ServerPulse

macOS menu bar app that monitors your Linux server in real-time via SSH.

One glance at your menu bar shows the load average. Click for the full dashboard — CPU, memory, disk, network, Docker containers, top processes — all refreshed every 30 seconds.

Features

• Menu bar at a glance — pulse icon + load average, always visible
• CPU — load averages (1/5/15m), usage breakdown (user/sys/wait), segmented progress bar
• Memory — RAM used/total/free, swap, buffer cache
• Disk — usage with free space remaining
• Network — active connections, listening ports, total traffic, live bandwidth rate
• Docker containers — all containers with status, CPU%, memory usage
• Top processes — top 5 by CPU with user info
• Color-coded bars — cyan (healthy) → amber (warning 65%+) → red (critical 85%+)
• Quick actions — refresh, open SSH terminal, open Coolify dashboard, copy server IP
• Dark HUD aesthetic — forced dark mode, monospace fonts, terminal-inspired design
• Zero dependencies — single Swift file, no Xcode required, compiles with swiftc

Requirements

• macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon)
• SSH access to a Linux server
• Tailscale recommended (but any SSH works)

Setup

1. Configure your server

Edit ServerPulse/main.swift and update the Config struct at the top:

struct Config {
    static let sshHost         = "root@your-server"       // SSH host (Tailscale name or IP)
    static let sshHostFallback = "root@1.2.3.4"           // Fallback IP
    static let serverIP        = "1.2.3.4"                // For "Copy IP" action
    static let coolifyURL      = "http://1.2.3.4:8000"    // Coolify dashboard (optional)
    // ...
}

2. Build

chmod +x build.sh
./build.sh

3. Run

open build/ServerPulse.app

4. Auto-start on login (optional)

System Settings → General → Login Items → click + → select build/ServerPulse.app

How it works

Every 30 seconds, ServerPulse runs a single SSH command that collects system metrics from your server using standard Linux tools (top, free, df, ss, docker stats, ps). The output is parsed and displayed in a SwiftUI card embedded in a native NSMenu.

The first SSH connection may require Tailscale authentication (opens browser). After that, it's cached.

SSH requirements

Your server needs these standard tools (present on any modern Linux):

• top, free, df, ss, ps, awk, nproc
• docker (for container monitoring — gracefully skipped if unavailable)

Menu bar icon

The pulse/heartbeat waveform is a template image — macOS automatically adapts it to light and dark menu bars. The number next to it is the 1-minute load average.

Architecture

ServerPulse.app
├── main.swift          # Everything — single file, ~800 lines
│   ├── Config          # SSH host, refresh interval
│   ├── Theme           # Colors, fonts, opacity levels
│   ├── Data Models     # ServerData, ContainerInfo, ProcessInfo
│   ├── SwiftUI Views   # ServerCardView, SegmentedBar, MetricLine
│   ├── ServerMonitor   # SSH execution + output parsing
│   └── AppDelegate     # Menu bar setup, timer, actions
├── Info.plist          # App bundle metadata (LSUIElement = menu bar only)
└── build.sh            # Compile script

No Xcode project. No package manager. Just swiftc with -framework Cocoa -framework SwiftUI.

Customization

What	Where
Refresh interval	Config.refreshInterval (default: 30s)
SSH timeout	Config.sshTimeout (default: 12s)
Card width	Config.cardWidth (default: 340pt)
Progress bar segments	SegmentedBar init (default: 30)
Warning threshold	Theme.barTint() (default: 65%)
Critical threshold	Theme.barTint() (default: 85%)
Number of processes	data.topProcesses.prefix(5) in processesSection

License

MIT