Process Monitor Dashboard
What This Does
A real-time terminal dashboard for monitoring system processes and resource usage. Provides a live, updating view of CPU, memory, disk, network, and running processes—all within your terminal.
Key features:
- Real-time CPU monitoring - Overall usage + per‑core breakdown
- Memory dashboard - RAM usage, swap, detailed memory stats
- Disk I/O & usage - Read/write rates, free space per filesystem
- Network activity - Upload/download speeds, connections
- Process list - Top processes by CPU/memory, with sorting options
- Refresh control - Adjustable update interval (1–10 seconds)
- Color‑coded alerts - Highlight high resource usage
- Lightweight - Minimal overhead, runs in background
How To Use
Start the dashboard:
./scripts/main.py dashboard
Monitor with custom interval (3 seconds):
./scripts/main.py dashboard --interval 3
Get a single snapshot (no continuous updates):
./scripts/main.py snapshot
List top N processes by CPU:
./scripts/main.py top --by cpu --limit 10
List top N processes by memory:
./scripts/main.py top --by memory --limit 10
Monitor a specific process by PID:
./scripts/main.py monitor --pid 1234
Full command reference:
./scripts/main.py help
Commands
-
dashboard: Start interactive real‑time dashboard
--interval: Refresh interval in seconds (default: 2)--simple: Simplified view (no per‑core/disk details)--log: Also write metrics to a log file
-
snapshot: Print a one‑time system snapshot
--json: Output as JSON for scripting
-
top: Show top processes
--by: Sort by cpu, memory, disk, name (default: cpu)--limit: Number of processes to show (default: 10)--user: Filter by username--json: Output as JSON
-
monitor: Monitor a specific process
--pid: Process ID to monitor (required)--interval: Refresh interval (default: 2)--watch: Watch for process creation/termination
-
stats: Show system‑wide statistics
--cpu: CPU details only--memory: Memory details only--disk: Disk details only--network: Network details only--json: Output as JSON
-
alert: Check for resource alerts
--threshold-cpu: CPU alert threshold % (default: 90)--threshold-memory: Memory alert threshold % (default: 85)--threshold-disk: Disk alert threshold % (default: 90)
Output Examples
Dashboard view (sample):
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
System Monitor | Refresh: 2s | 2026‑03‑16 10:30:00 UTC
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CPU: ███████░░░ 72% Memory: █████████░ 92% (8.2/12 GB)
Core 0: 65% Core 1: 78% Core 2: 70% Core 3: 75%
Top Processes (by CPU):
PID USER CPU% MEM% COMMAND
1234 alice 45.2 12.3 python3 /app/server.py
5678 bob 22.1 5.8 /usr/bin/node index.js
9101 root 10.5 0.3 systemd-journal
Disk: / █████░░░░ 52% free Network: ▲ 1.2 MB/s ▼ 4.5 MB/s
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
JSON snapshot (via --json):
{
"timestamp": "2026-03-16T10:30:00Z",
"cpu": {
"total_percent": 72.5,
"per_core": [65.2, 78.1, 70.3, 75.0],
"load_average": [1.2, 1.5, 1.8]
},
"memory": {
"total_gb": 12.0,
"used_gb": 8.2,
"percent": 68.3,
"swap_used_gb": 0.5
},
"processes": [
{"pid": 1234, "name": "python3", "cpu_percent": 45.2, "memory_percent": 12.3}
]
}
Installation Notes
Requires Python 3.6+ and psutil library. Install with:
pip install psutil
On most systems, psutil is available via package managers:
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install python3-psutil
# RHEL/CentOS
sudo yum install python3-psutil
# macOS
brew install psutil
Limitations
- Terminal size - Dashboard optimized for terminals ≥ 80 columns
- Refresh rate - Very fast intervals (<1s) may cause high CPU
- Platform support - Best on Linux/macOS; Windows support limited
- Process details - Some process information may require root
- Historical data - No built‑in long‑term trending (single‑session only)
- No remote monitoring - Only monitors the local system
- No alert actions - Only displays warnings, doesn’t auto‑resolve issues
Security Considerations
- Only reads system metrics (no writes or modifications)
- Doesn’t require root/sudo for basic operation
- No network listening or external connections
- All data stays local; no telemetry
- Process listing may reveal running applications (same as
ps/top)
Examples
Basic dashboard (2‑second updates):
./scripts/main.py dashboard
Lightweight dashboard (simple view, 3‑second updates):
./scripts/main.py dashboard --simple --interval 3
Get a JSON snapshot for scripting:
./scripts/main.py snapshot --json > system.json
Find top 5 memory‑hungry processes:
./scripts/main.py top --by memory --limit 5
Monitor a specific web server:
./scripts/main.py monitor --pid $(pgrep -f "nginx") --interval 5
Check for resource alerts:
./scripts/main.py alert --threshold-cpu 95 --threshold-memory 90
