Aperture

<p align="center"> <img width="150px" heigth="150px" src="ApertureLogo.png"> </p> <h3 align="center">Aperture</h3> <h4 align="center">Diagnostic tui for Windows power users</h4> <br> <p align="center"><a href="https://github.com/stylebending/Aperture/releases"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/stylebending/Aperture/total?color=darkgreen&logo=github&label=GitHub%20Downloads&style=for-the-badge&labelColor=darkgreen"></a></p> <br> <h3 align="center">Quick Navigation</h3> <p align="center"><a href="#quick-start-guide"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/🚀-Quick%20Start%20Guide-darkblue?style=for-the-badge&labelColor=darkblue"></a> <a href="#keybindings"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/🎹-Keybindings-darkblue?style=for-the-badge&labelColor=darkblue"></a></p>

Installation (standalone/portable)

Download and run the latest release (1 MB executable)

That's all! Run as admin to access all features.

If you want to run the aperture command from any terminal:

Just move Aperture.exe to a folder that is already in your user's PATH
Then restart your terminal and run aperture from anywhere!

Installation (package managers)

WinGet

winget install aperture

Scoop

Scoop requires 100 GitHub stars or 2000 downloads to be in their Extras bucket, for now please use this installation command:
scoop install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stylebending/scoop-bucket/refs/heads/main/bucket/Aperture.json

Chocolatey

choco install aperture

Installing with these package managers automatically adds Aperture to your path. After running one of those installation commands, just close and re-open your terminal and you'll immediately be able to run aperture from any terminal.

Usage

aperture

Screenshots

Locker Tab - Process Management

┌────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────┐
│ Aperture [Locker] [Controller] [Nexus] │ Keys              │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ → Find and kill processes holding file │ Navigation        │
│   locks                                │ j/k     Move      │
│                                        │ ↑/↓     Move      │
│ ┌────────────────────────────────────┐ │ C-d/u   Page      │
│ │ Processes (Locker) [CPU▼] [45/230] │ │ Tab     SwitchTab │
│ │                                    │ │                   │
│ │ 1234  chrome.exe   15.2%   245.6MB │ │ Actions           │
│ │ 5678  firefox.exe   8.1%   189.2MB │ │ /       Search    │
│ │ 9012  notepad.exe   0.5%     4.2MB │ │ s/S     Sort      │
│ │ 3456  code.exe      3.2%    56.8MB │ │ f       FindLocks │
│ │ 7890  explorer.exe  2.1%    78.3MB │ │ K       Kill      │
│ │ ...                                │ │ r       Refresh   │
│ └────────────────────────────────────┘ │ Esc     ClearFilt │
│ Sort: CPU ▼                            │                   │
└────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────┘

Controller Tab - Service Management

┌────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────┐
│ ... [Controller] ...                   │ Keys              │
├────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ → Start, stop, and manage Windows      │ Navigation        │
│   services                             │ j/k     Move      │
│                                        │ ...               │
│ ┌────────────────────────────────────┐ │                   │
│ │ Services (Controller) [Status▲]    │ │ Actions           │
│ │                                    │ │ /       Search    │
│ │ Windows Update        Running ...  │ │ s/S     Sort      │
│ │ Print Spooler         Running ...  │ │ Enter   Toggle    │
│ │ Bluetooth Service     Stopped ...  │ │ r       Refresh   │
│ │ ...                                │ │ Esc     ClearFilt │
│ └────────────────────────────────────┘ │                   │
│ Sort: Status ▲                         │                   │
└────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────┘

File Lock Search Modal

┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Find Locking Processes         │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Path: C:\Users\Me\Documents\file.txt   │
│                                        │
│   Locking processes:                   │
│                                        │
│     PID:   5678  notepad.exe           │
│   ▶ PID:   9012  chrome.exe            │
│     PID:  12345  excel.exe             │
│                                        │
│ [/] Edit Path  [Enter] Search          │
│ [j/k] Navigate  [K] Kill  [Esc] Close  │
└────────────────────────────────────────┘

Note: Press / to enter input mode and type a file path. Enter a folder path to scan all files in that directory.

