MacPeek
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Permissions

MacPeek runs as your user and never asks for administrator rights, not even to display ports. Each utility lists the access it needs on its page and in Manage utilities; most need none.

Indicators

  • ✓ Can terminate — owned by your user.
  • ⚠ Permission required — owned by another user; the kernel will refuse the signal.
  • 🔒 Protected/system process — root-owned, PID 1 or MacPeek itself; the Kill button is disabled.

Why a kill can fail

macOS only lets a process signal processes with the same user ID (unless root). If termination fails you’ll see:

Permission denied. postgres (PID 921) cannot be terminated by the current user.

MacPeek will not silently elevate. If you really need to stop a root-owned process, use Terminal deliberately: sudo kill <pid>.

Notifications and login item

Notifications are optional (off with one toggle). Launch at login uses Apple’s SMAppService and can be revoked in System Settings → General → Login Items.