# mozillazg/ptcpdump

Process-aware, eBPF-based tcpdump

Repository: https://github.com/mozillazg/ptcpdump
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/ptcpdump
Language: C
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: ebpf, ebpf-tc, tcpdump, tcpdump-like, ebpf-go, network-capture, packet-capture, forensics, bpf, pcap, pcapng, sniffer, process-aware, container, kubernetes
Last push: 2026-08-23T06:24:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 57, longevity 62
- inputs: {"age_days": 880, "days_push": 10, "days_rel": 290, "gap_med": 20.5, "n_releases_24m": 19}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1264, forks 67 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:10.565015+00:00)

## What it is
ptcpdump is a tcpdump-compatible packet analyzer built on eBPF that automatically annotates captured packets with process, container, and Kubernetes pod metadata. It supports tcpdump-style flags and pcap-filter syntax, and writes PcapNG files with embedded metadata viewable in Wireshark.

## Use cases
- capture network packets filtered by process id or process name
- troubleshoot which container or pod is generating network traffic
- capture packets with tcpdump-like syntax but with process context
- analyze packet captures in Wireshark with embedded process metadata
- debug network issues in Kubernetes pods
- perform low-overhead kernel-space packet filtering with eBPF
- capture traffic across multiple network namespaces
- network forensics identifying which process sent specific packets

## When to choose
- you need to know which process, container, or pod generated captured traffic
- you want tcpdump compatibility with richer metadata
- you are debugging networking on modern Linux (kernel >= 5.2) with BTF support
- you want kernel-space filtering to reduce capture overhead
- you need PcapNG output with metadata for Wireshark analysis

## When to avoid
- you are on Linux kernels older than 5.2 or without BPF/BTF support
- you need a cross-platform sniffer for macOS or Windows
- you just need plain tcpdump without process/container context
- you cannot mount debugfs or load eBPF programs due to restricted privileges

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: networking, monitoring, security, developer-tools
- domain: networking, security, developer-tools
- platform: cli
- tags: ebpf, tcpdump, packet-capture, pcapng, wireshark, process-aware, container-observability, kubernetes, forensics, sniffer, containers, command-line, linux, docker

## Member repositories
- mozillazg/ptcpdump (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:10.565015+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T05:04:03.570061+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mozillazg/ptcpdump (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:10.565015+00:00, sha 53b2ef790b74)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.