Repository navigation
Releases: donaldsteele/netdiag
Releases · donaldsteele/netdiag
Release list
netdiag v0.6.0
netdiag v0.6.0: chat alerts you can trust
Download the zip for your machine, unzip, and see HOW-TO-OPEN.txt. Project page: https://donaldsteele.github.io/netdiag/
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | netdiag-windows-amd64.zip |
| Windows (ARM) | netdiag-windows-arm64.zip |
| Mac (Intel) | netdiag-darwin-amd64.zip |
| Mac (Apple silicon) | netdiag-darwin-arm64.zip |
New
- Alerts in your team chat, closed when the problem is fixed. netdiag can now post its alerts to your team chat (bubbles) with a few clicks: Settings > Team chat (bubbles) > Connect to team chat. netdiag finds the chat server on the local network, you compare the first four groups of its fingerprint with what your chat admin sees, and your chat admin approves netdiag and picks the channel. A test alert checks it works. Each problem is posted once, in plain words, with what to try. When it is fixed, netdiag closes the same card itself: "Fixed at 10:42 (lasted 12 min)". By default only warnings and urgent problems are sent, and only while netdiag is watching: tick Live mode, press Scan, and leave netdiag open on this computer. The chat button in the top bar shows whether alerts are being sent.
- Alerts wait for the chat server. If the chat server can't be reached, alerts are kept and sent when it is back, with the time the problem started. One that was fixed in the meantime, or still waiting after an hour, is dropped. They survive Quit. If the chat server's identity changes, netdiag stops sending and says so: Reconnect in Settings.
- Problems right now. A card at the top of Devices shows what is broken on the local network at this moment, most urgent first, or "Everything looks fine (checked 10:42)". Problems fixed in the last day are listed under it.
- Every health check and alert says what it means and what to try. Open What to try on a banner, a card or a health check for up to three steps. Some steps have a button, for example Open Location settings on Windows.
- Fixed banners. When a problem clears, its banner turns into Fixed and says what cleared and how long it lasted, instead of a separate "OK again" notice.
- "This network has no internet" (Settings > Health checks): for a local network that is meant to be offline. The internet check then only informs, and a name lookup that needs the internet is not a warning.
- For Claude and other AI agents: 16 tools and 10 prompts, including runbooks that explain problems, check internet trouble and review team chat alerts.
netdiag mcp --attachconnects Claude Desktop to the netdiag window you have open, so Claude sees the same live scan.
Fixes and changes
- Reopening netdiag brings back the same live view. Reloading the page, or closing it and double-clicking netdiag again, opens the running netdiag with its live view, without beeps. Only one netdiag runs at a time for each data folder. It uses http://127.0.0.1:8787 unless that port is taken, then a free port that it remembers. Pressing Scan in another tab while netdiag is watching asks Restart watching? instead of stopping it by accident. A restart no longer repeats an alert that is still open, and closes the ones fixed while netdiag was closed.
- No false alarms when this computer loses the network. If this computer loses its cable or Wi-Fi, sleeps, or the router stops answering, netdiag pauses its checks and says so once ("This computer lost the network"), instead of reporting every device offline. When it moves to a different network it stops its alerts until you press Restart watching.
- A device on several addresses is a note, not a conflict. It shows a violet Note instead of a conflict, and the health checks use plain names such as Router and Name lookup (DNS).
- One alert per problem. A printer with an open cover gives one alert, "Door or cover open", not a second "offline or paused" one. A health check must fail twice before it alerts.
- The page's buttons only work in the page netdiag opened. Another web page or program on this computer can no longer press them. A page opened by hand says "Buttons on this page are turned off for safety": double-click netdiag to open a working one.
- Settings survive a damaged settings file. netdiag keeps every setting it can read and uses the default for the rest. The next time you open Settings it says which ones it reset; click Save to keep them.
- The SNMP community and the chat key stay private. Neither appears in what netdiag shows, exports, saves in History or posts to chat. Scans saved by netdiag 0.5.7 or earlier are cleaned the first time you open History. On Windows the chat key is sealed for your user account (DPAPI); on a Mac only your user can read it.
Good to know
- Windows firewall prompt: if a "Windows Security Alert" asks about netdiag the first time you scan and you don't have an administrator password, click Cancel. netdiag still works; finding the chat server automatically may not, so use Type the address in the connect wizard (your chat admin reads it in bubbles under Admin > Overview).
- netdiag is still not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may ask once ("More info" > "Run anyway"). Extract the zip first (right-click > Extract All) rather than running netdiag.exe from inside the zip.
