AI coding agents who need process visibility and safety.
- pricing
- open source
- license
- GPL-3.0
Key features
- Agent-aware tree — Detects and groups processes from many AI agents like Claude, Codex, Gemini CLI, and more.
- Auto-kill policy — Orphaned workers are terminated after a grace period or under critical memory pressure.
- Confirmed kills — Interactive confirmation popup ensures the correct process is killed.
- Receipts — Each kill logs a SIGTERM then SIGKILL and sends a native notification.
- Cross-platform — Works on macOS, Linux and Windows with appropriate pressure-level APIs.
- Tiny footprint — ~600 KB binary, ~6 MB RSS, negligible CPU when idle.
Use cases
- Detect and stop runaway test runners that keep running after a failed AI-driven test session.
- Prevent memory exhaustion caused by orphaned build workers spawned by AI agents.
- Provide a clear audit log of killed processes for debugging AI-agent behavior.
aimon vs alternatives
 aimon |  Aider |  Gemini CLI |  Cursor |  OpenCode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Process monitoring & auto-kill for AI agents | AI pair programming in terminal | Google's terminal AI agent | AI code editor | Open-source terminal AI agent |
| Pricing | Open source | Free | Free | Subscription | Free |
| DevHunt upvotes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Launched | Jan 2031 | — | — | — | — |
- aimon vs Aider: Aider is an AI pair-programming tool but does not provide process monitoring or auto-kill.
- aimon vs Gemini CLI: Gemini CLI runs AI agents; aimon adds visibility and safety for those agents.
- aimon vs Cursor: Cursor is an AI-powered editor, whereas aimon focuses on monitoring external agent processes.
- aimon vs OpenCode: OpenCode runs AI agents but lacks built-in orphan detection and kill logging.
aimon FAQ
How does aimon identify which processes belong to an AI agent?+
It scans process trees for known agent signatures such as Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, and groups children under the detected agent.
Can aimon kill any process?+
Protected processes like shells and editors are excluded; only agent-spawned workers are targeted.
What happens when a kill is confirmed?+
aimon sends SIGTERM, waits 2 seconds, then sends SIGKILL, logs the action and shows a native notification.
Is aimon usable on headless servers?+
Yes, the `--daemon` flag runs aimon in headless mode without the interactive UI.
How does aimon handle memory-pressure warnings?+
It reads kernel pressure levels on macOS, PSI on Linux, and a fallback on Windows, warning before critical thresholds.
Summarized by DevHunt from carlosdanieldev.github.io · Oct 15, 2026. Details may change; check the official site.
