Agent Hub Desktop App

Monitoring the multi-agent stack across my own projects meant switching between terminals, browser tabs, log files, and the Docker desktop UI just to answer 'is everything running?'. Starting, stopping, or restarting a service meant remembering CLI commands. There was no single surface for system health, and the friction was discouraging me from checking on the stack as often as I should.

Mapped every data source: Docker API, n8n CLI, TCP port probes, file-based stats, git status. Identified that 90% of daily monitoring needs could be served by a quick-glance popover, with a fuller dashboard reserved for deep investigation. Evaluated macOS menubar app patterns and reference implementations to pick the right shape: small popover for the common case, full window for the rare case.

Electron app with two views: a frameless popover (420×650px) for quick status checks and a full dashboard window (1200×800px) for detailed investigation. IPC collector architecture polls 10 data sources every 30 seconds with per-collector failure isolation. Action buttons for Docker start/stop/restart, n8n workflow run/enable/disable, and script triggers. Global keyboard shortcut (Cmd+Shift+H) for instant access.

• Two-view architecture (popover + full window) over single dashboard — the common case is a 5-second status check, not a 5-minute investigation; the UI should make the common case fast
• IPC collector architecture with per-collector failure isolation — one flaky collector shouldn't take down the whole popover; each collector reports its own status independently
• Global keyboard shortcut over click-only — Cmd+Shift+H makes the popover feel like a system tool, not an app; lowers the friction of checking on the stack to near-zero
• Action buttons in the popover over deep-link to terminal — daily ops (Docker restart, workflow re-run) should be one click; CLI is for the rare case

• Single-click access to health status of all services, containers, and workflows
• GUI controls replaced dozens of CLI commands for daily operations
• 10 data collectors running in parallel with 30-second refresh cycles
• Tabbed interface: overview, Docker, workflows, tasks, git activity, RAG stats
• Built in one session with React 19, Tailwind 4, and electron-vite