Crabdash

Note

This project is under active development and features may change as the project evolves toward v0.2.0

Crabdash is a native desktop dashboard for managing machines and services (such as homelabs).

It provides a single interface for inspecting and controlling:

• local system services
• Docker containers
• disks and mounts
• remote Linux machines over SSH

The goal is to replace scattered terminal commands with a focused control panel while still allowing quick fallbacks to the terminal when needed.

Crabdash is built as a native desktop application using Rust and GPUI — the same GPU-accelerated UI framework that powers the Zed code editor.

Architecture

The project is organised as a Rust workspace with four crates, each with a distinct responsibility:

• crabdash — entry point and application lifecycle
• app — UI layer built on GPUI
• machines — machine management, SSH connections, and remote state
• services — service integrations (Docker, systemd, disk inspection)

This separation keeps the UI decoupled from machine and service logic, making each layer independently testable and easier to extend. Strict workspace-wide linting is enforced — every fallible operation is explicitly handled rather than assumed to succeed.

Features (Milestone v0.2.0)

• System overview (hostname, OS version, architecture)
• Docker container control (start, stop, restart)
• Remote machine support via SSH (keyless, SSH key, and Tailscale)
• Disk and mount inspection
• System keychain integration for credential storage
• System health and stats
• System service management (systemd)
• Docker inspect and logs
• Quick command execution and logs

Run

cargo run

Build Dependencies

The project is based on GPUI and therefore largely depends on the same build dependencies as Zed.

Check out their documentation to get started: Building Zed

Motivation

Crabdash started as a tool for managing my own homelab machines and containers without constantly jumping between SSH sessions, terminal commands, and the desktop environment on-device. The existing tools were either too heavyweight, web-based, or required running a separate server. Crabdash is a native binary that runs on your machine and talks directly to your infrastructure.