> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.murmur.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# murmur kill

> Permanently cancel an agent, terminate any child agents in its subtree, and release the underlying VM back to the pool or substrate.

<Warning>
  Kill is destructive and irreversible. The [agent](/concepts/agents) is canceled, its VM is released, and any in-progress work that has not been pushed or opened as a pull request is lost. To pause an [agent](/concepts/agents) without losing it, use [`murmur sleep`](/cli/sleep) instead.
</Warning>

Cancels a running [agent](/concepts/agents) and its entire child tree. The [agent](/concepts/agents) transitions to `PHASE_CANCELED` and its VM is destroyed. If the [agent](/concepts/agents) has children, they are canceled too.

On a VM, the slug is optional — omitting it kills the current [agent](/concepts/agents).

## Synopsis

```bash theme={null}
murmur kill [flags] [slug]
```

## Arguments

| Name          | Type   | Required  | Description                                                                                                  |
| ------------- | ------ | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `slug`        | string | on laptop | The [agent's](/concepts/agents) slug. Optional on VMs (defaults to self).                                    |
| `--service`   | bool   | no        | Kill a service [agent](/concepts/agents) instead of a developer [agent](/concepts/agents). Default: `false`. |
| `--workspace` | string | no        | Workspace name. Overrides the value from `murmur.yaml`.                                                      |

## Examples

### Kill a running agent

```bash theme={null}
murmur kill fix-auth
```

```
killed fix-auth
```

The [agent](/concepts/agents) enters `PHASE_CANCELED`. Verify with [`murmur status`](/cli/status):

```bash theme={null}
murmur status fix-auth
```

```
workflow: github_oauth/alice/w/backend/fix-auth
phase:    PHASE_CANCELED
```

### Kill a service agent

```bash theme={null}
murmur kill merge-queue --service
```

```
killed merge-queue
```

### Self-kill on a VM

When running on an [agent](/concepts/agents) VM, omit the slug to kill the current [agent](/concepts/agents):

```bash theme={null}
murmur kill
```

```
killed self
```

## Errors

| Code               | Meaning                                             | What to do                                                                                     |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `NOT_FOUND`        | No [agent](/concepts/agents) with that slug exists. | Check the slug spelling. Use [`murmur ls`](/cli/ls) to see running [agents](/concepts/agents). |
| `UNAUTHENTICATED`  | Identity token is missing or expired.               | Run `murmur auth` or check your `murmur.local.yaml` configuration.                             |
| `INVALID_ARGUMENT` | `service kill requires a slug`                      | The `--service` flag requires a slug — it cannot default to self.                              |

## Related

* [Agents](/concepts/agents) — concept overview
* [`murmur status`](/cli/status) — check an [agent's](/concepts/agents) current phase
* [`murmur sleep`](/cli/sleep) — stop an [agent's](/concepts/agents) VM without canceling it
* [`murmur spawn`](/cli/spawn) — start a new [agent](/concepts/agents)
* [`murmur ls`](/cli/ls) — list running [agents](/concepts/agents)