rigdoctor/README.md

# RigDoctor

**Hardware monitoring & crash diagnostics for Linux gamers.** Live sensors, crash-safe
logging, plain-language health reports, per-game diagnostics, and optional AI explanations —
in a desktop app, a tray applet, or the terminal. Ubuntu/Debian + NVIDIA first.

Linux gaming faults are hard to pin down — GPUs falling off the PCIe bus, black screens
mid-game, silent thermal/VRAM throttling, driver/Proton mismatches. The useful data is
scattered across `nvidia-smi`, `/sys`, `journalctl`, and SMART, and the readings right before a
freeze are usually lost. RigDoctor pulls it together and keeps the evidence.

## Features

- **Live monitoring** — a dark desktop **dashboard** (history graphs + per-subsystem cards), a
  **tray applet** with at-a-glance status, and a terminal view (`rigdoctor monitor`).
- **Crash-safe recording** — background logger that `fsync`s every sample, so the state right
  before a hard freeze survives. Manual, always-on, or auto-start when a game launches.
- **Health report** — scans `journalctl`/SMART/driver for likely causes (Xid, OOM, disk
  errors, throttling…) and explains them with suggested fixes.
- **Per-game diagnostics** — pick a game, capture while you play, get a focused report; hard
  crashes are detected and analysed on next launch.
- **Gaming tune-ups** — flags risky settings (CPU governor, PCIe ASPM, persistence mode…) with
  **one-click, reversible fixes**.
- **Proactive alerts** — desktop notifications on overheating and critical kernel events
  (GPU-lost, Xid, out-of-memory, disk I/O).
- **AI explanations** *(optional, opt-in)* — explain a diagnostic in plain language with a
  **local model (Ollama)** or **Claude**. Never automatic; only when you press the button.
- **Shareable reports** — zip a diagnostic (logs, inventory, AI transcript) to hand to someone,
  or share a live **terminal session** for remote help.
- **Self-updating** — `apt upgrade`, or the in-app updater.

## Install

### Debian / Ubuntu — `.deb`

The simplest path: grab the latest **`rigdoctor_<version>_all.deb`** from the
[releases page](https://git.jesseyvanofferen.com/jessey/rigdoctor/releases) and install it —
apt pulls the GUI dependencies (PySide6, pyte) automatically:

```bash
sudo apt install ./rigdoctor_*_all.deb        # CLI only: add --no-install-recommends
```

**Or add the apt repository** for `apt install` + automatic updates (the registry is public and
GPG-signed — no token needed):

```bash
sudo curl https://git.jesseyvanofferen.com/api/packages/jessey/debian/repository.key -o /etc/apt/keyrings/gitea-jessey.asc
echo "deb [arch=all signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/gitea-jessey.asc] https://git.jesseyvanofferen.com/api/packages/jessey/debian stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gitea.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install rigdoctor
```

Then `sudo apt upgrade` keeps it current.

Then `sudo apt upgrade` keeps it current.

### Any distro — self-extracting `.run` (no root)

Download **`rigdoctor-<version>-installer.run`** from the releases page and run it. It installs
into a private virtualenv under `~/.local` (no root), adds the launchers + desktop entry, and
opens the first-run setup wizard:

```bash
sh rigdoctor-*-installer.run
```

### Updating & removing

- **`.deb`:** `sudo apt upgrade` (or reinstall a newer `.deb`).
- **`.run` / user-local:** the in-app **Update** button, or `rigdoctor update`.
- **Remove:** `sudo apt remove rigdoctor`, or `rigdoctor uninstall` for the user-local install.

## Using it

Launch **RigDoctor** from your app menu, or:

```bash
rigdoctor-gui          # desktop app (+ tray)
rigdoctor --help       # everything from the terminal (works over SSH)
```

Handy CLI commands:

```bash
rigdoctor snapshot              # one-shot reading of every sensor
rigdoctor monitor              # live terminal dashboard
rigdoctor report               # health report (logs / SMART / driver)
rigdoctor diagnose start|finish # capture while gaming, then analyse
rigdoctor gameenv              # flag risky gaming settings + fixes
rigdoctor inventory            # hardware/OS inventory
rigdoctor ai explain           # AI explanation of the current findings (opt-in)
rigdoctor bundle               # zip the latest diagnostic into a shareable report
```

## Requirements

- **Linux** — Ubuntu/Debian first-class (the `.deb`); the `.run` works on any distro with
  Python ≥ 3.11.
- **GPU** — NVIDIA fully supported (via `nvidia-smi`); AMD/Intel sensors are best-effort.
- **CLI/daemon** need only Python 3 (stdlib). The **GUI/tray** add **PySide6** (`python3-pyside6`).
- Optional tools unlock more: `smartmontools`, `lm-sensors`, `gamemode`, `mangohud`. The setup
  wizard offers to install them.

## Privacy

Everything stays on your machine — no telemetry, no phone-home. The AI assistant is **off by
default** and runs only when you explicitly trigger it; with Ollama nothing leaves the machine,
and the Claude option asks before sending. Reports are local files; they leave only if you share
the zip.

## Development

RigDoctor's core is stdlib-only Python; the GUI/tray use PySide6.

```bash
git clone https://git.jesseyvanofferen.com/jessey/rigdoctor && cd rigdoctor
pip install -e ".[gui]"                    # core + GUI; omit [gui] for CLI-only
python -m unittest discover -s tests       # run the test suite
PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m rigdoctor snapshot   # run without installing
```

Design docs live in `docs/` — `SPEC.md` (vision/requirements), `ARCHITECTURE.md`,
`MODULES.md` (module catalog), `ROADMAP.md`, and `DECISIONS.md` (the decision log).
Contributions: branch off `main`, keep tests green (CI runs them on PRs), and bump the version
+ `CHANGELOG.md` for shipped changes.