Acknowledgements

This project wouldn't be possible without:

• Rust - Systems programming language making Windows API access safe and fast
• ratatui - The beautiful terminal user interface framework powering Aperture
• crossterm - Cross-platform terminal manipulation and event handling
• tokio - The asynchronous runtime enabling responsive UI updates
• windows-rs - Microsoft's official Windows API bindings for Rust
• Vim / Neovim - For the motion-based navigation philosophy

Quick Start Guide

Find What's Locking a File

Can't delete a file because it's "in use"? Aperture can find the culprit:

1. Press f to open the File Lock Search modal
2. Press / to enter input mode
3. Type the full path to the file (e.g., C:\Users\You\file.txt)
4. Press Enter to search
5. See which processes have the file locked
6. Navigate with j/k and press K to kill the process (requires admin)

Tip: Enter a folder path to scan all files in that directory and find all locks.

Kill a Runaway Process

1. Switch to Locker tab (press Tab until you see "Locker")
2. Sort by CPU usage: Press s until title shows "CPU", then S to toggle direction
3. Find the process using high CPU
4. Press K to kill it (requires admin privileges)

Manage Services

1. Switch to Controller tab
2. Sort by Status: Press s until title shows "Status"
3. Find the service you want to control
4. Press Enter to toggle start/stop (requires admin)

View Process Tree

See hierarchical process relationships (parent/child):

1. Switch to Locker tab
2. Press t to toggle Tree View
3. Navigate the tree with j/k
4. Press Space to expand/collapse nodes (> / v indicators)
5. Search/filter still works in tree view - shows matching processes and their ancestor chain

View Process Details

See detailed information about a process:

1. Switch to Locker tab
2. Navigate to a process with j/k
3. Press d to open Process Details modal
4. View loaded modules, parent PID, CPU, and memory usage
5. Press K in the modal to kill the process (requires admin)
6. Press Esc or q to close

Export Data

Export all data to JSON or CSV format:

1. Press e to open the Export modal
2. Press j to export as JSON
3. Press c to export as CSV
4. Files are saved to your Documents folder with timestamps
5. Press Esc or q to cancel

Export includes: All processes, services, and network connections from all tabs

Filter and Search

• Press / to enter search mode
• Type to filter the current list
• Press Enter to apply the filter and exit search mode
• Press Esc to clear the filter

Example workflow:

1. In Locker tab, press /
2. Type "chrome" - list filters to show only Chrome processes
3. Navigate with j/k
4. Press Esc to clear filter and see all processes again

Navigate Large Lists

• j/k or ↑/↓ - Move one item at a time
• Ctrl+D - Page down (jump 10 items)
• Ctrl+U - Page up (jump 10 items)
• gg - Jump to first item
• G - Jump to last item
• Tab/Shift+Tab - Switch between tabs

Sort Data

Each tab supports different sorting:

Locker (Processes):

• Press s to cycle: Name → PID → CPU → Memory
• Press S (Shift+s) to toggle ascending/descending
• Default: CPU descending (highest first)

Controller (Services):

• Press s to cycle: Name → Status → Type
• Press S to toggle order
• Default: Status ascending (Running first)

Nexus (Connections):

• Press s to cycle: State → PID → Protocol → Process
• Press S to toggle order
• Default: State ascending (ESTABLISHED first)

Keybindings

| Category | Key | Action | Context | Description | |----------|-----|--------|---------|-------------| | Navigation | Tab / Shift+Tab | Switch tabs | Global | Move between Locker/Controller/Nexus | | | j / k | Navigate | Lists | Move down/up one item | | | ↑ / ↓ | Navigate | Lists | Alternative to j/k | | | Ctrl+D | Page down | Lists | Jump down 10 items | | | Ctrl+U | Page up | Lists | Jump up 10 items | | | gg | Jump to first | Lists | Jump to first item | | | G | Jump to last | Lists | Jump to last item | | Actions | / | Toggle search | Global | Enter/exit search mode | | | Esc | Clear/Cancel | Global | Clear filter, exit search, or close modal | | | s | Cycle sort | Global | Change sort key (Name, PID, Status, etc.) | | | S (Shift+s) | Toggle order | Global | Switch ascending/descending | | | r | Refresh | Global | Force refresh current tab | | | f | Find locks | Global | Open file lock search modal | | | e | Export | Global | Open export format modal | | Locker | t | Tree view | Locker only | Toggle hierarchical process tree view | | | Space | Expand/Collapse | Locker only | Expand/collapse tree node (tree mode only) | | | d | Details | Locker only | Show p