Includes the v0.5.1 to v0.5.8 changes and v0.5.0 Connect Claude (MCP) support.
netdiag v0.5.8
netdiag v0.5.8
Download the zip for your machine, unzip, and see HOW-TO-OPEN.txt. Project page: https://donaldsteele.github.io/netdiag/
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | netdiag-windows-amd64.zip |
| Windows (ARM) | netdiag-windows-arm64.zip |
| Mac (Intel) | netdiag-darwin-amd64.zip |
| Mac (Apple silicon) | netdiag-darwin-arm64.zip |
New
- "Trust this certificate" for your own web server. If the Web server address in Settings uses a certificate this computer does not trust (common for a self-signed certificate on a server on your own local network), the Web server card now says why in plain words, for example that it is self-signed, has expired or is made out to another name, and offers Trust this certificate. netdiag shows the certificate's fingerprint (a unique code for that exact certificate) and asks you to confirm. Only do this for your own server. From then on the check accepts that one certificate, warns if it has expired, and tells you if the server's certificate changes. Settings shows the trusted certificate with a Forget button (then Save). Changing the Web server address to another server forgets it too.
- The Web server check follows redirects on the same server, like a browser does (for example from http to https, or to its login page), up to 5 times, and shows the address it ended up at. A redirect to a different server is not followed: the check fails and says where it redirects.
- A router that ignores ping no longer fails the Gateway check. When the router does not answer ping, netdiag tries to connect to it on port 80, then 443 (where most routers have their settings page). Any answer there, even a refusal, shows the router is there, so the check passes and says "it does not reply to ping". It fails only when the router answers neither.
- "Ignore this MAC" asks first. It says that netdiag will stop warning about conflicts that involve this device, and how to undo it: open Settings, press Remove next to it under Ignored conflict MACs, then Save.
Fixes
- The SNMP community stays hidden in what you might send to someone. JSON exports, scans saved in History and the command line's JSON output now show it as
***, as Claude already saw it. You still see it where you type it: the SNMP community box next to Scan, and Settings. Live printer checks keep working. Scans saved by netdiag 0.5.7 or earlier kept it in clear; netdiag rewrites each of those files with***the first time it reads it (for example when you open History). - A password written in the Web server URL (
http://user:password@server/) is shown asuser:xxxxx@serverin the health results, History, exports and to Claude. Only Settings shows it. Health results saved by netdiag 0.5.7 or earlier may still contain it: they age out of History (netdiag keeps the last 20 scans), or you can delete them there. - Health checks look at the right network. On a computer with two network adapters (for example Wi-Fi and a cable, or a VPN), Recheck checks the adapter chosen in the interface list, with the router its scan found, and no longer borrows the other network's router. If netdiag knows no router for that adapter, the Gateway check says so. A health check that Claude runs without naming an adapter now checks the network of the running or latest scan, not simply the first adapter in the list.
- Saving Settings with a new Web server address (or trusted certificate, must-contain text or expected status) runs the health checks again, so the Web server card never describes the old address.
- The Problems filter uses the supply threshold from Settings instead of a fixed 15%, so it agrees with the "Supply low" alert. Changing the threshold updates the filter at once.
- The Web server card shows "not configured" with a Set the web server URL in Settings link when no address is set. The link did not show before.
- Export finds scans saved in History. Exporting a scan that netdiag no longer keeps in memory (it keeps the latest ten) now uses the copy saved in History instead of failing.
- Live mode left running for a long time no longer slowly uses more and more memory.
- For Claude and other AI agents: the problems list and the scan summary now use the same rules as the Problems filter, the printer supply threshold comes from Settings, the Wi-Fi check is named in every health description, and agents are told to treat names and text reported by devices as information, never as instructions.
Good to know
- Windows firewall prompt: if a "Windows Security Alert" asks about netdiag and you don't have an administrator password, click Cancel. netdiag still finds devices, reads printers, opens web pages and runs the health checks; only Bonjour (mDNS) names may be missing, and a device that answers only Bonjour may not appear. HOW-TO-OPEN.txt and the README explain this.
- Keep the page open while live mode runs. If you reload the page, or close it and open it again, the page starts empty. Live mode keeps running in the background and still saves to History, but the page no longer shows its changes or alerts. Pressing Scan then stops that hidden live scan (what it found is saved in History) and starts a new one. A fix is planned for v0.6; the README now says so.
- netdiag is now licensed under Apache-2.0. Each zip includes LICENSE, NOTICE and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.
- The roadmap is public: planned work up to the v1.0.0 Microsoft Store release is in roadmap/README.md.
netdiag is still not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may ask once ("More info" > "Run anyway"). Extract the zip first (right-click > Extract All) rather than running netdiag.exe from inside the zip.
