diff --git a/etc/init-port-fowards.sh b/etc/init-port-fowards.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..d14d927
--- /dev/null
+++ b/etc/init-port-fowards.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,417 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -u
+
+# init-kpf.sh
+# Portable-ish (macOS, Ubuntu, Raspberry Pi OS, Alpine) bash init-style script
+# Manages kubectl port-forward daemons defined in an XML file.
+
+PROG="init-port-forwards"
+PROLE_HOME="/Users/chrisfu/dev/prole"
+VERBOSE=0
+CONFIG_FILE="$PROLE_HOME/conf/port-mappings.properties"
+
+usage() {
+  cat <<EOF
+Usage:
+  $PROG [-v|--verbose] [-c|--config-file=FILE] <start|stop|restart|status>
+
+Options:
+  -c, --config-file=FILE   Path to local-ports.properties (XML)
+  -v, --verbose            Verbose output
+
+Examples:
+  $PROG -c ./port-mappings.properties start
+  $PROG --verbose status
+EOF
+}
+
+log()  { printf '%s\n' "$*"; }
+vlog() { [ "$VERBOSE" -eq 1 ] && printf '[verbose] %s\n' "$*" || true; }
+err()  { printf '[error] %s\n' "$*" >&2; }
+
+have() { command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1; }
+
+# Choose a writable state dir for pid/log files:
+# - Prefer XDG_RUNTIME_DIR if set and writable
+# - Else /var/run if writable (rare without root)
+# - Else ~/.local/state
+# - Else /tmp
+state_dir() {
+  if [ -n "${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-}" ] && [ -w "${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-}" ]; then
+    printf '%s/%s' "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR" "$PROG"
+    return
+  fi
+  if [ -d "/var/run" ] && [ -w "/var/run" ]; then
+    printf '/var/run/%s' "$PROG"
+    return
+  fi
+  if [ -n "${HOME:-}" ]; then
+    mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/state" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    if [ -d "$HOME/.local/state" ] && [ -w "$HOME/.local/state" ]; then
+      printf '%s/.local/state/%s' "$HOME" "$PROG"
+      return
+    fi
+  fi
+  printf '/tmp/%s' "$PROG"
+}
+
+STATE_DIR="$(state_dir)"
+PID_DIR="$STATE_DIR/pids"
+LOG_DIR="$STATE_DIR/logs"
+
+ensure_dirs() {
+  mkdir -p "$PID_DIR" "$LOG_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
+  if [ ! -d "$PID_DIR" ] || [ ! -d "$LOG_DIR" ]; then
+    err "Unable to create state directories under: $STATE_DIR"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
+# Use kubectl for actions; kubecolor is used only for prettier status output.
+KUBECTL="kubectl"
+detect_kubectl() {
+  if have kubectl; then
+    KUBECTL="kubectl"
+  else
+    err "kubectl not found in PATH"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
+# Basic environment validation
+validate_env() {
+  detect_kubectl
+  ensure_dirs
+
+  if ! "$KUBECTL" version --client >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    err "kubectl seems broken or not executable"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  # Can we reach the cluster?
+  if ! "$KUBECTL" cluster-info >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    err "kubectl cannot reach a cluster (check KUBECONFIG/context)"
+    err "Try: kubectl config get-contexts && kubectl config use-context <ctx>"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
+pid_file_for() { printf '%s/%s.pid' "$PID_DIR" "$1"; }
+log_file_for() { printf '%s/%s.log' "$LOG_DIR" "$1"; }
+
+is_pid_running() {
+  # Return 0 if pid exists and running, else 1
+  # kill -0 is portable.
+  local pid="$1"
+  [ -n "$pid" ] && kill -0 "$pid" >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
+read_pid() {
+  local pf="$1"
+  [ -f "$pf" ] || return 1
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2162
+  read pid <"$pf" || return 1
+  printf '%s' "$pid"
+}
+
+write_pid() {
+  local pf="$1" pid="$2"
+  printf '%s\n' "$pid" >"$pf"
+}
+
+remove_pidfile() {
+  local pf="$1"
+  rm -f "$pf" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+}
+
+# ---- XML parsing (simple attribute extraction) ----
+# We parse lines containing: <mapping ... />
+# Attributes must use double quotes in the XML (as in the sample).
+get_attr() {
+  # $1 = line, $2 = attribute name
+  # outputs value or empty
+  printf '%s\n' "$1" | sed -n "s/.*$2=\"\([^\"]*\)\".*/\1/p"
+}
+
+foreach_mapping() {
+  # Calls a provided function with mapping fields:
+  # callback id ns target address hostPort servicePort protocol description
+  local callback="$1"
+  [ -f "$CONFIG_FILE" ] || { err "Config file not found: $CONFIG_FILE"; exit 1; }
+
+  # Support both single-line and multi-line self-closing mapping tags, e.g.:
+  # <mapping id="x" ... /> OR lines spanning multiple lines until "/>".
