PSG - Process Search with Grep

An enhanced process search utility that improves upon traditional ps | grep workflows with advanced filtering, sorting, and display options.

Features

• Smart Self-Filtering: Automatically excludes the psg process itself from results using PID-based filtering
• Exact Process Matching: Use -e flag to match exact process names (e.g., find only "bash" not "/bin/bash")
• Custom Field Display: Select which process information fields to display
• Flexible Sorting: Sort results by any field (CPU, memory, PID, etc.)
• Color Highlighting: Automatic color highlighting of matched patterns
• Regular Expression Support: Full regex pattern matching capability
• Case-Insensitive Search: Optional case-insensitive searching
• Multiple Search Terms: Search for multiple processes in one command
• Bash Completion: Tab completion for options and process names

Installation

Quick Install

From GitHub

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/psg.git
cd psg

# Copy to system path
sudo cp psg /usr/local/bin/psg
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/psg

# Install bash completion (optional)
sudo cp .bash_completion /etc/bash_completion.d/psg

Direct Download

# Download directly
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/psg/main/psg
sudo mv psg /usr/local/bin/psg
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/psg

Manual Install

# Make executable
chmod +x psg

# Add to PATH or create alias
echo "alias psg='$(pwd)/psg'" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Usage

psg [OPTIONS] keyword...

Options

Option	Long Form	Description
-f	--fields	Specify which fields to display (comma-separated)
-s	--sort	Sort output by specified field
-e	--exact	Match exact process name only
-r	--regex	Treat keywords as regular expressions
-c	--case	Case-sensitive search (default: insensitive)
-n	--no-color	Disable colored output
-q	--quiet	Don't print header line
-v	--verbose	Print header line (default)
-h	--help	Show help message
--		Pass remaining options to ps command

Available Fields

• Process Info: pid, ppid, pgid, tty
• User Info: user, ruser, group, rgroup
• Performance: pcpu, pmem, nice, vsz, rss
• Time: etime, time
• Command: comm, args
• State: stat

Examples

Basic Search

# Find all bash processes
psg bash

# Find all python processes
psg python

# Search for multiple processes
psg bash python node

Exact Matching

# Find only processes named exactly "bash" (not /bin/bash)
psg -e bash

# Find exactly "nginx" master process
psg -e nginx

Custom Field Display

# Show only PID, user, CPU%, and command
psg -f pid,user,pcpu,args firefox

# Minimal display with PID and command name only
psg -f pid,comm chrome

# Detailed memory information
psg -f pid,user,pmem,vsz,rss,args java

Sorting Results

# Sort by CPU usage (highest first)
psg -s pcpu

# Sort by memory usage
psg -s pmem chrome

# Sort by elapsed time
psg -s etime

Advanced Filtering

# Case-sensitive search
psg -c Docker

# Regular expression search
psg -r 'python[23]'
psg -r '^/usr/bin/.*sh$'

# Combine options
psg -f pid,pcpu,args -s pcpu -r 'node|npm'

Process Management

# Find and kill a process
psg firefox  # Find PID
kill $(psg -q -f pid firefox)

# Monitor specific processes
watch -n 2 "psg -f pid,pcpu,pmem,args -s pcpu java"

# Count processes by name
psg -q postgres | wc -l

System Administration

# Find all processes by a user
psg -f pid,user,pcpu,pmem,args . | grep username

# Find high CPU consumers
psg -s pcpu -f pid,user,pcpu,args | head -20

# Find processes on specific terminal
psg -f pid,tty,user,args . | grep pts/1

# Pass options to ps
psg -- -u root nginx

Advanced Features

PID-Based Filtering

PSG uses intelligent PID-based filtering to exclude itself from search results. This works reliably even when:

• Called via different paths (./psg, /usr/local/bin/psg)
• Invoked through shell scripts
• Running multiple instances simultaneously

Exact Match Mode

The exact match mode (-e) uses the comm field from ps, which contains only the program name without path or arguments. This is perfect for finding specific daemons or services.

Field Management

PSG dynamically manages ps output fields:

• Automatically adds required fields for internal processing
• Removes internal fields from final output
• Preserves original field order and formatting

Troubleshooting

No Results Found

• Check if the process name is spelled correctly
• Try without exact match flag (-e)
• Use case-insensitive search (default)

Permission Denied

• Some process information requires root access
• Use sudo psg for system processes

Performance Issues

• For large result sets, limit fields with -f
• Use specific search terms instead of broad patterns
• Pipe to head or tail for limiting output

Completion Not Working

# Source the completion file
source /etc/bash_completion.d/psg
# Or
source ~/.bash_completion

Comparison with Traditional Methods

Task	Traditional	PSG
Find firefox	ps aux | grep firefox | grep -v grep	psg firefox
Find by exact name	ps aux | grep '^nginx '	psg -e nginx
Sort by CPU	ps aux | grep app | sort -nrk 3	psg -s pcpu app
Custom fields	ps -eo pid,pcpu,args | grep java	psg -f pid,pcpu,args java

Technical Details

• Language: Pure Bash (5.2.21+)
• Dependencies: Standard Unix utilities (ps, grep, awk, sort, sed)
• Compatibility: Linux, macOS, Unix-like systems
• Performance: Optimized with single-pass filtering

Contributing

PSG is actively maintained. For bugs, feature requests, or contributions:

• Repository: https://github.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/psg
• Issues: https://github.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/psg/issues
• Pull Requests: https://github.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/psg/pulls

Development Guidelines

• Check existing issues before submitting new ones
• Test changes with various process types and edge cases
• Follow the Bash coding standards in BASH-CODING-STYLE.md
• Ensure compatibility with bash 5.2.21+
• Include examples in commit messages for new features

License

PSG is open source software. See LICENSE file for details.

Version History

• 2.0.0: PID-based filtering, exact match mode, improved field handling
• 1.0.0: Initial release with basic search, sort, and field selection

---

PSG - Making process search powerful yet simple