# What the Port?

Side project · macOS · 2026

[View repository](https://github.com/tomjohndesign/what-the-port)

I built What the Port? because I was tired of local servers slowing down my laptop. I wanted to see what was running, how long it had been there, and how much memory and CPU it was using, without having to figure out what each process belonged to.

![What the Port? landing page demo](https://www.tomjohn.design/videos/what-the-port/landing-page.mp4)

It’s a free, open source Mac menu bar app. I can open a local URL, get to a Vercel preview, or go back to the Codex, Claude Code or Conductor session that started a server. There are shortcuts to resume in my terminal too, which is helpful when I have a bunch of projects going at once.

I added charts to see resource spikes, notifications when a server’s memory use gets out of hand, and cleanup for servers I’ve forgotten about. Cleanup can ask first or automatically stop old servers, while databases are protected by default. I use it constantly while developing this portfolio, and it’s become really valuable for me.

## The terminal and the website

After the menu bar app, I decided to add a terminal UI as well. Running `wtp` gives me the same server list and cleanup in the terminal, and I made it possible to [try that on the website](https://whattheport.dev/#terminal). I set up rules to keep the website’s demo and the real app up to date with each other.

![My demo of the What the Port? terminal UI](https://www.tomjohn.design/videos/what-the-port/terminal.mp4)

I’ve also added Simplified Chinese, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew, Japanese and Ukrainian alongside English. Those are interface translations for the Mac app; the terminal UI is still in English.

![What the Port? settings in Simplified Chinese](https://www.tomjohn.design/images/content/what-the-port/settings-chinese.webp)
![What the Port? onboarding in Japanese](https://www.tomjohn.design/images/content/what-the-port/onboarding-japanese.webp)

I shared [the Paper file I used to design it](https://app.paper.design/file/01M3A46SYP52NAK2H9AQEAFJA9/p-1-0) along with the launch, so the design work is there too.

![The What the Port? design boards in Paper](https://www.tomjohn.design/images/content/what-the-port/paper.webp)

## Other people are working on it

By the time I gave this update, there had already been four forks, and community members had started working on Linux and Windows versions. People are opening issues, reporting bugs and adding functionality. It’s really cool to have an open source project I’ve launched that people are actively contributing to, and I’m really happy with how it’s turned out.

I might add some paid features in the future, or make the donation option more obvious, but I haven’t decided yet. There’s already a donate link in the app, and [you can support the project here](https://donate.stripe.com/eVqbJ18HS8MBgva8gn18c00) too.

## Work and media

- [What the Port? landing page demo](https://www.tomjohn.design/videos/what-the-port/landing-page.mp4)
- [My demo of the What the Port? terminal UI](https://www.tomjohn.design/videos/what-the-port/terminal.mp4)
- [What the Port? settings in Simplified Chinese](https://www.tomjohn.design/images/content/what-the-port/settings-chinese.webp)
- [What the Port? onboarding in Japanese](https://www.tomjohn.design/images/content/what-the-port/onboarding-japanese.webp)
- [The What the Port? design boards in Paper](https://www.tomjohn.design/images/content/what-the-port/paper.webp)