Includes the v0.5.1 to v0.5.7 changes and v0.5.0 Connect Claude (MCP) support.
netdiag v0.5.7
netdiag v0.5.7
Download the zip for your machine, unzip, and see HOW-TO-OPEN.txt. Project page: https://donaldsteele.github.io/netdiag/
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | netdiag-windows-amd64.zip |
| Windows (ARM) | netdiag-windows-arm64.zip |
| Mac (Intel) | netdiag-darwin-amd64.zip |
| Mac (Apple silicon) | netdiag-darwin-arm64.zip |
New
- Remote access in one click. When a device has Remote Desktop or screen sharing (VNC) turned on, its details get a Remote access section, and the hosts table shows a Remote desktop or Screen sharing (VNC) link when this computer can open it (the column is now called "Web / remote"). You sign in with that computer's own user name and password; netdiag never sees or stores them.
- Remote desktop opens Remote Desktop Connection on Windows. On a Mac it opens Microsoft's free Windows App once you have installed it from the App Store; until then, use Download connection file.
- Screen sharing (VNC) opens the Mac's built-in Screen Sharing app. Windows has no screen sharing app of its own: netdiag starts your VNC viewer only if it is set up to open
vnc:links (many are not). Otherwise use Copy address and paste it into your VNC viewer. - SSH gets a Copy SSH command button for your IT helper. netdiag does not open SSH.
- Download connection file saves a ready-made
.rdpfile you can open later, or on another computer on the same network. - netdiag opens a session only when you click, only to a device the scan found with that service on, only to addresses on a local network, and never to this computer.
- A device whose only clue is Remote Desktop or screen sharing now shows as Computer in the Type column instead of Unknown.
Fixes
- No more false DNS alarm on a local network without internet. The DNS check used to fail on every scan of a network with no internet, with a critical "Health check failed" notice, although netdiag does not need the internet. Now, when an internet name does not resolve, netdiag asks this computer's own DNS servers directly. If one answers, the DNS check shows a warning that names that server ("no internet connection, or the DNS server cannot reach the internet") and raises no critical notice. The warning also tells you when DNS is only slow, when another setting such as a VPN is in the way, or when the server says the internet check address in Settings does not exist. DNS still shows a failure, with the critical notice, when none of this computer's DNS servers answer or none is set.
- Live mode on Windows no longer marks a working device offline when the port it checks is closed. Windows took about 2 seconds to report a closed port, longer than netdiag waited, so the device looked gone. netdiag now gets the answer in milliseconds.
- The instructions netdiag gives to Claude and other AI agents now describe any local network, with no setting-specific wording.
Good to know
- Scans now check ten ports per device, adding 22, 3389 and 5900 to spot remote access. On managed office networks, security tools may report this as remote-access probing. Live mode never uses these ports to check whether a device is still there, because remote access servers can log every check. Comparing with a scan from an older netdiag does not show these ports as newly opened.
- With Connect Claude, Claude can see these ports in a device's details but cannot start a remote session; that is only a button in the netdiag window.
netdiag is still not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may ask once ("More info" > "Run anyway"). Extract the zip first (right-click > Extract All) rather than running netdiag.exe from inside the zip.
Includes the v0.5.1 to v0.5.6 changes and v0.5.0 Connect Claude (MCP) support.
netdiag v0.5.6
netdiag v0.5.6
Download the zip for your machine, unzip, and see HOW-TO-OPEN.txt. Project page: https://donaldsteele.github.io/netdiag/
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | netdiag-windows-amd64.zip |
| Windows (ARM) | netdiag-windows-arm64.zip |
| Mac (Intel) | netdiag-darwin-amd64.zip |
| Mac (Apple silicon) | netdiag-darwin-arm64.zip |
Changes
- Fewer antivirus false alarms on Windows. netdiag no longer runs
arp,route,netshoripconfigin the background; it asks Windows directly. Windows Defender had flagged that pattern as suspicious and blocked netdiag.exe. - netdiag.exe now has its name, version and icon, shown in Explorer (Properties), Task Manager and the firewall prompt.
- Wi-Fi and DHCP details work on Windows in any language. They used to show "unavailable" when Windows was not set to English.
- Wi-Fi band shows 6 GHz correctly on Wi-Fi 6E networks.
netdiag is still not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may ask once ("More info" > "Run anyway"). Extract the zip first (right-click > Extract All) rather than running netdiag.exe from inside the zip.
Includes the v0.5.1 to v0.5.5 changes and v0.5.0 Connect Claude (MCP) support.
netdiag v0.5.5
netdiag v0.5.5
Download the zip for your machine, unzip, and see HOW-TO-OPEN.txt. Project page: https://donaldsteele.github.io/netdiag/
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | netdiag-windows-amd64.zip |
| Windows (ARM) | netdiag-windows-arm64.zip |
| Mac (Intel) | netdiag-darwin-amd64.zip |
| Mac (Apple silicon) | netdiag-darwin-arm64.zip |
Fixes
- Printer OK again now names every alert that cleared. Some printers (for example Zebra label printers) clear their alerts one at a time when you close the cover; the notice used to name only the last one, such as "cleared Printer offline or paused." It now says "cleared Door or cover open, Printer offline or paused."
