GETPCAPS(8)

💅 GETPCAPS — bestie's guide to peeking at process capabilities

okay so this is getpcaps, it lives in section 8 of the system manager's manual, and it is literally the tool you want when you need to see what a process is allowed to do. no cap.

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✨ NAME ✨

getpcaps — display process capabilities 🫶

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

getpcaps [optional args] pid...

like, you give it pids. that's the whole vibe. optional args go first, pids go after. simple as. 💖

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

getpcaps shows you the capabilities of the processes you point at with the pid value(s) you drop on the command line. and yes bestie, you can pass more than one.

and here's the iconic little detail: a pid of 0 shows the capabilities of the process that is running getpcaps itself. it's giving main character energy, it's looking in the mirror. 🪞

the capability Set of the process gets displayed in the text representation described over in cap_text_formats(7). go read that if you want the full lore, iykyk.

Optional arguments: (the lil extra toppings 🍓)

• --help or --usage — displays usage information and then exits. that's it, that's the whole job. 💅
• --ugly or --legacy — displays output in a somewhat ugly legacy format. yeah, it's literally called ugly. the name is honest, we respect the honesty. 💀
• --verbose — displays usage in a legacy-like format but not quite so ugly in modern default terminal fonts. so it's the legacy vibe but it actually looks cute on your screen now. glow-up. ✨
• --iab — displays IAB tuple capabilities from the process. the output format here is also described in cap_text_formats(7). heads up on the styling: double quotes encase the regular process capabilities, and square brackets encase the IAB tuple. and this exact format is also used by captree(8), so you'll see it again bestie, learn it once and you're set. 🌈

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😭 REPORTING BUGS 😭

found a bug? not you being the main character of QA. please report it via:

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/buglist.cgi?component=libcap&list_id=1090757

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

capsh(1), cap_from_text(3), cap_iab(3), cap_text_format(7), capabilities(7), captree(8), getcap(8), and setcap(8).

the whole friend group fr fr. go say hi. 🫶

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🌟 AUTHOR 🌟

this manual page was originally written by Robert Bihlmeyer <robbe@debian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others). legend behaviour, honestly. 🎀

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k that's the page bestie, now go check some capabilities and slay 💅✨

that's a wrap on the GETPCAPS(8) page from the System Manager's Manual — dated 2025-03-19. periodt. 💖🦋