How to Kill Zombie Processes Matching a Name in Python

import subprocess
import re
import signal


def find_zombies(name_pattern):
    """Find PIDs of zombie processes matching the given pattern."""
    result = subprocess.run(["ps", "-eo", "pid,stat,comm"], capture_output=True, text=True)
    zombies = []
    for line in result.stdout.splitlines()[1:]:  # Skip header
        pid, stat, comm = line.split(maxsplit=2)
        if stat.startswith("Z") and re.search(name_pattern, comm):
            zombies.append(int(pid))
    return zombies


def kill_zombies(name_pattern):
    """Kill zombie processes matching the pattern."""
    zombie_pids = find_zombies(name_pattern)
    for pid in zombie_pids:
        try:
            os.kill(pid, signal.SIGKILL)
            print(f"Killed zombie process {pid}")
        except ProcessLookupError:
            print(f"Zombie {pid} already gone")
        except PermissionError:
            print(f"Permission denied killing zombie {pid}")
    return zombie_pids


if __name__ == "__main__":
    import os
    killed = kill_zombies("demo")
    print(f"Total zombies killed: {len(killed)}")