folyamat
in English: process
A process currently running on a computer: it has its own memory space and identifier, and the operating system starts, monitors, and stops it.
In plain terms
The program itself is just a file on the disk, like a recipe in a cookbook. The process is when someone actually starts cooking from it: there is a counter, ingredients, and the work is underway. Multiple people can cook from the same recipe at once, just as multiple processes can run from the same program.
Hundreds of processes can run simultaneously on your device: the browser, music player, antivirus, and countless background services. The operating system is the head chef who allocates processor time and memory among them, ensuring none interferes with another's domain.
In the world of AI agents, this term is important because a coding agent initiates processes during its work: it runs a command, starts a test, or launches a local web server. What the agent "does" on your machine largely consists of starting individual processes, typically with your user permissions.
How it works
- Launch: when you open a program or issue a command, the operating system loads the program's code into memory and creates a process for it.
- Identification: every running process receives an identification number (PID, process ID), which is used to reference, monitor, or stop it. The number is unique only for the duration of the run: once the process ends, the system may later assign it to another one.
- Isolation: the process gets its own memory area that other processes cannot normally access, so a frozen program usually does not drag others down with it.
- Scheduling: on a multi-core processor, a few processes do run simultaneously, while the system switches between the others in fractions of a second, so it appears as if everything is running at once.
- Termination: the process returns an exit code at the end (zero usually indicates success), and the system releases the memory it used. A process itself can start further ones, which are called child processes.
An everyday example
Your browser freezes, so you open the Windows Task Manager and see a long list: these are the programs and processes running on your machine. You select the browser, click the "End Task" button, and shut down the browser along with its associated processes, while other programs continue running undisturbed.
Who is affected
A common misconception
Limits and risks
- A process initiated by an agent runs with your permissions, meaning it can delete files or send data to the network unless restricted by permissions or a sandbox.
- Background processes left running (such as a test server that was not shut down) consume memory and processor time and can hold a network port.
- Forcefully stopping the process can lead to data loss because the program cannot save what it was working on.
- Process isolation is not perfect protection: processes of the same user can read and write the same files.
Similar, but not the same
- program – A program is a sequence of instructions resting on the disk; a process is its currently running instance using memory and processor time.
- thread – A thread is an execution unit within a process that shares the process's memory, while process memories are separated from each other.
- business process – A business process is a sequence of work steps by people and systems within an organization, not a running program on a computer.
Related concepts
operating system
background process, gyermekfolyamat, demon
program, thread, terminal, command line, container, sandbox
A brief history
The concept emerged in the 1960s with multi-tasking, time-sharing operating systems, when multiple programs had to run simultaneously on one machine and be separated from each other. Its current form was largely spread by Unix, whose development began in 1969 at Bell Labs.
Where things stand
The process is a basic concept of every modern operating system, from phones to servers. What gives it new weight in late 2026 is that coding agents start and stop processes on their own, so supervising and restricting them has become an everyday security question.
In the news
- WPP Media: auto brands need to address zero-click search nowNov 7, 2026 · Marketing
- Fresh Step used AI to cut brief-to-ad costs to a tenthNov 5, 2026 · Marketing
- AI agents are taking over HR processes, but who governs them?Nov 4, 2026 · Work & HR
- Penske Logistics selects Pallet AI Solutions to handle freight invoicesNov 4, 2026 · Ipar
- Budapest to become a starting point for the autonomous factory eraNov 4, 2026 · Ipar
- Binance says North Korean hackers used fake job interviews and an internal AI tool in $6.3 billion theftNov 2, 2026 · Work & HR
- AI vendor contracts may hide a chain of data processorsOct 31, 2026 · Jog
- AI data centers' chip and memory demand squeezes carmakers and the PC marketOct 29, 2026 · Ipar
Also known as
folyamat · process · processz · running program · background process
Sources
This entry was machine-edited and has undergone machine expert review; the “In the news” section updates automatically from Agent Age stories.