Site
- New Live monitoring section on the project page, with screenshots from a real Zebra ZD621 while its cover was opened and closed.
Includes the v0.5.1 to v0.5.4 changes and v0.5.0 Connect Claude (MCP) support.
netdiag v0.5.4
netdiag v0.5.4
Download the zip for your machine, unzip, and see HOW-TO-OPEN.txt. Project page: https://donaldsteele.github.io/netdiag/
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | netdiag-windows-amd64.zip |
| Windows (ARM) | netdiag-windows-arm64.zip |
| Mac (Intel) | netdiag-darwin-amd64.zip |
| Mac (Apple silicon) | netdiag-darwin-arm64.zip |
Changes
- The Event web server health check is now called Web server. The docs and Claude's built-in playbooks talk about your local network rather than an event network.
- In the device table, the status icon and IP address always stay together on one line; badges such as gateway wrap below when space is tight.
- New project website: https://donaldsteele.github.io/netdiag/
Includes the v0.5.1 to v0.5.3 layout fixes and v0.5.0 Connect Claude (MCP) support.
netdiag v0.5.3
netdiag v0.5.3
Download the zip for your machine, unzip, and see HOW-TO-OPEN.txt.
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | netdiag-windows-amd64.zip |
| Windows (ARM) | netdiag-windows-arm64.zip |
| Mac (Intel) | netdiag-darwin-amd64.zip |
| Mac (Apple silicon) | netdiag-darwin-arm64.zip |
Fixes
- No more double scroll bars. The device list no longer scrolls inside its own box; the whole page scrolls, and on wider windows the column headers stay pinned under the alert banner.
- The Activity log grows with the page instead of scrolling in a fixed box. It still follows new events while you are at the bottom.
Includes the v0.5.1 and v0.5.2 layout fixes and v0.5.0 Connect Claude (MCP) support.
netdiag v0.5.2
netdiag v0.5.2
Download the zip for your machine, unzip, and see HOW-TO-OPEN.txt.
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | netdiag-windows-amd64.zip |
| Windows (ARM) | netdiag-windows-arm64.zip |
| Mac (Intel) | netdiag-darwin-amd64.zip |
| Mac (Apple silicon) | netdiag-darwin-arm64.zip |
Fixes
- The device table Status column for printers is easier to read. The status and the printer / via SNMP badges come first, then the model, alerts and low supplies each on their own line, instead of one long sentence that wrapped mid-phrase.
Includes the v0.5.1 alignment fixes and v0.5.0 Connect Claude (MCP) support.
netdiag v0.5.1
netdiag v0.5.1
Download the zip for your machine, unzip, and see HOW-TO-OPEN.txt.
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | netdiag-windows-amd64.zip |
| Windows (ARM) | netdiag-windows-arm64.zip |
| Mac (Intel) | netdiag-darwin-amd64.zip |
| Mac (Apple silicon) | netdiag-darwin-arm64.zip |
Fixes
- Small square buttons (mute alerts, desktop alerts, theme, close, copy) now show their icons centred.
- On narrow windows, buttons such as Dismiss and Delete, and device badges, keep the icon and label on one line.
- The device table headers now line up with each other.
Everything from v0.5.0 (Connect Claude via MCP) is unchanged.
netdiag v0.5.0
netdiag v0.5.0
Download the zip for your machine, unzip, and see HOW-TO-OPEN.txt.
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | netdiag-windows-amd64.zip |
| Windows (ARM) | netdiag-windows-arm64.zip |
| Mac (Intel) | netdiag-darwin-amd64.zip |
| Mac (Apple silicon) | netdiag-darwin-arm64.zip |
New: connect Claude (AI agent access via MCP)
Claude or other AI agents can now read netdiag's results and run scans to help troubleshoot the event network. See Connect Claude in the README.
netdiag mcp: Claude Code or Claude Desktop starts netdiag itself, e.g.claude mcp add netdiag -- "C:\path\to\netdiag.exe" mcp- Share the open netdiag window: turn on Settings > Agent access (MCP) (off by default) and connect to
http://127.0.0.1:<port>/mcp. Claude sees the same live scan as you. - 13 tools: scan, devices (with filters such as problems, printers or offline), device details, live changes, health checks, single-host probe, history and compare
- 5 built-in playbooks: triage the network, diagnose a printer, explain a conflict, find a missing device, what changed since the last scan
- Safe by design: agents cannot change settings, delete history, ignore MACs or quit netdiag; the SNMP community is never shown; this computer only (127.0.0.1)
Other changes
- Settings dialog has a new Agent access (MCP) section with the endpoint address and a copy button
- Full reference in
docs/mcp.md
Unsigned build: on macOS, right-click the app and choose Open the first time.
Tested with Claude Code 2.1.296 on Windows. Claude Desktop and Mac not yet tested.