windows-dev-process-cleanup

name	windows-dev-process-cleanup
description	Audit and safely clean Windows dev-process buildup and UWP background-task pileups — stale node/npm/cmd/pwsh trees (leaked Playwright MCP workers, dev servers, IDE services) and backgroundTaskHost.exe pileups. Use when Task Manager is full of node/npm noise, or for Windows 进程堆积, 清理残留开发进程, 查杀泄漏的 Playwright MCP, backgroundTaskHost 堆积.
category	developer-tools-integrations
tags	["windows","powershell","process-cleanup","uwp","playwright-mcp"]
version	1.1.0

Windows Dev Process Cleanup

Overview

Use this skill to inspect Windows development process trees before killing anything. Prefer classification first, then terminate only the process categories that are clearly safe or that the user explicitly requested.

Both scripts require PowerShell 7 (pwsh); they declare #requires -Version 7.0. Replace <skill-dir> below with this skill's directory path.

Two scripts cover two problem domains:

• audit-dev-processes.ps1 — development process trees rooted in node.exe, npm.exe, npx.exe, cmd.exe, pwsh.exe
• audit-uwp-backgroundtasks.ps1 — UWP/app background tasks, especially backgroundTaskHost.exe pileups attributed via tasklist /apps

Workflow

1. Audit first

Run the relevant script in audit mode before any cleanup.

pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-dev-processes.ps1" -Mode audit

Use JSON when you need to summarize or post-process the result (-AsJson prints JSON to stdout and can be combined with the export options):

pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-dev-processes.ps1" -Mode audit -AsJson

Export a report when you want a file artifact:

pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-dev-processes.ps1" -Mode audit -ExportJson '.\reports\dev-process-audit.json'
pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-dev-processes.ps1" -Mode audit -ExportMarkdown '.\reports\dev-process-audit.md'

If the user reports that Task Manager is very noisy, process enumeration or WMI feels slow, the machine is sluggish, or backgroundTaskHost.exe appears dozens or hundreds of times, run the UWP audit:

pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-uwp-backgroundtasks.ps1" -Mode audit

The UWP script groups backgroundTaskHost.exe by associated app. Pay special attention to:

• Microsoft.YourPhone_* / Phone Link: often safe to terminate and disable background access when the user does not need phone sync.
• DolbyLaboratories.DolbyAccess_* / Dolby Access: a priority-review target because it can pile up into dozens of backgroundTaskHost.exe instances. If the user uses Dolby audio, do not disable or uninstall Dolby; only terminate leaked backgroundTaskHost.exe instances when the user asks for cleanup.
• Other UWP groups (Microsoft Store, StorePurchaseApp, Microsoft To Do, and similar) as they appear in backgroundTaskHost.exe-associated rows.

Preview any cleanup without killing anything:

pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-dev-processes.ps1" -Mode cleanup -Profile codex-playwright-safe -StaleMinutes 45 -WhatIf

2. Read the classification

audit-dev-processes.ps1 groups processes into trees and classifies each tree into:

• dev-server: npm run dev, vite, or similar workspace dev servers
• ide-language-service: TypeScript, Vue, Tailwind, and related editor services
• npm-outdated: dependency-check tasks that often linger after the parent exits
• playwright-mcp: npx @playwright/mcp, playwright-mcp, or related browser worker trees
• generic: node/npm/npx/cmd/pwsh trees that do not match the known patterns

Each tree also includes:

• root_pid, parent_exists, age_minutes, workspace_match, codex_parent
• member_categories: per-member classification of every command line in the tree
• mixed_tree: true when the tree contains both cleanup-target members (npm-outdated, playwright-mcp) and protected members (dev-server, ide-language-service); mixed trees are forced to manual-review and excluded from every cleanup profile
• safe_to_kill, kill_recommendation, reason

kill_recommendation values include safe-cleanup, candidate-cleanup, stale-codex-playwright (a playwright-mcp tree owned by codex.exe that exceeded -StaleMinutes; exactly what the codex-playwright-safe profile would select), workspace-target, keep, review, and manual-review.

audit-uwp-backgroundtasks.ps1 groups app-associated processes into:

• phone-link-background: background tasks associated with Phone Link / Microsoft.YourPhone
• dolby-backgroundtask: background tasks associated with Dolby Access; priority-review when the count is high
• uwp-backgroundtask: every other app-associated group

3. Apply the cleanup policy

Use this default cleanup policy:

