Interface, HUD & Operator Controls

A bash-driven operator HUD for a portable cyberdeck — tmux dashboard, structured KEY=VALUE status feeds, and one-line controls for network mode, logging, and capture.

This is Brick #3 of a portable Kali Live USB security platform. See Related projects.

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What it does

When you're operating a Pi-based cyberdeck in the field, you need a glanceable operator interface — what's the host doing, which interface is up, what mode is the radio in, is logging on, is a capture running? This brick gives you that, with no GUI dependencies and no surprises.

It's three things:

1. Status producers — small bash scripts that emit KEY=VALUE blocks (host, CPU%, memory%, temperature, uptime, interface state, IPv4, channel, active tool count).
2. A tmux dashboard — splits a terminal into four live panes that re-run those producers on a watch interval.
3. Operator controls — one-line commands to toggle network mode (managed / monitor / lab), logging, and capture.

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Quick start

# Run the CLI dashboard (refreshes every 2s)
./interface/dashboards/cli_dashboard.sh

# Or load the tmux layout (4 panes: render, tools, net, status)
tmux new-session -d -s HUD
tmux source-file ./interface/dashboards/tmux_dashboard.conf
tmux attach -t HUD

# Operator controls
./interface/controls/set_iface.sh wlan0
./interface/controls/net_mode.sh monitor    # or managed / lab
./interface/controls/log_toggle.sh on
./interface/controls/capture_toggle.sh on

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Sample status output

hud_status.sh and friends emit machine-readable KEY=VALUE blocks that the renderer composes into a HUD:

HOST=cyberdeck01
MODE=monitor
LOGGING=on
CAPTURE=off
CPU_PCT=14
MEM_PCT=38
TEMP_C=51
UPTIME_MIN=42
IFACE=wlan0
STATE=up
IPV4=10.0.0.42/24
CHANNEL=6
TOOLS_ACTIVE=2

Anything that consumes the HUD (renderer, log shipper, OLED display) just parses these blocks — no JSON, no dependencies, no surprises.

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Repository layout

Path	Purpose
interface/hud/	Status producers: hud_status.sh, hud_net.sh, hud_tools.sh, hud_render.sh, shared hud_common.sh
interface/dashboards/	cli_dashboard.sh (single-pane watch loop) and tmux_dashboard.conf (4-pane tmux layout)
interface/controls/	Operator toggles: set_iface.sh, net_mode.sh, log_toggle.sh, capture_toggle.sh
interface/systemd/	Optional systemd units to start the HUD on boot
interface/oled/	Optional 128×64 OLED display driver layer
docs/	Workflow notes
assets/	Diagrams and reference images
logs/	Runtime logs (when logging is on)

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Design choices

• Bash-only. No Python runtime, no Node, no compiled deps — runs anywhere the cyberdeck does.
• set -euo pipefail everywhere. Failures fail loudly.
• KEY=VALUE over JSON. Trivially parseable with awk, no jq needed.
• State files in a single state dir. Mode and toggle state survive a reboot via the persistent partition from Brick #1.
• sudo-aware. Controls that need root (interface mode changes) detect EUID and degrade gracefully — they save state without applying it if not root.

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Brick Stack relationship

• Depends on Brick #1 (encrypted persistence) and Brick #2 (cyberdeck hardware).
• Surfaces runtime state from Brick #4 (toolchain) and Brick #5 (SIEM agents).

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Related projects

• live-usb-encrypted-persistence — Brick #1
• cyberdeck-platform — Brick #2
• interface-hud-operator-controls (this repo) — Brick #3
• toolchain-layer — Brick #4
• logging-siem-wazuh — Brick #5
• vulnerability-management-lab — Brick #6

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Author

Charles Tucker — github.com/RealPhantomLee