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💻sigwire Decodes Kernel Signals in Real-Time

Watch Your System's Signals Live

TL;DR

sigwire decodes and displays kernel signals in real-time, offering a live feed of system activity. It colors signals by severity and allows filtering to focus on critical events.

Sigwire is a new tool that decodes signals from the Linux kernel's tracepoints in real time, streaming them directly to your terminal. This means you can watch every signal as it happens, with each row representing one generated signal complete with sender, name, target, and note. The feed automatically follows the newest signal but can be paused or filtered for specific signals using a live picker. Sigwire uses a 256-color palette to color-code severity levels, making it easy to spot critical events like those marked with a ☠ symbol indicating a fatal signal. Developers working on complex systems will find sigwire invaluable for debugging and monitoring system behavior in real-time. It's particularly useful when tracking down issues caused by interruptions during slow syscalls or understanding the flow of signals across processes. The tool also includes an aggregate view showing top signals, breakdowns by source, and delivery tallies. Sigwire mutes common background noise like SIGCHLD, SIGURG, and SIGWINCH by default but allows users to customize which signals are shown or hidden through a signal picker.

sigwire Decodes Kernel Signals in Real-Time — GitHub

Key Points

1

Sigwire streams every generated signal with sender, name, target, and note to terminal; default view follows newest signal

2

Colored by severity using 256-color palette; ☠ marks fatal signals (SIGKILL, SIGABRT)

3

Live feed can be paused or filtered for specific signals via a modal picker

4

Aggregate view shows top signals, breakdowns by source, and delivery tallies in real-time

5

Mutes common background noise like SIGCHLD, SIGURG, and SIGWINCH by default; customizable signal picker available

Why It Matters

If you're debugging complex system behavior or tracking down issues caused by interruptions during slow syscalls, sigwire is a game-changer. It provides real-time visibility into kernel signals, making it easier to understand the flow of events and pinpoint problematic areas.

kernel-signalsreal-time-monitoringsignal-tracinglinux-kernel

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does this matter?

If you're debugging complex system behavior or tracking down issues caused by interruptions during slow syscalls, sigwire is a game-changer. It provides real-time visibility into kernel signals, making it easier to understand the flow of events and pinpoint problematic areas.

What happened?

sigwire decodes and displays kernel signals in real-time, offering a live feed of system activity. It colors signals by severity and allows filtering to focus on critical events.

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