rcourtman
487ab8a7c4
## Why A heap profile of the long-running dogfood install (77.6 MB live after a forced GC) shows the alert history projection holding 36 MB (47%). It keeps one merged alert per occurrence for the event log's 90-day retention: 1,895 occurrences there, with resolved snapshots averaging about 20 KB. Reads made it much worse (#1803): - every history read deep-copied the whole projection before applying its limit, so the attention summary's 500-row read copied all 1,895 occurrences; - every read with a `since` (the 30-day alert-quality window, date-filtered history) built a fresh projection and re-decoded every snapshot in its window. That churn is why the same install holds about 158 MB of Go heap for 78 MB of live data. ## What changed - One full-history fold, built and extended as before. Each occurrence also keeps a small mark per folded event (time, durable ID, and the `LastSeen` it contributed) and the index of its latest acknowledged snapshot. - A `since` read is answered from that fold. The window starts at each occurrence's first event that the log's own `occurred_at >= since` text comparison admits. `LastSeen` and acknowledgement come from that point on, and occurrences are ordered by their first in-window event, exactly as a walk of only the window would produce. - Overlay, sort and limit run on lightweight rows under the projection lock. Only returned rows are copied, once, by `canonicalizeAlertHistoryForOutput`. - The alerts contract notes the windowed-read rule and the pinning tests. ## Measured (pulse-dev, log shaped like the dogfood install's: about 1,900 occurrences, 40k events) | Read | main | this PR | |---|---|---| | 30-day window | 68.9 ms, 19.8 MB allocated | 5.2 ms, 2.8 MB | | Latest 500 | 12.7 ms, 8.5 MB | 3.6 ms, 2.0 MB | | Full history | 20.8 ms, 12.9 MB | 13.4 ms, 6.9 MB | The 36 MB the fold itself holds is unchanged. The new marks add about 56 bytes per lifecycle event, about 2 MB at 40k events. ## Checks - `TestWindowedHistoryMatchesAWalkOfOnlyTheWindow` compares every window and limit against an independent walk of only the window (the original algorithm). It covers 25 random histories with acknowledgements on both sides of the boundary, out-of-order `LastSeen`, uneven fractional seconds where RFC3339Nano text order and time order disagree, same-instant events, a history clear, and live overlays. - `TestWindowedHistoryReusesTheFullHistoryFold`, `TestLimitedHistoryReadCopiesOnlyReturnedRows` and `TestHistoryReadResultsDoNotAliasTheSharedFold` pin reuse, copying and isolation. - Negative controls: ignoring the window, building a fresh fold per `since` read, and copying every row before the limit each fail their test. - Removing the per-row clone did not fail the aliasing test, because the output copy already isolates results. That double copy was dropped, and the test guards isolation end to end. - Vet and the whole `internal/alerts/...` tree pass on pulse-dev. ## Not established How much held heap this saves on the dogfood install itself. That needs this build running there. Related to #1803
Pulse
Real-time Proxmox, Docker and Kubernetes monitoring that finds what needs attention.
Pulse is a self-hosted monitoring workspace for Proxmox, Docker, Kubernetes, TrueNAS, physical and virtual machines, and early-access VMware vSphere environments. It combines live infrastructure state, history, alerts, recovery visibility, and scheduled health checks without requiring a conventional enterprise monitoring stack.
Why Pulse
- It watches between visits. Alerts and Pulse Patrol find failed backups, capacity pressure, restart loops, unhealthy containers, clock drift, and other problems that dashboards cannot surface when nobody is looking.
- It keeps each platform familiar. Proxmox, Docker, Kubernetes, TrueNAS, vSphere, and machines have dedicated views, backed by one shared resource model for search, alerts, history, and investigation.
- It stays operator-controlled. Credentials are encrypted at rest, API tokens are scoped, agent commands are disabled by default, and governed fixes require the configured policy and approval path.
Platform coverage
| Platform | Coverage |
|---|---|
| Proxmox VE, PBS, and PMG | Nodes, guests, storage, backups, replication, Ceph, mail gateways, and alerts |
| Docker and Podman | Hosts, containers, Compose projects, Swarm services, health, images, and updates |
| Kubernetes | Clusters, nodes, workloads, pods, services, storage, and events through the unified agent |
| TrueNAS SCALE and CORE | Pools, datasets, disks, snapshots, replication tasks, apps, VMs, and alerts |
| Linux, Windows, and macOS machines | Host health, filesystems, networking, temperatures, RAID, and availability through the unified agent |
| VMware vSphere | Early-access inventory, hosts, clusters, VMs, datastores, networks, snapshots, and recovery context; validate against your own vCenter before production use |
Platform pages keep storage and recovery information beside the infrastructure it belongs to. Alerts, Actions, and Patrol remain cross-platform views.
Patrol: monitoring that does rounds
Pulse Patrol runs scheduled checks across the current state and recent history of your infrastructure. Community installations can use a local model or their own AI provider for watch-only analysis. Pulse Pro adds investigation and policy-bound fixes with approval, verification, and an audit trail.
Pulse also includes an interactive Assistant and an MCP adapter for external clients such as Claude Code and OpenCode. Both sit on top of the same scoped inventory, metrics, alert, storage, and governed-action contracts.
Quick start
Choose an exact version from the latest release and keep that version pinned during installation.
