PortNote: Never Lose Track of Used Ports Again

The Problem We’ve All Faced

Ever spun up a local dev server, only to get the dreaded EADDRINUSE error because you forgot which ports your projects are hogging? Or worse, wasted time debugging a "failing" service that was just running on a different port than you thought? PortNote is here to solve that.

This lightweight tool lets you track and manage used ports across your projects—no more spreadsheets, sticky notes, or frantic lsof -i :3000 commands.

What It Does

PortNote is a simple, open-source dashboard that:

• Logs active ports and their associated services/apps
• Organizes entries with metadata (project name, description, etc.)
• Persists data so you don’t lose context between sessions

Built with Next.js and Prisma, it’s designed to be fast and easy to extend.

Why It’s Cool

• No more guessing: See all your used ports in one place.
• Self-hosted: Your data stays local (or on your infra).
• Docker-friendly: Includes a compose.yml for quick deployment.
• MIT Licensed: Hack it, tweak it, make it yours.

It’s not trying to be a full-blown monitoring tool—just a practical scratchpad for ports.

How to Try It

1. Clone the repo:

   git clone https://github.com/crocofied/PortNote.git
   

2. Spin it up with Docker:

   cd PortNote && docker compose up -d
   

3. Open http://localhost:3000 and start logging ports.

(Check the README for manual setup or dev-mode instructions.)

Final Thoughts

As developers, we juggle enough complexity. Tools like PortNote cut through the noise by solving one small problem well. It’s especially handy for:

• Teams sharing dev environments
• Folks running multiple microservices locally
• Anyone tired of port collisions

If you’ve ever wasted time hunting down ports, give it a shot—or fork it and add your own twist.

Star the repo if you find it useful!