• Kill npm-outdated trees only when the root parent no longer exists
• Keep dev-server trees unless the user explicitly asked to stop that workspace
• Keep ide-language-service trees unless the user explicitly asked to close the IDE-related services
• Treat playwright-mcp as a candidate cleanup category, not an automatic-safe category
• Treat generic and mixed_tree trees as manual-review items
• Treat Phone Link background-task pileups as cleanup candidates when the user does not need phone sync; optionally disable its background access
• Treat Dolby Access background-task pileups as a priority-review target: terminate leaked backgroundTaskHost.exe instances only; never disable or uninstall Dolby when the user uses Dolby audio

4. Cleanup profiles

audit-dev-processes.ps1 profiles (mixed trees are always excluded):

• safe — kill only clearly stale npm-outdated trees with missing parents
• playwright-mcp — kill all playwright-mcp trees; use only when the user explicitly asks to clear browser automation workers or they are clearly leaked
• codex-playwright-safe — kill only playwright-mcp trees whose immediate non-wrapper parent is codex.exe and that are older than -StaleMinutes
• safe-plus-codex-playwright — combine the two conservative passes above
• workspace-dev-server — kill only dev-server trees whose command lines match -WorkspacePath; requires -WorkspacePath

audit-uwp-backgroundtasks.ps1 profiles (cleanup mode requires an explicit -Profile; omitting it fails fast):

• phone-link-background — terminate Phone Link app-associated processes; add -DisablePhoneLinkBackground to also write HKCU background-access registry flags. Use only when the user asks to stop Phone Link background activity.
• dolby-backgroundtask — terminate only Dolby Access backgroundTaskHost.exe instances; never touches Dolby services, packages, or audio features. Use when the audit reports a high DolbyLaboratories.DolbyAccess_* count (especially 10 or more) or the user explicitly asks.

Examples:

pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-dev-processes.ps1" -Mode cleanup -Profile safe
pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-dev-processes.ps1" -Mode cleanup -Profile codex-playwright-safe -StaleMinutes 45
pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-dev-processes.ps1" -Mode cleanup -Profile safe-plus-codex-playwright -StaleMinutes 45
pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-dev-processes.ps1" -Mode cleanup -Profile workspace-dev-server -WorkspacePath 'C:\path\to\your\workspace'
pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-uwp-backgroundtasks.ps1" -Mode cleanup -Profile phone-link-background -DisablePhoneLinkBackground
pwsh -NoLogo -File "<skill-dir>/scripts/audit-uwp-backgroundtasks.ps1" -Mode cleanup -Profile dolby-backgroundtask

5. Read the cleanup result

The UWP cleanup result reports honestly:

• details: per-PID outcomes — terminated, failed (still alive after the kill attempt), or not-found (already gone)
• result: preview under -WhatIf, otherwise terminated, partial, failed, or no-targets
• registry_changed: whether the Phone Link background-access registry flags were written; a registry change with zero terminations is visible instead of masked

The dev-process cleanup result lists each tree root with terminated or failed based on the taskkill exit code.

Interpretation Rules

• Prefer tree-level reasoning over single-process reasoning
• A cmd.exe wrapper is usually not the real root cause; inspect its npm.exe, npx.exe, or node.exe parent/child chain
• Parent-missing npm outdated trees are usually safe to remove
• Long-lived playwright-mcp trees under codex.exe are often leaked workers, but they can still be active if browser automation is in use
• Prefer codex-playwright-safe over playwright-mcp when the user wants a conservative cleanup of Codex-created workers
• High CPU or memory alone is not enough to kill a process; always confirm the category
• Never kill a mixed_tree tree via a profile; review its members and handle the offending PIDs individually
• Hundreds of backgroundTaskHost.exe processes are commonly UWP background-task leaks; attribute them to apps with the UWP audit before killing
• If the app is Phone Link, disabling background access is acceptable only after user confirmation
• If the app is Dolby Access, flag it prominently. Do not disable it by default because it can affect audio features; only terminate leaked background hosts after user confirmation

Communication Rules

• Report what is normal, what is stale, and what is ambiguous
• If the user asked to check, do not clean anything; say which category would be removed
• If the user asked to clean, use the narrowest profile that satisfies the request
• Use -WhatIf first when the cleanup touches anything beyond orphan npm-outdated
• When a cleanup is ambiguous, recommend the exact profile and reason before killing
• Quote the per-PID details when reporting a UWP cleanup, and call out registry_changed explicitly

Resources

scripts/

• scripts/audit-dev-processes.ps1 — audit, classify, and optionally kill dev process trees by profile; export JSON or Markdown reports
• scripts/audit-uwp-backgroundtasks.ps1 — audit backgroundTaskHost.exe and app-associated processes; clean Phone Link or leaked Dolby background hosts with per-PID result reporting

tests/

• tests/audit-scripts.test.mjs — pwsh-backed regression suite (parse gate, kill-path binding, classification fixtures, JSON contract, WhatIf preview); discovered by just node-test, skips without Windows + pwsh 7