diff --git a/kill.py b/kill.py
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+++ b/kill.py
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+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+# Deskflow -- mouse and keyboard sharing utility
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only WITH LicenseRef-OpenSSL-Exception
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2025 Symless Ltd.
+
+# A utility to kill processes by name. Using Python avoids writing platform-specific shell scripts.
+#
+# One function is to kill all but the newest instance of a process, which is useful when developing
+# Deskflow to avoid conflicts with multiple instances of the same process. This will be less useful
+# when we eventually dedupe the core processes, but even after then this will help with bugs where
+# multiple instances of the same process are created.
+
+
+import argparse
+import psutil
+import sys
+import time
+import enum
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description="A cross-platform kill utility tuned for Deskflow development."
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--orphans",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="Kill orphaned processes (e.g. Core that has no GUI)."
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--keep-newest",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="Keep only the newest instance of matching processes."
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--names", nargs="+", required=True, help="Process names to kill"
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--watch",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="Watches and keeps looking for processes to kill",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--verbose", action="store_true", help="Enable verbose logging output"
+    )
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    if args.verbose:
+        log(f"Starting with options: orphans={args.orphans}, keep-newest={args.keep_newest}")
+        log(f"Processes to kill: {', '.join(args.names)}")
+
+    if args.watch:
+        log("Watching for processes to kill. Press Ctrl+C to exit.")
+
+    try:
+        while args.watch:
+            killed = 0
+            for name in args.names:
+                killed += 1 if kill(name, args.orphans, args.keep_newest, args.verbose) else 0
+
+            if killed == 0:
+                if args.verbose:
+                    log("No processes killed")
+            else:
+                log(f"Processes killed: {killed}")
+
+            if args.watch:
+                time.sleep(1)
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        log("\nExiting...")
+        sys.exit(0)
+
+
+def log(message):
+    print(f"[{time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')}] {message}")
+
+def get_kill_lists(name, matches, orphans, keep_newest, verbose):
+    to_kill = []
+
+    # Sort newest first, keep the first, kill the rest
+    if keep_newest:
+        if verbose:
+            log("Looking for processes, keeping newest instances")
+
+        matches.sort(key=lambda p: p.info.get("create_time", 0), reverse=True)
+        to_keep = matches[0]
+        if len(matches) == 1:
+            if verbose:
+                log(f"Keeping only {name} (PID {to_keep.pid}), nothing to kill")
+        else:
+            to_kill = matches[1:]
+            if verbose:
+                log(f"Keeping newest {name} (PID {to_keep.pid}), killing {len(to_kill)}")
+    else:
+        to_kill = matches.copy()
+
+    # Kill processes that have no parent or are orphaned
+    if orphans:
+        if verbose:
+            log("Looking for orphaned processes to kill")
+
+        for proc in matches:
+            if verbose:
+                parent_name = proc.parent().name() if proc.parent() else 'No parent'
+                log(f"Checking process {proc.pid} ({proc.info['name']})")
+                log(f"Parent PID: {proc.ppid()} ({parent_name})")
+
+            try:
+                # When the GUI is killed but the Core stays alive, it becomes owned by systemd.
+                # Gotcha: On macOS this doesn't work, since PIDs are reused by app bundles.
+                parent_systemd = proc.parent() and proc.parent().name() == "systemd"
+                if parent_systemd or proc.ppid() == 0:
+                    to_kill.append(proc)
+            except (psutil.NoSuchProcess, psutil.AccessDenied):
+                log(f"Process {proc.pid} no longer exists or access denied")
+                continue
+
+    return to_kill
+
+
+def get_process_name(raw_name):
+    name = raw_name.lower()
+    if sys.platform == "win32" and not name.endswith(".exe"):
+        return f"{name}.exe"
+
+    return name
+
+
+def kill(raw_name, orphans, keep_newest, verbose):
+    name = get_process_name(raw_name)
+    matches = []
+    for proc in psutil.process_iter(attrs=["pid", "name", "create_time"]):
+        try:
+            if name == proc.info["name"].lower():
+                matches.append(proc)
+        except (psutil.NoSuchProcess, psutil.AccessDenied):
+            log(f"Process {proc.pid} no longer exists or access denied")
+            return False
+
+    if not matches:
+        if verbose:
+            log(f"No processes found for '{raw_name}'")
+        return False
+
+    to_kill = get_kill_lists(name, matches, orphans, keep_newest, verbose)
+
+    for proc in to_kill:
+        try:
+            log(f"Terminating PID {proc.pid} ({proc.info['name']})")
+            proc.terminate()
+        except (psutil.NoSuchProcess, psutil.AccessDenied):
+            return False
+
+    _, alive = psutil.wait_procs(to_kill, timeout=2)
+    for proc in alive:
+        try:
+            log(f"Force killing PID {proc.pid} ({proc.info['name']})")
+            proc.kill()
+        except (psutil.NoSuchProcess, psutil.AccessDenied):
+            return False
+
+    return len(to_kill) > 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()