Docker
docker run -d \
--name pulse \
-p 7655:7655 \
-v pulse_data:/data \
-e PULSE_DEPLOYMENT_METHOD=docker_run \
--restart unless-stopped \
rcourtman/pulse:vX.Y.Z
Open http://<your-ip>:7655 and follow the bootstrap-token setup. Docker host
monitoring is provided by the unified agent; the Pulse server container does
not need the Docker socket.
Proxmox LXC, Linux, and Kubernetes
The installer is signed. Verify install.sh against the pinned
pulse-installer key before running it:
export PULSE_VERSION=vX.Y.Z
curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/rcourtman/Pulse/releases/download/${PULSE_VERSION}/install.sh" &&
curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/rcourtman/Pulse/releases/download/${PULSE_VERSION}/install.sh.sshsig" &&
ssh-keygen -Y verify \
-f <(printf '%s\n' 'pulse-installer namespaces="pulse-install" ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIMZd/DaH+BldzOkq1A8KVTcFk73nAyrE8aJOyf7i00jm pulse-installer') \
-I pulse-installer \
-n pulse-install \
-s install.sh.sshsig < install.sh &&
bash install.sh --version "${PULSE_VERSION}"
Paste the whole block: installation stops if either download or signature verification fails. Do not run the final command separately to bypass a failure.
The GitHub installer installs the Pulse server. Install and upgrade agents (including v5-to-v6 agent upgrades) with the per-host command generated under Settings → Infrastructure → Install on a host.
Do you need an agent?
Often not. Proxmox VE, PBS, and PMG are monitored through the Proxmox API with a read-only token, so no Pulse host agent is required. The generated setup script creates a privilege-separated monitoring user. Install the unified agent only where you want data the platform API cannot provide, such as host SMART health, temperatures, Docker hosts, or standalone machines.
API-only does not mean guest-agent-free. VM filesystem and memory requests through QEMU Guest Agent can share the channel used by freeze-enabled backups. Read-only permissions do not prove backup safety. Do not add permissions, enable or restart an agent, or send manual guest-agent probes during a backup, freeze or thaw. Use the existing backup safety precaution. Stopping Pulse also stops its monitoring and alerts. An OK backup task does not prove successful thaw.
The agent is operator-controlled by design. Command execution is off by
default, the local listener binds to localhost, and generated systemd units
ship hardened. On Linux, the installer's --least-privilege profile runs the
service as a dedicated non-root user, with optional scoped sudo grants for
the few collectors that need elevation. The
agent security model documents exactly what the
agent can and cannot do at each privilege level.
Important
GitHub release assets and
rcourtman/pulseimages are Community builds. Relay, Pro, and eligible legacy customers should use the private image or Linux archive provided by the Pulse download portal. Replacing a private Pro runtime with a public Community build removes its private runtime hooks.
Editions
- Community — self-hosted monitoring, seven days of metric history, core SSO, update alerts, and Patrol with your own provider or local model.
- Pro — Community plus Patrol investigation, governed fixes, ninety days of history, centralized agent profiles, RBAC, audit logging, and reporting.
- MSP — for managed service providers: one Pulse Account running many client workspaces, each with an isolated Pulse runtime — separate dashboards, alerts, users, audit history, and reports. Free sixty-day two-client evaluation at Pulse for MSPs.
Relay is no longer sold. Existing Relay subscribers receive Pro features at their current price for as long as their subscription continues. Existing paired phones keep working until 31 March 2027. Relay connects the app, not the web UI. Use your own VPN or tunnel for remote web access. For phone alerts, add an ntfy, Gotify or Pushover destination and open Pulse in your phone's browser.
Core self-hosted monitoring is not gated by monitored-system or child-resource volume. See the runtime-aligned capability reference and current plans for details.
Documentation
- Install and deployment
- Production deployment and security
- Upgrade from Pulse v5
- Releases and update channels
- Configuration
- Platform and agent guides
- Pulse Intelligence
- Security and privacy
- Code signing policy
- Troubleshooting
- API reference and architecture
Localized getting started guides: Deutsch · Español
Development
Pulse uses Go 1.26 and a SolidJS/TypeScript frontend. The managed development
runtime starts the frontend at http://127.0.0.1:5173 and proxies API and
WebSocket traffic to the backend on port 7655.
npm ci
npm --prefix frontend-modern ci
npm run dev
Useful checks:
go test ./...
npm --prefix frontend-modern test
npm --prefix frontend-modern run type-check
python3 scripts/check_public_docs.py
See CONTRIBUTING.md before investing in a code change. Pulse uses an issue-first contribution process and does not normally accept unsolicited pull requests.
Community and support
- Ask questions in GitHub Discussions.
- Report bugs and unexpected outcomes through GitHub Issues.
- Home Assistant users can use the community-maintained Pulse add-ons.
- If Pulse is useful to you, support its development through GitHub Sponsors or Ko-fi.
Read the safe reporting guidance before sharing original evidence. A second reproduction or diagnostics export is not required; do not repeat an attempt that could interrupt workloads or send duplicate notifications. GitHub reports and attachments are public: review them locally and keep credentials and private details out.
License
Everything in this repository is licensed under the MIT License. There is no dual licensing and no commercial or source-available code here.
Pulse Pro is a separate commercial product, built from private sources and distributed through pulserelay.pro. Its use is governed by the Terms of Service, which apply to that product only, not to anything in this repository.