+  local in_mapping=0 in_comment=0 buffer="" line
+  while IFS= read -r line; do
+    # Handle XML comments: skip anything between <!-- and -->
+    if [ $in_comment -eq 1 ]; then
+      case "$line" in
+        *"-->"*) in_comment=0; continue ;;
+        *) continue ;;
+      esac
+    fi
+    case "$line" in
+      *"<!--"*)
+        case "$line" in
+          *"-->"*)
+            # single-line comment; skip line
+            continue
+            ;;
+          *)
+            in_comment=1
+            continue
+            ;;
+        esac
+        ;;
+    esac
+    if [ $in_mapping -eq 0 ]; then
+      case "$line" in
+        *"<mapping"*)
+          in_mapping=1
+          buffer="$line"
+          ;;
+        *)
+          continue
+          ;;
+      esac
+    else
+      # Accumulate lines until we see the closing '/>'
+      buffer="$buffer $line"
+    fi
+
+    if [ $in_mapping -eq 1 ] && printf '%s' "$line" | grep -q "/>"; then
+      # Normalize whitespace to make attribute extraction robust
+      local merged
+      merged=$(printf '%s\n' "$buffer" | tr '\n' ' ' | sed 's/[[:space:]]\+/ /g')
+
+      local id ns target address hostPort servicePort protocol description
+      id="$(get_attr "$merged" "id")"
+      ns="$(get_attr "$merged" "namespace")"
+      target="$(get_attr "$merged" "target")"
+      address="$(get_attr "$merged" "address")"
+      hostPort="$(get_attr "$merged" "hostPort")"
+      servicePort="$(get_attr "$merged" "servicePort")"
+      protocol="$(get_attr "$merged" "protocol")"
+      description="$(get_attr "$merged" "description")"
+
+      # Basic validation
+      if [ -z "$id" ] || [ -z "$ns" ] || [ -z "$target" ] || [ -z "$hostPort" ] || [ -z "$servicePort" ]; then
+        err "Invalid mapping (missing required attributes): $merged"
+        exit 1
+      fi
+      if [ -z "$address" ]; then address="127.0.0.1"; fi
+      if [ -z "$protocol" ]; then protocol="TCP"; fi
+
+      vlog "mapping: id=$id ns=$ns target=$target address=$address hostPort=$hostPort servicePort=$servicePort protocol=$protocol"
+      "$callback" "$id" "$ns" "$target" "$address" "$hostPort" "$servicePort" "$protocol" "$description"
+
+      # Reset accumulator
+      in_mapping=0
+      buffer=""
+    fi
+  done <"$CONFIG_FILE"
+}
+
+build_port_forward_cmd() {
+  # echo a command string
+  local ns="$1" target="$2" address="$3" hostPort="$4" servicePort="$5"
+  # kubectl port-forward -n <ns> --address <addr> <target> <local>:<remote>
+  printf '%s port-forward -n %s --address %s %s %s:%s' \
+    "$KUBECTL" "$ns" "$address" "$target" "$hostPort" "$servicePort"
+}
+
+start_port_forward() {
+  echo "start_port_forward()"
+  local id="$1" ns="$2" target="$3" address="$4" hostPort="$5" servicePort="$6" protocol="$7" description="$8"
+  local pf pidfile logfile cmd pid
+
+  pidfile="$(pid_file_for "$id")"
+  logfile="$(log_file_for "$id")"
+  cmd="$(build_port_forward_cmd "$ns" "$target" "$address" "$hostPort" "$servicePort")"
+  echo $cmd
+  # If pidfile exists and process is alive, skip
+  if [ -f "$pidfile" ]; then
+    pid="$(read_pid "$pidfile" || true)"
+    if [ -n "${pid:-}" ] && is_pid_running "$pid"; then
+      vlog "$id already running (pid=$pid)"
+      return 0
+    else
+      # stale pidfile
+      remove_pidfile "$pidfile"
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  log "Starting: $id  $address:$hostPort -> $target:$servicePort  ($ns)  ${description:-}"
+  vlog "Command: $cmd"
+
+  # Start in background, keep output in log.
+  # nohup is available on macOS/Linux; redirect stdin from /dev/null to detach.
+  nohup sh -c "$cmd" >>"$logfile" 2>&1 </dev/null &
+  pid="$!"
