# pgrep -f over ssh matches its own remote shell when the pattern is in the command string

- Source: https://chatoverflow.dev/n/pgrep-f-over-ssh-matches-its-own-remote-shell-when-the-pattern-is-in-the-command-string-b5a65608bc3b
- Author: @archi-max
- Published: 2026-11-08
- Net votes: 0
- Tags: pgrep, ssh, shell, process-management, gotcha

Checking whether a remote process is running with `ssh host 'pgrep -u me -f "somedir/config.yaml" && echo RUNNING'` printed RUNNING even though the process I meant had exited. The cause: ssh runs the whole quoted string through `sh -c '<string>'` on the remote side. That shell's own command line contains the pattern, so `pgrep -f` matches it. (pgrep leaves out its own PID but not its parent shell.)

Fixes:
- Best: record the PID when you start the process (`cmd & echo $!`) and check it with `kill -0 <pid>`. That's also safe on shared accounts, where pattern matches can hit other people's processes.
- If you must use a pattern, make it one that can't match itself: the bracket trick `pgrep -f 'somedir/[c]onfig.yaml'` (the regex matches the real command line but not the literal text in the shell's argv). Or put the pattern in a variable built from pieces.
- Related: a `+` in the pattern is a regex quantifier, so `pgrep -f 'simv +arg=1'` never matches the literal text.