I've been building a terminal-based monitoring dashboard called SystemPi
Posted by PracticallyHumanoid@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 60 comments
It provides real-time visibility into CPU usage, per-core activity, temperatures, memory, storage, network throughput, power status, and overall system health. It also supports multiple dashboard layouts and themes depending on how much information you want displayed.
Built primarily on Raspberry Pi hardware, but designed to work on Linux systems as well.
I'd love any feedback from the Linux community.
GitHub:
https://github.com/WastelandSYS/systempi
lorenzo1142@reddit
is this AI generated?
edit: it seems the answer is yes, AI generated..........
> AI definitely helped along the way, but SystemPi wasn't something that appeared from a single prompt. It's been built up over many iterations, testing sessions, bug fixes, feature additions, layout changes, and feedback from the community.
> The source code is open if you'd like to take a look.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
I wasnt hiding the fact that i did use ai for assistance but It wasn't generated by just throwing around prompts. I wouldnt even feel like it were mine if that's all I did
lorenzo1142@reddit
"for assistance"...... no, you generate code with AI.
"wasn't something that appeared from a single prompt. It's been built up over many iterations"
see what I mean, getting defensive and trying to talk around the facts. either you used AI to generate code which is in the project, or you wrote all of that code yourself. it is very simple.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
No, you're making it either black or white when that's simply not the case. As I've stated many times I used ai for assistance and help. At the same time I'm not going to devalue my work on a project that i been contributing to here and there since 2023 by simply saying "yup ai made it" and throwing it into the ai generated everything category.
lorenzo1142@reddit
it is black and white. either you use AI generated code or you write it all yourself as a human.
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moopet@reddit
I'm not sure what the point in the installer even really is. install.sh and uninstall.sh don't wrap much. Rather than having instructions in the readme to run them, just have instructions to run
installfrom coreutils instead? It's less code to maintain and people might want to install it somewhere else or alias it or something.The first thing I noticed, just with running it directly on a desktop pc is that "q" isn't quit. "q" is kind of a convention for all these sorts of *top type monitoring commands, so I'd suggest adding it in for familiarity.
I like the themes.
MarzipanEven7336@reddit
The point is that it’s AI slop
bingblangblong@reddit
At what point does using AI make it slop? It does seem like an awful lot of software is being released these days.
lorenzo1142@reddit
it doesn't, that's not how it works. it's just extremely easy to use AI to make slop.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Thanks for taking the time to try it out!
The installer started out as a convenience script to handle dependencies, Raspberry Pi-specific utilities, and creating the global command shortcut, but I can definitely see the argument for keeping installation as simple as possible.
The "q" suggestion is a good one. A lot of terminal tools use that and it would make SystemPi feel more familiar to existing Linux users so I can definitely look into adding this.
Glad you like the themes!
lorenzo1142@reddit
so it is AI generated?.......
irasponsibly@reddit
Actions-on when someone posts "I made a new tool" is to check for
claude.md, but I didn't even get that far - the logo is AI generated.lorenzo1142@reddit
I don't see a claude.md file, but it's really not a requirement anyway. there are many other tools and platforms. I looked at their comment history, they admit to AI generating the code, I think in another group, since they posted the same thing in multiple groups....... I really wish these people would just say "I used AI" but instead they get defensive about it to say the least.
aawsms@reddit
Because OP has no notion of programming and bought an LLM subscription last week.
scottchiefbaker@reddit
As the primary author of Dool, I have to say this is pretty rad! Well done.
It seems to work fine on my x86 system, other than the power stuff not being populated. Maybe you could hide that section if it's not appropriate for the platform?
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Thank you, that means a lot coming from the author of Dool!
Good catch on the x86 behavior. The power/throttle section is mostly Raspberry Pi-specific, so hiding or adapting that section when the platform doesn’t expose those metrics makes sense. I’ll add that to the list for a future compatibility pass.
scottchiefbaker@reddit
Keep up the good work.
lorenzo1142@reddit
AI made it, op didn't make anything but some prompts.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Thank you! That's the plan 😊
FrenziedHodag@reddit
Looks good but ive never run across something btop didn't run on. As always, it comes down to user preference.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Most definitely. Btop is a great too no doubt, but I wanted to make something a bit more customizable and pi oriented
lorenzo1142@reddit
you didn't make it, AI made it.
Ces3216w@reddit
What does this have compared to Btop++?
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
btop is an excellent system monitor and wasn't something I was trying to replace.
SystemPi is more focused on Raspberry Pi systems and long-running monitoring. Features like Raspberry Pi-specific telemetry, throttling/undervoltage detection, health scoring, health trend visualization, multiple dashboard layouts, and themed profiles are areas where it differs.
Both tools have different goals, and there's definitely room for both.
lorenzo1142@reddit
btop isn't AI generated
lorenzo1142@reddit
is this AI generated?
ButterflyMundane7187@reddit
The installer fails on modern Raspberry Pi OS/Debian systems because it still tries to install 'libraspberrypi-bin', a package that no longer exists in Bookworm/Trixie. It has been replaced by 'raspi-utils-core' and 'raspi-utils-dt'. Updating install.sh to detect the OS version and choose the correct package—or making the Raspberry Pi utilities optional—would greatly improve compatibility on Pi 4/5 and current Debian releases.
pluckyvirus@reddit
Llms don’t have up to date knowledge hence not knowing what may be removed in the newer releases, ai slop code.
