s-tui
s-tui is a terminal-based CPU monitoring and stress-testing utility that displays real-time graphs of temperature, frequency, power, and utilization without requiring a graphical desktop. It includes a built-in CPU stress test and can detect thermal throttling across Intel and AMD processors.
Key facts
Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | amanusk/s-tui |
| Owner | amanusk |
| Primary language | Python |
| License | GPL-2.0 — OSI-approved |
| Stars | 5k |
| Forks | 176 |
| Open issues | 57 |
| Latest release | v1.4.0 (2026-03-19) |
| Last updated | 2026-07-08 |
| Source | https://github.com/amanusk/s-tui |
What s-tui is
Python-based TUI application leveraging psutil for hardware probing and urwid for terminal rendering. Supports detailed throttle detection via MSR on Intel/AMD, integrates with external stress tools (stress/stress-ng), and optionally uses numpy for enhanced stress workloads. Works on x86 and ARM platforms including Raspberry Pi.
Get the s-tui source
Clone the repository and explore it locally.
git clone https://github.com/amanusk/s-tui.gitcd s-tui# follow the project's README for install & configurationNeed it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.
Best use cases
Implementation considerations
- Requires Python 3.x, urwid, and psutil; numpy optional but recommended for stress-test thermal output quality.
- Root/sudo access may be required to read MSR-based throttle reasons and power metrics; fallback to sysfs available but less detailed.
- Configuration saved to ~/.config/s-tui; threshold scripts in hooks.d allow custom actions (e.g., fan control, shutdown) on thermal events.
- Built-in stress test works out of the box; external stress/stress-ng tools can be integrated for memory and I/O workloads.
- Platform-specific: tested on Raspberry Pi, Intel/AMD x86, and Linux; psutil hardware support varies by kernel version and driver availability.
When to avoid it — and what to weigh
- Windows or non-UNIX systems — s-tui depends on urwid, which only works on UNIX-like systems (Linux, macOS, BSD). Windows support is not available.
- Multi-system or process-level monitoring is the primary goal — s-tui focuses on CPU-level hardware metrics and stress testing, not process/application monitoring. For process management and cross-system oversight, htop or dedicated monitoring stacks are more appropriate.
- Non-Intel/AMD CPU architectures without psutil support — Hardware support depends on psutil's device drivers and kernel modules. Unsupported or exotic architectures may not expose temperature, frequency, or power readings, limiting tool utility.
- Fully automated, hands-off infrastructure monitoring — s-tui is an interactive TUI; it is not designed for unattended, event-driven alerting or integration with centralized monitoring systems (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana). CSV and JSON output exist but are single-snapshot, not streaming.
License & commercial use
GPL-2.0 (GNU General Public License v2.0). Copyleft license requiring any derivative works or distributions to also be released under GPL-2.0. Source code must be available.
GPL-2.0 permits commercial use, but with mandatory conditions: any modifications must be disclosed, source must be provided to recipients, and downstream products must also be GPL-2.0 licensed. Verify your legal/licensing team's interpretation before embedding in proprietary or closed-source commercial products. Using unmodified builds in commercial environments is typically acceptable.
DEV.co evaluation signals
Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.
| Signal | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Maintenance | Active |
| Documentation | Adequate |
| License clarity | Clear |
| Deployment complexity | Low |
| DEV.co fit | Good |
| Assessment confidence | High |
s-tui requires elevated privileges to read MSR registers and power metrics; review sudo policies and execution context carefully. No authentication or encryption; suitable only for local trusted systems. Shell hooks in ~/.config/s-tui can execute arbitrary commands—validate and restrict script permissions. Input validation on CLI arguments and config files not explicitly documented; standard Python security practices apply.
Alternatives to consider
turbostat (Linux)
Command-line Intel/AMD CPU frequency and power monitoring with detailed MSR output; lower overhead but non-interactive and requires Linux kernel support.
htop + stress
Separate tools for process monitoring and CPU stress; not integrated and does not display thermal throttling or power metrics, but widely available and familiar.
AIDA64 / Prime95
Professional-grade CPU stress and monitoring with GUI; comprehensive hardware support and detailed reports, but proprietary, heavy, and typically desktop-only.
Build on s-tui with DEV.co software developers
Use s-tui to monitor and characterize CPU performance in headless, embedded, and remote environments. Review licensing requirements (GPL-2.0) and hardware support for your target systems before deployment.
Talk to DEV.coRelated open-source tools
Surfaced by semantic similarity across the DEV.co open-source index.
Related on DEV.co
Explore the category and the services that help you build with it.
s-tui FAQ
Do I need root access to run s-tui?
What hardware is supported?
How does s-tui differ from htop?
Can I integrate s-tui with my monitoring platform?
Work with a software development agency
Need help beyond evaluating s-tui? DEV.co is a software development agency offering software development services and web development for teams of every size. Our software developers and web developers build custom software, web applications, APIs, and open-source observability integrations — and maintain them long-term.
Evaluate s-tui for Your Infrastructure
Use s-tui to monitor and characterize CPU performance in headless, embedded, and remote environments. Review licensing requirements (GPL-2.0) and hardware support for your target systems before deployment.