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A Linux monitoring dashboard written entirely in C, with a custom HTTP server, metric collection via /proc, and a lightweight web interface.

9 starsC

Pulse v0.2.0

by xerrs·Jul 3, 2026·3 points·1 comment

Post Description

A lightweight system monitor with historical metrics and a built-in web dashboard.

Hi HN,

I have been building Pulse, a lightweight system monitor written in C.

The goal is to provide a simple way to monitor CPU, memory, disk, network, processes, and system information from both the terminal and a built-in web dashboard, while keeping the project easy to understand and with as few dependencies as possible.

The biggest addition in v0.2.0 is historical metrics. Pulse now records system metrics over time, exposes them through its HTTP API, and displays them as interactive graphs in the dashboard.

One fun part of this release is that I ended up writing a small chart renderer instead of using an existing charting library. It only implements the features Pulse needs, which kept the frontend lightweight.

Some highlights:

Written in C Terminal UI and built-in web dashboard Historical CPU, memory, disk, and network metrics Built-in HTTP API Runs on Linux, including Raspberry Pi (4 B is what I tested it on, but feel free to test it on a Pico as well) Open source

I'm still actively improving the project, so I'd really appreciate feedback, criticism, or ideas for features. I'm especially interested in hearing where you think the design could be improved or simplified.

GitHub: https://github.com/cherries-works/pulse

Website: https://cherries.works

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