ButterflyMundane7187@reddit
Didnt find any slop and the tool works great. AI != slop there is also human slop and great Ai projects
lorenzo1142@reddit
fact is, it's very easy to make slop with AI
Accurate_Estimate811@reddit
That's illegal to say here
vashtyler@reddit
for the record, if you just swap apt-get with yum/dnf it oughta work on RHEL based stuff
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
That's a fair point.
The monitoring side of SystemPi is already fairly portable since most of it relies on Python and psutil. The installer is currently the biggest Debian-specific piece because it handles package installation and Raspberry Pi utilities.
I'd definitely like to improve cross-platform compatibility over time, but I'd want to test it properly rather than just swapping package managers and assuming everything works.
vashtyler@reddit
I'm playing with it on a box i have, i'll send you what I have once it seems to be work. maybe it'll be helpful to you.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
That would be awesome, thank you.
The installer is definitely the most distro-specific part right now. The core dashboard is mostly Python/psutil, so I'm interested to see how much needs changing for RHEL/Fedora-style systems.
Feel free to share your findings when you have them. I'm definitely interested in improving compatibility.
vashtyler@reddit
granted that'll only let it install..not saying all the features would just work...but probably wouldn't need much tweaking
-HumbleMumble@reddit
Was this made in Claude? It looks like my ollama dashboard I vibe coded.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
AI definitely helped along the way, but SystemPi wasn't something that appeared from a single prompt. It's been built up over many iterations, testing sessions, bug fixes, feature additions, layout changes, and feedback from the community.
The source code is open if you'd like to take a look.
Ok_Cut_8545@reddit
I hate btop and htop waiting for yours
pluckyvirus@reddit
Use bpytop best in the market
0riginal-Syn@reddit
btop is the new c++ version of bpytop. bpytop hasn't released a version since 2021.
smile_e_face@reddit
I gave it a shot, and while it does look nice, it gives me this warning on close:
Still works fine, but hopefully it gets updated.
CondescendingShitbag@reddit
Looks like a simple syntax fix for their re.sub variables. Definitely something to update as deprecation warnings are usually a prelude to breakage.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Haha thanks! 😄
SystemPi started as a personal project because I wanted a different approach to monitoring than the tools I was already using. Glad to hear the dashboard and themes caught your attention!
muxman@reddit
Overall I like it, but it would be nice if it were wider to show more detail.
Under DOCTOR INSIGHT it cuts off the system line so you can't see it. If you're going to have it cut off like that it should scroll back and forth to show all the info or be wide enough to not cut things off.
System Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Rev 1.0 … │ Arch aarch64
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the feedback!
That's actually the first report I've had from a Compute Module 4. The dashboard was designed around staying reasonably compact, but I can see how longer model names end up getting clipped. Making the terminal wider should reveal more of the information for now, though I'll keep looking at ways to improve how long values are displayed.
FrenziedHodag@reddit
Since I see arch in your screenshot:
sudo pacman -S btop
LesStrater@reddit
This is very nice! I have something similar I wrote but it's not as fancy as yours. I don't use it much because all that info is on my desktop Conky.
Feedback: add "sudo apt-get --simulate upgrade | grep newly" to the bottom and you'll also know your software status.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Thank you!
That's actually a pretty interesting idea. I hadn't considered incorporating package update status into the dashboard, but it would fit nicely alongside the existing health and system information sections. I'll add it to my list of ideas to explore.
Glad you like it!
DaOfantasy@reddit
can it monitor real time wattage as well?
ButterflyMundane7187@reddit
A Raspberry Pi can’t report real watt usage because it has no power‑measurement hardware. It can only guess based on load and temperature, so any watt estimate is rough and not precise.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Sadly not currently. Most Raspberry Pi systems don't expose real-time power draw data by default, so SystemPi can't report wattage at the moment.
Definitely an interesting idea for a future update though.
chromatophoreskin@reddit
Kind of like conky but without the customization or the HUD on the desktop.
Jack_Lantern2000@reddit
Interesting. I’ll head on over to Git when I get a chance, inspect your code for anything suspicious, and load it up on my Pi 2w just out of curiosity.
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Thanks you!
That's completely fair. And one of the advantages of open source is being able to inspect exactly what a tool is doing before running it 😉
If you do end up testing it on your Pi 2 W, I'd be interested to hear how it performs. Most of my testing has been on a Raspberry Pi 4, so feedback from older hardware is always useful.
inotocracy@reddit
Looks pretty cool, good job!
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Thanks! 😄
Keeping dependencies to a minimum was definitely intentional. I wanted SystemPi to be easy to install and use.
Glad you noticed!
severedgoat_01@reddit
Nice. I like the themes as well. Do you have plans to make builds for x86/64?
PracticallyHumanoid@reddit (OP)
Thanks! The themes have been a fun part of the project.
As for x86_64, the dashboard itself is already largely platform-independent. The main Raspberry Pi-specific pieces are things like ARM frequency reporting and throttle/undervoltage monitoring, which rely on Pi-specific interfaces.
I'd definitely like to improve support for x86_64 Linux systems in the future, with graceful fallbacks or equivalent metrics where possible. Right now the primary focus has been Raspberry Pi hardware, but broader Linux compatibility is something I'm interested in expanding.