A graphical terminal activity monitor with interactive process management and real-time CPU/memory visualization.
vtop is a graphical activity monitor for the command line that provides real-time visualization of CPU and memory usage using Unicode braille characters. It offers an interactive interface for monitoring and managing system processes directly in the terminal, grouping similar processes together for clarity. The tool serves as a more visual and user-friendly alternative to traditional system monitors like `top`.
Developers and system administrators who work extensively in the terminal and want a more intuitive, visual way to monitor system resources without switching to GUI tools. It's particularly useful for those who prefer keyboard-driven workflows but appreciate enhanced visualization.
vtop combines the efficiency of terminal-based tools with graphical data representation, making system monitoring more accessible. Its interactive features—like mouse support, theme customization, and process grouping—offer a unique blend of functionality that traditional CLI monitors lack, all while staying within the terminal environment.
Wow such top. So stats. More better than regular top.
Open-Awesome is built by the community, for the community. Submit a project, suggest an awesome list, or help improve the catalog on GitHub.
Supports keyboard shortcuts (e.g., 'u' to update, arrow keys for navigation) and mouse control for clicking and scrolling, enabling seamless process interaction directly in the terminal, as detailed in the Keyboard shortcuts and Mouse control sections.
Uses Unicode braille characters via the drawille library to render real-time CPU and memory graphs, providing a unique graphical visualization that helps identify usage spikes, as explained in the FAQs.
Allows theme changes via command-line flags (e.g., --theme wizard) and supports creating custom theme files, enhancing visual appeal and personalization, with encouragement for community contributions in the README.
Groups processes with the same name together for a cleaner display, making it easier to manage related processes, which is highlighted as a key feature in the project description and FAQs.
The README admits that advanced features like measuring server request rates and log entries are not yet implemented ('on the list'), making it less suitable for comprehensive system monitoring compared to tools like htop.
Calculates CPU percentage differently from standard monitors (e.g., Apple Activity Monitor), which can lead to inaccuracies or user confusion, as noted in the FAQs under 'I think the CPU % is coming out wrong.'
Requires Node.js for installation and runtime (via npm install -g vtop), adding dependency and potential performance overhead compared to native C-based alternatives like top or htop.