IRQTOP(1)

✨ IRQTOP 💅

okay so bestie, welcome to irqtop, a user command from the util-linux family, and it is literally the main character of kernel interrupt watching. 💖

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

irqtop [options]

that's it. that's the whole vibe. 🫶

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So what it does: it displays interrupt-counter information from the kernel in the style of top(1). Like, top but for IRQs. No cap. 🔥

⚠️ bestie, listen to me carefully ⚠️ The default output is subject to change. So whenever possible, you should avoid using default outputs in your scripts. Always explicitly define expected columns by using --output. fr fr. don't be out here scripting against defaults, that's giving chaos. 😭

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

• -o, --output list — Pick which output columns to print, bestie. Run --help to get a list of all supported columns. Also? The default list of columns may be extended if list is specified in the format +list. cute. 🎀
• -b, --batch — Sends the produced tables to stdout instead of to a static screen. Perfect for piping the output to other programs or yeeting it into a file. 📄
• -c, --cpu-stat when — Whether to show the per-CPU statistics. Possible arguments are: auto, never, always. The default is auto: the per-CPU statistics are shown when the window is wide enough for the full list of CPUs. she's flexible like that. 💅
• -C, --cpu-list list — Specify cpus in list format to show. pick your faves. 👑
• -d, --delay seconds — Update the tables every this number of seconds. 🕐
• -J, --json — Use JSON output format. Also it implies --batch. lowkey the dev-friendly one. 🌈
• -n, --iter number — Specifies the maximum iterations before quitting. so it knows when to stop. periodt. ✋
• -s, --sort column — Specify sort criteria by column name. See the --help output to get column names. The sort criteria may be changed in interactive mode. 🔀
• -S, --softirq — Show softirqs information. the soft ones. soft launch energy. 🌸
• -t, --threshold min — Only show IRQs with counters above the specified threshold. Human readable values are supported (e.g. 1.2K). so 1.2K works, iconic. ⭐
• -h, --help — Display help text and exit. 🆘
• -V, --version — Display version and exit. 💜

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🧚 ENVIRONMENT 🧚

• LIBSMARTCOLS_DEBUG=all — enables libsmartcols debug output. 👀
• LIBSMARTCOLS_DEBUG_PADDING=on — use visible padding characters. so you can literally see the padding. 💀
• LIBSMARTCOLS_JSON=compact|lines — Controls JSON output format when using --json. Supported values are compact for JSON output with minimal whitespace, and lines for JSON Lines format (one JSON object per line). If unset or set to any other value, pretty-printed JSON is used. slay. ✨

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🎀 INTERACTIVE MODE KEY COMMANDS 🎀

press the keys, bestie. it's giving keyboard warrior. ⌨️

• i — sort by short irq name or number field. 🔢
• t — sort by total count of interrupts (the default). 👑
• d — sort by delta count of interrupts. 📈
• n — sort by long descriptive name field. 📝
• q Q — stop updates and exit program. bye bestie 👋

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💖 AUTHORS 💖

Zhenwei Pi <pizhenwei@bytedance.com>, Sami Kerola <kerolasa@iki.fi>, Karel Zak <kzak@redhat.com> Robin Jarry <robin@jarry.cc>

the girlies and guys who built her. we stan. 🫶

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😭 REPORTING BUGS 😭

For bug reports, use the issue tracker <https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/issues>.

found a bug? don't suffer in silence, tell the tracker. 🐛

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🌈 AVAILABILITY 🌈

The irqtop command is part of the util-linux package which can be downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>.

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okay that's the whole page, bestie!! this was util-linux 2.42.4, dated 2026-09-21, and the manual page name is IRQTOP(1) 💅✨ go watch some interrupts, you deserve it 👑💖