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⚡ NetPulse: Real-Time Network Telemetry HUD

NetPulse is a zero-dependency Go network diagnostic HUD for Linux. A Bubble Tea TUI aggregates gateway latency, a multi-cluster DNS latency matrix, interface throughput, and backbone telemetry into one keyboard-driven tactical dashboard.

🔎 Why NetPulse#

Debugging a network issue on Linux usually means juggling half a dozen windows: ping for the gateway, mtr for the path, dig for DNS, nload for throughput. Each one answers a different question, and none of them talk to each other.

NetPulse collapses all of that into a single terminal HUD. It is written in Go with the Charmbracelet Bubble Tea framework, runs its collectors concurrently via non-blocking goroutines, and renders everything as a cyberpunk tactical dashboard — zero interface lag even during packet drops or connection failure loops.

NetPulse terminal HUD demo

🧠 Interface Modules#

▰▰ MODULE: GATEWAY_CORE#

Continuously monitors the local default gateway (auto-parsed from system routing paths). Live Braille-based latency sparklines map local link reliability at a glance, with unprivileged packet fallback when running without root capabilities.

▰▰ SUBSYSTEM: DNS_MATRIX#

Real-time resolution benchmarking across multiple DNS clusters — system resolver, Cloudflare, Google, Quad9, OpenDNS. The context-aware input engine lets you append custom upstream resolvers on the fly and watch them race.

▰▰ SENSOR: LOCAL_HARDWARE & NODE: WAN_TELEMETRY#

Parses low-level Linux networking layers for real-time interface throughput (RX/TX delta streams), plus automated BGP ASN mapping, WAN validation, and ISP provider identification.

▰▰ SYSTEM: EXTERNAL_TRANSIT#

High-density tabular metrics for critical backbones: current RTT, minimum, maximum, average, packet loss, and jitter — computed concurrently. Supports an interactive full-screen MTR mode tracing individual network hops.

▰▰ SUBSYSTEM: TELEMETRY_EVENT_LOG#

A scrolling operational ring buffer console that hooks diagnostic notifications, alert thresholds, and user inputs dynamically.

🕹ī¸ Keyboard Matrix#

KeyAction
TabCycle module focus
AAdd host (DNS server or WAN target, context-aware)
XDelete host
RRename host
Enter / TFull-screen MTR mode
+ / -Scale tick rate (250ms – 5s)
EscFreeze viewport on an anomaly
Q / Ctrl+CClean shutdown

⚙ī¸ Design Notes#

  • Concurrency first: every collector is an independent goroutine; a stalled DNS resolver never blocks gateway telemetry.
  • Raw ICMP with fallback: uses raw sockets when privileged, degrades gracefully to unprivileged mode.
  • Zero dependencies: ships as a single Go binary — no runtime, no agent, no config files.

🛠ī¸ Installation#

Requirement: Go 1.21+

git clone https://github.com/ibfavas/netpulse.git
cd netpulse
go build -o netpulse .
./netpulse

✅ Takeaway#

NetPulse is the tool I reach for when a network problem is vague — “the internet feels slow” — and I need every layer of the path visible at once. One binary, one screen, every signal. ⚡