rcourtman
6263c580f7
Follow-up to #2669, which made the guest drawer's filesystem rows follow a linked Pulse agent's freshness. The workload table's disk cell and the drawer History still judged the same guest by the Proxmox read reason, so one guest disagreed with itself across the three. ## What changes - **One rule for three readers.** `getWorkloadGuestDiskRead` (`workloadGuestPresentation.ts`) now drives the table disk cell, the drawer's filesystem rows and History. When the linked agent's filesystems fill in for a VM that has no Proxmox guest filesystems, the reading is current while the agent reports, last known once it is stale, and unavailable once the guest is stopped. Proxmox's own guest filesystems keep their read reason. - **Where the aggregate disk metric comes from.** On a manually linked VM, Proxmox records no guest disk usage without guest filesystems, so the registry's link merge keeps the agent's disk metric. A registry test pins that. - **Poller carry-forward.** `previousVMFromView` built the previous VM from the merged metric, so the next poll carried the agent's disk forward as a Proxmox `prev-agent-not-running` read. Proxmox priority then froze it over the agent's live value. Only Proxmox's own disk reading is carried now (`VMView.DiskFromLinkedAgent`). - **`agent.stale` is always on the wire.** The browser merges agent facets field by field, so an omitted false kept a resumed agent "stopped reporting" until a reload. This affected Machines rows and node drawers too. - **Withdrawn filesystems.** The websocket merge kept filesystems that a native Proxmox VM facet or a native agent facet (which always carries `stale`) no longer reported, including in the `platformData.agent` mirror that host threshold rows read. ## Verification - New tests, each failing on main: `GuestRow.test.tsx`, `GuestDrawer.test.tsx`, `workloadGuestPresentation.test.ts`, `resourceStateAdapters.test.ts`, `TestPreviousVMFromViewKeepsLinkedAgentDiskOutOfProxmoxCarry`, `TestAgentDataAlwaysSendsStale`, `TestVMViewDiskFromLinkedAgentFollowsSelectedMetricSource`, and `TestResourceRegistry_ManualGuestAgentLinkDiskMetricFollowsProxmoxGuestFilesystems`. The registry test is a characterization test; it fails when the agent outranks Proxmox on guest disk. - Private mock stack at 1440 and 390, with agents linked into VMs through `POST /api/resources/{vm}/link`: - Live agent, no QEMU guest agent: before, "- Unavailable · Guest agent not running", with History deferred; after, the agent's bars, nothing deferred. - Silent agent: before, "- Unavailable"; after, bars plus "Last known" (phone: "Prior"), with History deferred on the agent message. - Stopped guest: Unavailable. - A guest with Proxmox filesystems: unchanged. - Machines row for a standalone agent released from a silent hold, watched without a reload: on main it kept "(stale)"; now it clears. - Bundle: WorkloadsSurface 61.93 kB gzip against a 70.23 kB cap. ## Known residuals - Mock mode's websocket state does not apply manual links to resources ingested as records (`ingestRecords` never runs `applyManualLinks`), so the browser pass ran the Proxmox page on REST data. In production this likely affects links to vSphere or TrueNAS resources; it is tracked separately. - A stale Proxmox source can lose the aggregate to a live agent while its own filesystem rows and `prev-` reason remain. That guest stays on the Proxmox rule and reads its live aggregate as last known, which is the same as main and errs toward caution. A guest with no platform read reason can likewise keep a retained aggregate after the agent withdraws its filesystems, also as on main. Both need aggregate provenance on the wire.
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 nothing runs on the host and 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.
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 reproducible bugs 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.
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.