COSMIC System Monitor Applet

Clean and powerful system monitor applet for the COSMIC Desktop Environment.

What is COSMIC System Monitor?

A lightweight system monitoring applet that integrates seamlessly with COSMIC Desktop, showing real-time system metrics in the panel. Perfect for users who want to keep track of their system performance without cluttering their desktop.

Supported Distributions

Distribution	Status
Pop!_OS 22.04+	ok
Ubuntu 22.04+	ok
Fedora 38+	ok
Arch Linux	ok

Note: This applet is designed specifically for COSMIC Desktop.

Prerequisites

Rust Toolchain

This project uses Rust, so you'll need the Rust toolchain which includes cargo.

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install rustc cargo

Fedora/CentOS/RHEL:

sudo dnf install rust cargo

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S rust cargo

2. Just (Command Runner)

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install just

Fedora/CentOS/RHEL:

sudo dnf install just

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S just

3. System Development Libraries

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install build-essential libsensors-dev libgtk-3-dev libdbus-1-dev pkg-config

Fedora/CentOS/RHEL:

sudo dnf groupinstall "Development Tools"
sudo dnf install lm_sensors-devel gtk3-devel dbus-devel pkg-config

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S base-devel lm_sensors gtk3 dbus pkgconf

4. COSMIC Dependencies

Since this applet uses libcosmic, you may need additional dependencies:

Pop!_OS:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install libcosmic-dev

Other Distributions: You may need to build libcosmic from source. Check the libcosmic repository for more information.

Installation

Step 1: Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/marcossl10/cosmic-system-monitor.git
cd cosmic-system-monitor

Step 2: Build and Install

sudo just install

This will:

• Build the application in release mode
• Install the binary to /usr/bin/cosmic-sys-monitor
• Install desktop entry to /usr/share/applications/
• Install app icon to /usr/share/icons/hicolor/symbolic/apps/
• Install metainfo to /usr/share/metainfo/

Step 3: Restart COSMIC Panel

Log out and log back in, or restart the COSMIC panel:

killall -9 cosmic-panel

The applet should now appear in your panel configuration.

Usage

Adding to Panel

1. Open Settings
2. Navigate to Desktop → Panel
3. Click the + button to add an applet
4. Select System Monitor

Features

• 📊 CPU Usage - Real-time processor usage monitoring
• 💾 Memory Usage - RAM usage (percentage and GB)
• 🎮 GPU Usage - Usage, Temperature and VRAM (percentage and GB)
• 💿 Disk Usage - Disk space usage (percentage and GB)
• 🌡️ Temperature - CPU and GPU temperatures
• 🌐 Network - Real-time download/upload speeds (B/s, KB/s, MB/s)
• ⚙️ Configurable - Toggle metrics on/off via popup menu
• 🎨 Native Look - Seamless COSMIC Desktop integration
• ⚡ Low Resource - Minimal memory and CPU footprint

Troubleshooting

Applet Not Appearing

1. Verify installation: ls -la /usr/bin/cosmic-sys-monitor
2. Check logs: journalctl -u cosmic-sys-monitor (if running as service)
3. Try running manually: cosmic-sys-monitor

Build Fails

1. Ensure all dependencies are installed
2. Update Rust: rustup update
3. Clean build: just clean && cargo build --release

Sensors Not Detected

sudo sensors-detect
sudo systemctl enable --now lm_sensors

Building from Source

Debug Build

just build-debug

Release Build

just build-release

Run Without Installing

just run

Check Code Quality

just check

Uninstallation

sudo just uninstall

License

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

Acknowledgments

• pop-os/libcosmic - COSMIC Desktop library
• sysinfo - System information library