scat · server watch over SSH

watch and manage your servers over SSH, from the terminal.

scat 0.3.1 · released 2026-11-09 · release notes

install scat

$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/d3m0naz/scat/main/install.sh | bash

This installs scat 0.3.1 (released 2026-11-09).

The installer runs with the first bash in PATH, so Bash 5 is needed first, see “bash 5 or newer” below. It checks the SHA-256 of the release archive before it installs anything, puts scat into ~/.local/share/scat-<version> and links ~/.local/bin/scat. If ~/.local/bin is not on your PATH, add it: export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH". To install elsewhere, set SCAT_PREFIX. Releases and checksums are on the releases page.

See SCAT in action!

 scat · Servers                                           6 servers · 12:03:55  
   NAME                PING   CPU  TEMP   MEM   LOAD   UPTIME STATUS            
 ── lab ──                                                                      
 ● lab-ci              2 ms   71%  68°C   72%   3.30    4d 7h Linux 6.8.0       
 ● lab-edge            3 ms   11%  48°C   34%   0.23   31d 2h Linux 6.6.0       
 ── production ──                                                               
 ● db-01              14 ms   47%  63°C   80%   5.90   88d 1h Linux 6.8.0       
 ● web-01             18 ms   27%  56°C   46%   0.92   12d 3h Linux 6.8.0       
▶● web-02             23 ms   27%  56°C   55%   0.93   12d 3h Linux 6.8.0       
 ── ungrouped ──                                                                
 ● backup-01           3 ms    9%  41°C   27%   0.26  140d 9h Linux 6.1.0       
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
 ↑↓ move  ⏎ open  a add  e edit  d del  s ssh  r refresh  t grp  ? help  q quit

Demo with made-up servers and numbers: the cursor picks a server, Enter opens its live metrics, Esc goes back.

what it does

Keeps a list of servers: add, edit, delete and reorder, with ping times, group headings (can be turned off) and optional jump hosts.
Disables a server from the list with Space: it is greyed out and not polled, saved as disabled = 1 in servers.conf.
Shows status and live metrics: CPU, CPU temperature (°C or °F), memory, load, uptime, disks, network per interface.
Scrolls the detail view when it is taller than the screen, with a position indicator.
Lists processes, sorts them and sends SIGTERM after a confirmation.
Shows Docker containers read only: status, health, CPU and memory. Reading Docker's socket needs root-equivalent rights on the server.
Shows temperature and SMART health of every disk, without waking sleeping disks; a disk problem appears in the server list.
Opens an SSH shell, or runs saved commands on a server.
Runs one-shot checks from scripts: scat --check web1.
Five colour themes: default, light, solarized, nord and high-contrast, set in settings.conf or with --theme.

bash 5 or newer

scat is a Bash script that runs on the machine you work on. It is written for any system with Bash 5 or newer and the usual Unix tools. So far it has been run on macOS (Apple Silicon); Linux and FreeBSD as the machine running scat have not been tested yet. Check your version with bash --version.

system	how to get Bash 5
macOS	`brew install bash`, then put `/opt/homebrew/bin` first in `PATH`. The system `/bin/bash` is 3.2 and is not supported.
Linux	Usually installed already; otherwise `apt install bash`, `dnf install bash` or `pacman -S bash`.

principles

Keys only. scat never asks for or stores passwords. Monitoring uses ssh -o BatchMode=yes.
Plain config. Files are parsed as data, never evaluated, and written with mode 600.
Plain Bash. No runtime dependencies beyond Bash 5 and standard Unix tools: ssh, tput, stty, awk, sed, sort, mktemp, grep, pkill.

keys

j / k, arrows	move
PgUp / PgDn	move one page
g / G, Home / End	top / bottom
Enter	open
a / e / d	add / edit / delete a server
J / K	move a server down / up
Space	disable or enable the selected server (greyed out, SSH connection closed)
t	group headings on / off (this session)
f	temperature in °C / °F (this session)
s	ssh shell
p	processes
m	modules (Docker, read only)
x	snippets
c / m / p / n	processes: sort by CPU, memory, PID, name
K	processes: send SIGTERM (asks first)
r	refresh now
?	help
q / Esc	back, quit on the list
Ctrl-C	quit

The terminal needs at least 80×24. In a smaller window scat shows a short notice until the window is large enough again.

remote hosts

Your servers do not need Bash: scat only needs SSH access and a POSIX sh with awk, ps and df there. Tested live: Linux (Debian 13, arm64) and FreeBSD 15 (OPNsense), both with full metrics. macOS hosts work on a best-effort basis.