Start Hub is a centralized development dashboard and project launcher designed to manage, launch, and monitor local applications, system utilities, and development workspaces. It was developed for Linux but is constantly being optimized and adapted for Windows.

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Warning

AI-Assisted Project: This tool was built in collaboration with AI, utilizing the Gemini 3.5 Flash model.

Features

• Multi-Mode Launcher: Start scripts, system tools, or web links with one click. Supports standard, sudo, and detached daemon (background) executions in native terminals.
• IDE & File Manager Integration: Open project directories in your favorite IDEs (VS Code, Cursor, Code OSS, etc.) or system file manager directly from the dashboard.
• Real-Time Telemetry: Lightweight hardware monitoring widgets for CPU, GPU (with AMDGPU sysfs support), RAM, storage, and network speed.
• Customizable Grid: Drag-and-drop dashboard columns, custom category colors, and customizable layout arrangements.
• Multi-Language Support: Complete internationalization (English, German, French, Spanish) with auto-locale detection.

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Technical Stack

• Frontend: React 19, TypeScript, Vite 8, Lucide Icons, and Vanilla CSS (Glassmorphism design, responsive layouts).
• Backend: Node.js, Express. Spawns native shell terminal processes and reads telemetry directly from /proc and /sys to maintain low system overhead.
• Storage: Local JSON persistence (backend/data/projects.json). Saved configurations are kept local and ignored by Git.

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Prerequisites

Before installing and running Start Hub, ensure you have Node.js (version 18+ recommended) and npm installed:

• 💻 Windows: Download and run the pre-built installer from the official Node.js Download Page.
• 🐧 Linux: Install Node.js using your system's package manager or a manager like fnm / nvm. Refer to the official Node.js Package Manager Guide for distribution-specific instructions (e.g., apt, dnf, pacman).

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Installation & Launch

Linux

1. Install Dependencies:

   chmod +x install.sh
   ./install.sh

   This installs dependencies and registers a desktop application entry in ~/.local/share/applications/start-hub.desktop.

2. Start the Dashboard:

   ./start.sh

   Launches the Express API and Vite frontend server concurrently. Accessible at http://localhost:5173.

3. Update:

   ./update.sh

Windows (work in progress)

1. Install:

   install.bat

2. Start:

   start.bat

3. Update:

   update.bat

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Configuration

Project Launch Modes

Mode	Behavior	Best Used For
Terminal	Opens the project command in an interactive host terminal window.	CLI tools, dev servers, compilers
Terminal (Sudo)	Prepends sudo and launches in a host terminal window.	System commands, service management
Direct	Spawns the process as a detached background daemon.	AppImages, desktop launchers, web browser targets
Browser	Opens a web URL or host link in your system default browser.	Web UIs, hosted services, document links
Disabled	Disables clicking, showing only description or logs.	Folder containers, reference lists

Local Safefiles

All dashboard configurations are saved in backend/data/projects.json.

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Troubleshooting

• Real-Time GPU Metrics Missing: Ensure your GPU drivers are active and /sys/class/drm/card0/device/gpu_busy_percent is readable.
• Sudo Commands Failing: If your sudo commands require password input, the terminal launcher will await input inside the spawned terminal window.
• Terminal Emulator Not Opening: If your configured terminal fails to launch, check that its binary is in your system $PATH. Start Hub automatically falls back to standard xterm if needed.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.