Portsmith · Guides

Clear answers for local ports on Mac

Practical guides for the moments when localhost gets confusing: which process owns a port, why a dev server will not start, what a bind address means, and how to stop the right process safely.

Start with the problem in front of you

These resources pair reproducible macOS commands with the exact boundaries of Portsmith’s visual workflow. They avoid a common source of bad port advice: saying that a port is a process, assuming every listener belongs to your user, or reaching for force termination before identifying the owner.

Terminal + visual workflow

Find the process using a port on Mac

Identify a listener with lsof, inspect its process, stop it safely, verify the port is free, and understand common EADDRINUSE failures.

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Product documentation

How Portsmith handles security and privacy

A precise account of same-user visibility, TCP-only scope, process termination gates, permissions, telemetry, and update traffic.

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Installation guide

Download and install Portsmith

Check the current version and system requirements, install the notarized DMG, and understand the first-launch experience.

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