CPU Turbo

A native GNOME Shell extension: a panel indicator that toggles Intel CPU Turbo Boost, switches the system power profile, starts/stops a container VM, and switches NVIDIA/Intel GPU mode (prime-select) — all from one dropdown, positioned correctly by GNOME Shell itself instead of guessing where a tray icon is.

Install

Not one click. You need the extension (EGO / Extension Manager) and a one-time helper install from GitHub.

→ INSTALL.md — step-by-step for end users

Quick summary:

1. Install CPU Turbo from Extension Manager or extensions.gnome.org
2. Run once in a terminal:

git clone https://github.com/binaryplates/cpu-turbo-widget.git
cd cpu-turbo-widget
./scripts/install-helper.sh

Developers: ./scripts/install.sh installs helper + extension from a git checkout.

On Wayland, a brand-new extension may need one log out/in before the panel icon appears.

Privilege model

Turbo toggling and GPU mode switching write to files a normal user can't write to directly. Rather than a sudoers NOPASSWD rule, this uses a polkit action (polkit/net.blazorplate.cputurbo.policy) plus a small, fixed-argv, root-owned helper (backend/cpu-turbo-helper) invoked via pkexec — you'll get a normal graphical authentication prompt the first time, not a silent sudo.

Layout

cpu-turbo@blazorplate.net/   GNOME Shell extension (GJS)
backend/                     privileged helper (EGO dependency, not in zip)
polkit/                      polkit action definition for the privileged helper
schemas/                     GSettings schema (refresh interval)
scripts/                     install.sh, install-helper.sh, ego-pack.sh

Config

refresh-seconds (GSettings, org.gnome.shell.extensions.cpu-turbo) — edit via the extension's Settings… menu row.