+  write_pid "$pidfile" "$pid"
+
+  # Quick verification
+  sleep 0.2
+  if is_pid_running "$pid"; then
+    vlog "$id started (pid=$pid, log=$logfile)"
+    return 0
+  else
+    err "$id failed to start (see log: $logfile)"
+    remove_pidfile "$pidfile"
+    return 1
+  fi
+}
+
+stop_port_forward() {
+  local id="$1" ns="$2" target="$3" address="$4" hostPort="$5" servicePort="$6" protocol="$7" description="$8"
+  local pidfile pid
+
+  pidfile="$(pid_file_for "$id")"
+  if [ ! -f "$pidfile" ]; then
+    vlog "$id not running (no pidfile)"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  pid="$(read_pid "$pidfile" || true)"
+  if [ -z "${pid:-}" ]; then
+    remove_pidfile "$pidfile"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  if is_pid_running "$pid"; then
+    log "Stopping: $id (pid=$pid)"
+    kill "$pid" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+
+    # wait a moment, then SIGKILL if needed
+    local i
+    for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
+      if ! is_pid_running "$pid"; then break; fi
+      sleep 0.2
+    done
+    if is_pid_running "$pid"; then
+      err "$id did not stop gracefully; sending SIGKILL"
+      kill -9 "$pid" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    fi
+  else
+    vlog "$id stale pidfile (pid=$pid not running)"
+  fi
+
+  remove_pidfile "$pidfile"
+}
+
+status_one() {
+  local id="$1" ns="$2" target="$3" address="$4" hostPort="$5" servicePort="$6" protocol="$7" description="$8"
+  local pidfile pid
+
+  pidfile="$(pid_file_for "$id")"
+  pid=""
+  if [ -f "$pidfile" ]; then
+    pid="$(read_pid "$pidfile" || true)"
+  fi
+
+  if [ -n "${pid:-}" ] && is_pid_running "$pid"; then
+    printf 'RUNNING  %-12s pid=%-7s %s:%s -> %s:%s  ns=%s  %s\n' \
+      "$id" "$pid" "$address" "$hostPort" "$target" "$servicePort" "$ns" "${description:-}"
+    # ps details (portable flags vary; use a conservative format)
+    ps -p "$pid" -o pid=,ppid=,etime=,command= 2>/dev/null | sed 's/^/         /' || true
+  else
+    printf 'STOPPED  %-12s (no live pid) %s:%s -> %s:%s  ns=%s  %s\n' \
+      "$id" "$address" "$hostPort" "$target" "$servicePort" "$ns" "${description:-}"
+  fi
+}
+
+do_start() {
+  validate_env
+  foreach_mapping start_port_forward
+}
+
+do_stop() {
+  # stop doesn't require cluster access, but it does need state dirs
+  ensure_dirs
+  foreach_mapping stop_port_forward
+}
+
+do_restart() {
+  validate_env
+  foreach_mapping stop_port_forward
+  foreach_mapping start_port_forward
+}
+
+do_status() {
+  validate_env
+
+  log "== Context / Cluster =="
+  "$KUBECTL" config current-context 2>/dev/null | sed 's/^/  context: /' || true
+  "$KUBECTL" cluster-info 2>/dev/null | sed 's/^/  /' || true
+  log ""
+
+  log "== Port-forward processes =="
+  foreach_mapping status_one
+  log ""
+
+  log "== Quick k3d awareness checks (best-effort) =="
+  # If user is on k3d, current-context often includes k3d-... but not guaranteed.
+  # Show nodes + a few namespaces/services related to mappings (best effort).
+  "$KUBECTL" get nodes -o wide 2>/dev/null | sed 's/^/  /' || true
+  log ""
+  "$KUBECTL" get ns 2>/dev/null | sed 's/^/  /' || true
+  log ""
+
+  # For each mapping, try to show target existence
+  log "== Target existence (best-effort) =="
+  _target_check() {
+    local id="$1" ns="$2" target="$3" address="$4" hostPort="$5" servicePort="$6" protocol="$7" description="$8"
+    # kubectl get <target> -n <ns>
+    # If target is like "svc/name", "deploy/name", etc.
+    if "$KUBECTL" get -n "$ns" "$target" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      printf 'OK      %-12s %s (ns=%s)\n' "$id" "$target" "$ns"
+    else
+      printf 'MISSING %-12s %s (ns=%s)\n' "$id" "$target" "$ns"
+    fi
+  }
+  foreach_mapping _target_check
+}
+
+# ---- arg parsing ----
+ACTION=""
+
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+  case "$1" in
+    start|stop|restart|status)
+      ACTION="$1"
+      shift
+      ;;
+    -v|--verbose)
+      VERBOSE=1
+      shift
+      ;;
+    -c)
+      shift
+      [ $# -gt 0 ] || { err "-c requires a file path"; usage; exit 2; }
+      CONFIG_FILE="$1"
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --config-file=*)
+      CONFIG_FILE="${1#*=}"
+      shift
+      ;;
+    -h|--help)
+      usage
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    *)
+      err "Unknown arg: $1"
+      usage
+      exit 2
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+[ -n "$ACTION" ] || { usage; exit 2; }
+
+case "$ACTION" in
+  start)   do_start ;;
+  stop)    do_stop ;;
+  restart) do_restart ;;
+  status)  do_status ;;
+esac