Somo: Your Go-To Tool for Real-Time Port Monitoring
Ever found yourself running netstat or lsof on repeat, trying to track which application has a port locked? Or maybe you're developing a service and need a quick, visual way to see network activity as it happens. Manually checking ports is a common but tedious task that breaks your flow.
Somo is a new open-source tool that solves this. It’s a dead-simple, real-time port monitor that gives you a live, refreshing view of what’s happening on your machine's network ports, all in your terminal.
What It Does
In a nutshell, Somo continuously scans your system's network ports and displays the results in a clean, auto-updating table. It shows you the protocol (TCP/UDP), local address, port number, process ID (PID), and the name of the process that owns the connection. Instead of running a command over and over, you run Somo once and watch the changes live.
Why It's Cool
The beauty of Somo is in its simplicity and focus. It doesn't try to be a full-blown network diagnostics suite; it does one job and does it well.
- Real-Time Updates: The table refreshes automatically, so you see new connections and closed ports as they happen without lifting a finger.
- Process Visibility: Immediately see which PID and application is bound to a port. This is invaluable for debugging "port already in use" errors.
- Zero Configuration: It just works. Run the binary, and it starts monitoring. No flags or config files are needed for basic use.
- It's a Single Binary: The releases are self-contained binaries. Download it, make it executable, and run it. There's no dependency hell to get through.
It’s the kind of tool you might not need every day, but when you do, it saves you from a few minutes of manual frustration.
How to Try It
Getting started with Somo is straightforward.
- Head over to the Somo releases page on GitHub.
- Download the latest binary for your operating system (Linux, macOS, or Windows).
- On Unix-based systems (Linux/macOS), you'll probably need to make it executable:
chmod +x somo - Run it from your terminal:
./somo
That's it. You'll see the live-updating table instantly. To quit, just hit Ctrl+C.
Final Thoughts
Somo feels like a tool that was born out of a genuine need to eliminate a small but annoying problem. It’s not overly complex, which is its greatest strength. For developers working on web services, APIs, or any network-dependent application, keeping Somo in your ~/bin/ directory is a smart move. Next time you're wrestling with port conflicts or just curious about network activity, give it a try. It might just become a quiet part of your essential toolkit.
Check out the project on GitHub to star it or contribute: github.com/theopfr/somo
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