timelimit ☆
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Description:
Limit a process's absolute execution time
Type: Formula  |  Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: System utilities
Tags: cli utility process-management timeout sysutils
Install: brew install timelimit
About:
Timelimit is a command-line utility that terminates a process after a specified absolute time limit by sending escalating signals. It ensures runaway or hanging processes are cleaned up automatically, preventing resource exhaustion. This tool is essential for managing long-running tasks in automated scripts and batch processing environments.
Key Features:
  • Configurable timeout with escalating signal delivery (SIGTERM then SIGKILL)
  • Simple command-line interface for easy scripting integration
  • Supports specifying both real (wall-clock) time limits
  • Lightweight and portable C implementation
Use Cases:
  • Limiting execution time for long-running scripts or builds in CI/CD pipelines
  • Preventing hung network connections or infinite loops from consuming server resources
  • Enforcing strict time budgets for automated tasks or batch jobs
Alternatives:
  • timeout – Standard GNU coreutil; similar functionality but timelimit offers more explicit escalation control and is a standalone tool.
  • ulimit – Shell builtin for resource limits; handles CPU time but not absolute wall-clock time.
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
Sep 12, 2025 1:03am 0 VERSION_BUMP 22eb966c
Sep 12, 2024 10:02pm 0 VERSION_BUMP c050d4fc
Nov 26, 2022 2:33am 0 VERSION_BUMP 1e8da0ff
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