Aperture

Diagnostic tui for Windows power users

Quick Navigation

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

Coming very soon!

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.

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)

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

Search Mode Keybindings

When in search mode (/):

• Type characters to filter
• Backspace - Delete last character
• Enter - Apply filter and exit search
• Esc - Cancel search

File Lock Search Modal

When file lock modal is open (f):

• Type file paths (one per line)
• / - Enter input mode to edit path (any key including j/k can now be typed)
• Enter - Search for locking processes
• j/k or ↑/↓ - Navigate results (normal mode only)
• K - Kill selected process (admin)
• Esc - Close modal (or cancel input mode)

Directory Scanning:

• Enter a folder path to scan all files in that directory
• Shows “Scanned X files - Found Y locks” with the count of files checked

Configuration

Aperture currently uses sensible defaults optimized for real-time performance:

Note: Configurable polling intervals are on the roadmap. Currently, these values are optimized for smooth real-time performance without overwhelming the system.

Performance

Aperture is designed for real-time performance on Windows:

Smart Update System

• Change Detection: Uses data hashing to only update when data actually changes
• Navigation Debounce: 50ms delay after navigation prevents cursor jumping during active use
• Separate Concerns: Filter operations apply instantly; only navigation triggers debounce
• Cached Metrics: CPU and memory values are cached to prevent flashing during temporary data unavailability

Data Loading

• Preload All Tabs: Data for all tabs loads at startup, enabling instant tab switching
• Background Updates: All tabs refresh every 2 seconds in the background
• Initial Load Bypass: First data load happens immediately without debounce

Why Not WMI?

Aperture uses direct Win32 APIs instead of WMI for maximum performance:

• WMI queries can take 500ms-2s per call
• Win32 APIs respond in <50ms
• Essential for smooth TUI experience with 2-second refresh rates

Architecture

aperture/
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs          # Entry point, event loop, keybindings
│   ├── app.rs           # Application state, tab management
│   ├── ui/              # UI rendering
│   │   ├── mod.rs       # Layout, sidebar, status bar
│   │   ├── locker.rs    # Process tab UI with sorting
│   │   ├── controller.rs # Services tab UI with sorting
│   │   └── nexus.rs     # Network tab UI with sorting
│   ├── sys/             # Windows API abstractions
│   │   ├── process.rs   # Process enumeration, CPU/memory metrics
│   │   ├── service.rs   # SCM/Service control
│   │   ├── network.rs   # IP Helper/TCP-UDP connections
│   │   └── handle.rs    # File lock detection (Restart Manager)
│   └── state/           # Per-tab state with sorting
│       ├── locker.rs    # Process state, PID tracking
│       ├── controller.rs # Service state, name tracking
│       └── nexus.rs     # Connection state, key tracking
├── Cargo.toml
└── README.md

Win32 APIs Used

Roadmap

Completed ✅

• Process management with CPU/memory metrics
• Handle search using Restart Manager API
• Service management (start/stop)
• Network connection monitoring
• Smart sorting and filtering
• Persistent sidebar with keybindings
• Real-time navigation debounce (50ms)
• Change detection and smart updates
• Cached metrics to prevent flashing

In Progress / TODO

• Real-time service status notifications via NotifyServiceStatusChange
  • Currently polls every 2s; would show instant service state changes
• Process tree view (parent/child relationships)
  • Show hierarchical process relationships
• IPv6 support for network connections
  • Currently only shows IPv4 connections
• Configurable polling intervals
  • Allow users to change 2s refresh rate
• Export data to JSON/CSV
  • Save process/service/connection lists
• Process details view
  • Show additional process info (command line, environment, etc.)
• Dark/light theme support
  • Currently uses terminal default colors

Aperture bridges the gap between the Linux btop/lsof experience and Windows’ deep diagnostic capabilities (Processes, Services, and Network). Unlike cross-platform tools, Aperture focuses on Windows-specific pain points: file locks, service management, and process-to-socket mapping.

Features

The Locker (Process Management)

• View all running processes with PID, name, path, CPU%, and memory usage
• Real-time CPU and memory metrics with intelligent caching
• Sort by: Name, PID, CPU usage, Memory usage
• Filter processes by name, path, or PID
• Kill processes (requires admin - press K)
• Find file locks - Identify which processes are locking specific files (press f)

The Controller (Service Management)

• List all Windows services with status, start type, and process ID
• Start/Stop services (requires admin - press Enter)
• Sort by: Name, Status, Service Type
• Filter services by name or display name

The Nexus (Network Monitor)

• Real-time TCP/UDP connection listing
• Map connections to process PIDs and names
• View connection states (ESTABLISHED, LISTENING, etc.)
• Sort by: Connection State, PID, Protocol, Process Name
• Filter connections by address, port, PID, or process name

UI Features

• Vim Motions keybindings for easy navigation
• Permanent sidebar with context-aware keybindings
• Smart data caching - All tabs preload for instant switching
• 50ms navigation debounce - Smooth cursor movement without jitter
• Change detection - Only updates when data actually changes
• Cached metrics - CPU/memory values persist during temporary data unavailability

License

MIT