nanobot-windows-gui: A Lightweight Native Windows Manager for nanobot

[aiguozhi123456]

Why I Built This

nanobot's WebUI covers most daily needs, but on Windows the recurring friction is starting and stopping the gateway—always a terminal command away. It's not hard, but doing it repeatedly makes you wish for something lighter: click to start, glance at the status, close the window. No terminal, no fuss.

That's where nanobot-windows-gui came from—a native Windows desktop manager built specifically for nanobot users on Windows.

Features

• Start / Stop Management — One-click start and stop of the nanobot gateway process. On stop, CTRL_BREAK_EVENT is sent first so Python can shut down gracefully (closing MCP connections, cron jobs, agent sessions). Force-kill only happens on timeout.
• Health Check — Real-time detection of nanobot process status and HTTP port connectivity. The window tells you everything at a glance.
• Auto-Start on Boot — Toggle it on with one click. No need to manually set up Task Scheduler or startup scripts. The GUI registers itself via registry run key; on boot it launches and starts nanobot—nothing stays resident in the background.
• Path Configuration — Manually specify the nanobot install path, compatible with pip install directory layouts.
• NSIS Installer — Standard Windows install/uninstall experience.

Design Principles

Decoupled front-end and core. The GUI talks to the nanobot process through its HTTP API. It doesn't embed a Python runtime or repackage nanobot itself. GUI updates and nanobot updates are completely independent.

Pure Win32 C. Built with core-ui as the UI framework. No WebView, no Electron, no .NET, no runtime dependencies. The compiled binary is a single exe—small, fast, nothing extra to install.

Launch and forget. No system tray icon, no background process. Open the GUI when you need to manage nanobot, close it when you're done—the process exits completely. This aligns with nanobot's own lightweight philosophy: things you're not using shouldn't consume resources.

Tech Stack

• Language: C (Win32 API)
• UI framework: core-ui
• HTTP: WinHTTP
• Installer: NSIS
• Build: MinGW-w64 + Makefile

Status

Core features (start/stop, health check, auto-start, installer) are complete and working on Windows 10/11.

If you're using nanobot on Windows, give it a try—feedback welcome.

🔗 https://github.com/aiguozhi123456/nanobot-windows-gui

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nanobot-windows-gui：一个轻量的 Windows 原生桌面管理器

设计初衷

nanobot 的 WebUI 已经能满足大部分日常需求，但在 Windows 上高频使用时，启停 nanobot 总是要开终端敲命令。操作不复杂，但重复多了就希望有一个更轻量的入口——点一下启动，看一眼状态，关掉。不需要终端，用完即走。

基于这个想法做了 nanobot-windows-gui，一个专门面向 Windows 用户的原生桌面管理工具。

功能

• 启停管理：一键启动/停止 nanobot gateway 进程。停止时发送 CTRL_BREAK_EVENT 让 Python 优雅退出（处理 MCP 连接、cron 任务、agent 会话），超时后才强制终止
• 健康检查：实时检测 nanobot 进程存活状态和 HTTP 端口连通性，窗口状态一目了然
• 开机自启：一键切换，不需要手动配置计划任务或启动脚本。GUI 通过注册表启动项实现，勾选后开机自动拉起 GUI，再由 GUI 启动 nanobot——不需要后台常驻任何东西
• 路径配置：手动指定 nanobot 安装路径，适配 pip install 的目录结构
• NSIS 安装器：标准的 Windows 安装/卸载体验

设计理念

面板与核心分离。 GUI 通过 nanobot 的 HTTP API 与独立的 nanobot 进程通信，不嵌入任何 Python 运行时，也不重新包装 nanobot 本身。GUI 的更新和 nanobot 的更新完全独立，互不影响。

纯 Win32 C 实现。 使用 core-ui 作为 UI 框架，不依赖 WebView、Electron、.NET 或任何运行时环境。编译产物是一个单独的 exe，体积小，启动快，不需要安装额外的东西。

即启即走。 没有系统托盘图标，没有后台常驻进程。需要管理 nanobot 的时候打开 GUI，用完关掉，进程就完全退出了。这和 nanobot 本身的"轻量"哲学是一致的——不用的东西不应该占着资源。

技术栈

• 语言：C（纯 Win32 API）
• UI 框架：core-ui
• HTTP：WinHTTP
• 安装器：NSIS
• 构建：MinGW-w64 + Makefile

当前状态

基础功能（启停、健康检查、开机自启、安装器）已完成，可在 Windows 10/11 上正常使用。

如果你在 Windows 上使用 nanobot，欢迎试用和反馈。

🔗 https://github.com/aiguozhi123456/nanobot-windows-gui