Add Dashboard

---
name: add-dashboard
description: Add a monitoring dashboard to NanoClaw. Installs @nanoco/nanoclaw-dashboard and a pusher that sends periodic JSON snapshots.
---

# /add-dashboard — NanoClaw Dashboard

Adds a local monitoring dashboard showing agent groups, sessions, channels, users, token usage, context windows, message activity, and real-time logs.

## Architecture

```
NanoClaw (pusher)              Dashboard (npm package)
┌──────────┐    POST JSON      ┌──────────────┐
│ collects │ ────────────────→ │ /api/ingest  │
│ DB data  │   every 60s       │ in-memory    │
│ tails    │ ────────────────→ │ /api/logs/   │
│ log file │   every 2s        │   push       │
└──────────┘                   │ serves UI    │
                               └──────────────┘
```

## Steps

### 1. Install the npm package

```bash
pnpm install @nanoco/nanoclaw-dashboard
```

### 2. Copy the pusher module and its tests

Copy all three resource files into `src/`. The tests ship with the skill and run against the composed project — they're how you confirm the skill works and is wired in correctly.

```
.claude/skills/add-dashboard/resources/dashboard-pusher.ts       → src/dashboard-pusher.ts
.claude/skills/add-dashboard/resources/dashboard-pusher.test.ts  → src/dashboard-pusher.test.ts
.claude/skills/add-dashboard/resources/dashboard-wiring.test.ts  → src/dashboard-wiring.test.ts
```

- `dashboard-pusher.test.ts` — behavior: starts the pusher, posts a real snapshot to a fake dashboard.
- `dashboard-wiring.test.ts` — the code edit in step 3: asserts (via the TS AST) that `index.ts` dynamically imports `./dashboard-pusher.js` and `await`s `startDashboard()` as colocated statements of `main()`, after DB init and before the boot-complete log. Delete or misplace the edit and this goes red.

### 3. Wire into src/index.ts

This is the skill's one integration point, and it's deliberately minimal and self-contained: all the startup logic lives in `dashboard-pusher.ts`, and the import is **colocated** with the call so the whole edit is a single block in one place — there's no separate top-of-file import to add (or to remember to remove).

Add this block inside `main()`, just before the `log.info('NanoClaw running')` line:

```typescript
  // Dashboard (optional; no-ops without DASHBOARD_SECRET)
  const { startDashboard } = await import('./dashboard-pusher.js');
  await startDashboard();
```

`startDashboard()` reads `DASHBOARD_SECRET`/`DASHBOARD_PORT` itself and no-ops if the secret is unset, so nothing else in core needs to change.

### 4. Add environment variables to .env

```
DASHBOARD_SECRET=<generate-a-random-secret>
DASHBOARD_PORT=3100
```

Generate the secret: `node -e "console.log('nc-' + require('crypto').randomBytes(16).toString('hex'))"`

### 5. Build, test, and restart

Run from your NanoClaw project root:

```bash
pnpm run build
pnpm exec vitest run src/dashboard-pusher.test.ts src/dashboard-wiring.test.ts   # behavior + wiring
source setup/lib/install-slug.sh
systemctl --user restart $(systemd_unit)              # Linux
# or: launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/$(launchd_label)  # macOS
```

Run `build` **before** the tests: it's what guards the `@nanoco/nanoclaw-dashboard` dependency. `dashboard-pusher.ts` reaches the package through `await import('@nanoco/nanoclaw-dashboard')`, so if step 4 was skipped, `pnpm run build` fails with `TS2307: Cannot find module`. The behavior test deliberately *mocks* that package — its `startDashboard` binds a real dashboard port, a side effect we don't want in a test — so the test alone would pass with the dependency missing. Build is therefore the leg that verifies the dependency is installed; keep it ahead of the tests in the validate step.

### 6. Verify (runtime smoke check)

Once the service is restarted, confirm the dashboard is live:

```bash
curl -s http://localhost:3100/api/status
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer <secret>" http://localhost:3100/api/overview
```

Open `http://localhost:3100/dashboard` in a browser.

## Dashboard Pages

| Page | Shows |
|------|-------|
| Overview | Stats, token usage + cache hit rate, context windows, activity chart |
| Agent Groups | Sessions, wirings, destinations, members, admins |
| Sessions | Status, container state, context window usage bars |
| Channels | Live/offline status, messaging groups, sender policies |
| Messages | Per-session inbound/outbound messages |
| Users | Privilege hierarchy: owner > admin > member |
| Logs | Real-time log streaming with level filter |

## Troubleshooting

- **"No data yet"**: Wait 60s for first push, or check logs for push errors
- **401 errors**: Verify `DASHBOARD_SECRET` matches in `.env`
- **Port conflict**: Change `DASHBOARD_PORT` in `.env`
- **No logs**: Check `logs/nanoclaw.log` exists

## Removal

Reverse the apply steps. Safe to re-run even if some pieces are already gone.

```bash
rm -f src/dashboard-pusher.ts src/dashboard-pusher.test.ts src/dashboard-wiring.test.ts
pnpm uninstall @nanoco/nanoclaw-dashboard 2>/dev/null || true
```

Then, by hand, remove the single dashboard block the skill added to `main()` in `src/index.ts` (the `// Dashboard (optional…)` comment, the `await import('./dashboard-pusher.js')` line, and the `await startDashboard();` call), and remove `DASHBOARD_SECRET` and `DASHBOARD_PORT` from `.env`.

```bash
pnpm run build
```