Start a subprocess for interactive use. Use this for interactive programs like SSH, GDB, psql, python REPL, etc. — not for simple one-shot commands. Returns the internal process ID, OS PID, and initial status.

pty — default false for backward compatibility; this is NOT a recommendation. Set true for anything interactive or TUI (ssh, gdb, psql/mysql, REPLs, vim, htop, top, less; anything with -i/-it/-t flags). Consult program_query for this executable BEFORE starting. When in doubt, true — a non-interactive program tolerates a PTY; an interactive one without one hangs. Exception: one-shot commands that page output (git log/diff, less) — prefer pipe mode with --no-pager/GIT_PAGER=cat.

Read output from a process. Reads records from the specified time window. Resets the process idle timer.

For PTY processes stderr is merged into stdout (source=stderr reads return empty) and records are arbitrary chunks, not lines — a line may span multiple records. Prompts may arrive without a trailing newline. Read with a generous duration — the default window is only 1s.

Write content to a process's stdin. Only available while the process is running.

Input you write reappears in the output stream (terminal echo) — treat it as your own input, not program output, and do not re-send it. To interrupt a PTY process, send  and a carriage return as two separate writes (Ctrl+C then Enter — ConPTY is line-buffered; split delivery is measurably more reliable); a KeyboardInterrupt traceback in output is expected, not an error. process_signal/process_kill are fallbacks — see their descriptions for the PTY signal mapping (CTRL_C_EVENT is a graceful interrupt, not a hard stop).

Send a signal to a process by name or number. Available signals: SIGABRT, SIGALRM, SIGBUS, SIGCHLD, SIGCLD, SIGCONT, SIGFPE, SIGHUP, SIGILL, SIGINT, SIGIO, SIGIOT, SIGKILL, SIGPIPE, SIGPOLL, SIGPROF, SIGPWR, SIGQUIT, SIGRTMAX, SIGRTMIN, SIGSEGV, SIGSTKFLT, SIGSTOP, SIGSYS, SIGTERM, SIGTRAP, SIGTSTP, SIGTTIN, SIGTTOU, SIGURG, SIGUSR1, SIGUSR2, SIGVTALRM, SIGWINCH, SIGXCPU, SIGXFSZ. For PTY processes only SIGTERM -> terminate, SIGKILL -> kill, and CTRL_C_EVENT -> Ctrl+C are supported; other signals are rejected with an error. For a graceful interrupt use process_write: send  and a carriage return as two separate writes(split delivery).

List all managed processes with summary info: id, os_pid, status, timeout, idle duration, and I/O record count.

Get detailed information about a single process including all metadata and per-stream I/O counts.

For PTY processes: stderr_count is always 0 (merged stream) and I/O counts are chunk-based, not line-based; exit_code is null on Windows (ConPTY exposes none).

Kill a single process. Its output data is retained for reading. Use process_cleanup to remove it.

Kill all managed processes.

Clear all I/O records for a process. The process table remains, but records are deleted.

Remove a terminated process and all its data. Only allowed for processes with status 'exited' or 'killed'.

Snapshot the live screen of a PTY process. For full-screen TUIs (vim, htop, less): the record stream is garbled fragments — use this tool instead of process_read. Screen remains queryable after exit until process_cleanup. Snapshot is pure; passing cols/rows resizes the live PTY first. buffer is 'primary' or 'alternate' (the TUI's alternate screen).

Look up whether a program needs a PTY in the persistent program registry. Call BEFORE process_start. A miss is a normal result, not an error — it means apply the decision rules in the instructions. confirmed_count >= 2 means settled; a single confirmation is a hint — re-verify on first use.

Record a confirmed program fact in the persistent registry after observing its behavior: needs_pty true if it required a terminal (TTY error, hang in pipe mode, or TUI rendering with pty:true), false if it ran fine without one. Record every first-encounter conclusion, including negatives. notes should carry flag-specific caveats (e.g. 'docker run -it only, not docker build').